“Even the first day was 750 requests. I was like oh my,” Scordella told KRON News. “I’m gonna be busier than when I’m actually open so its good. It’s really good to see the community coming in.”

“What I’ve gotten back is that vendors with whom we’ve procured contracts — they’re being told not to send stuff to Michigan,” she said. “It’s really concerning, I reached out to the White House last night and asked for a phone call with the president.”

“We’ve had a big problem with the young — a woman governor,” Trump said. “You know who I’m talking about — from Michigan. We don’t like to see the complaints. […] She doesn’t get it done, and we send her a lot. Now, she wants a declaration of emergency, and, you know, we’ll have to make a decision on that. But Michigan is a very important state. I love the people of Michigan.”

“We are the healthcare workers on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic in Florida and we urge you to act dramatically to mitigate the spread of the disease, protect and support healthcare workers, and ensure that patients have access to all necessary medical and social services during this crisis," it begins. "Health systems around the world are being stretched dangerously thin and we are not far behind.”

Nearly 300 people in Iran have been killed after drinking a toxic chemical in the mistaken belief that it would save them from the coronavirus, according to local reports from the country. The Associated Press reports that thousands of Iranians have been chugging toxic methanol—an industrial alcohol—on the completely false basis that it protects people against the virus. News of the fake cure has reportedly spread like wildfire across social media in Iran, and people are deeply suspicious of official government advice not to drink methanol because it downplayed the virus crisis for days before it overwhelmed the country. Iranian media report nearly 300 people have been killed and more than 1,000 sickened by drinking methanol, and AP reported one case of a 5-year-old boy who was blinded after his parents gave him the poison. As of now, there is no known cure for COVID-19.

“At the heart of our Company, there has always been a spirit of togetherness that inspires our creativity, our confidence and most importantly our support for one another. In the past weeks and months, that spirit has never wavered,” Ralph Lauren, who serves as the executive chairman and chief creative officer for his namesake clothing company, said in a statement.

“We believe that no matter who you are or where you are from, we are all connected,” he continued. “That is why we are taking significant action to help our teams and communities through this crisis.”

"No one reached out to me and said, 'As a senior citizen, are you willing to take a chance on your survival in exchange for keeping the America that all America loves for your children and grandchildren?' And if that's the exchange, I'm all in."

He added: "I just think there are a lot of grandparents out there in this country like me — I have six grandchildren — that's what we care about. ... And I want to live smart and see through this, but I don't want the whole country to be sacrificed. And that's what I see."

"I wish that every person in America would subscribe to the fact that science is an answer to our prayers so that we can get through this in a very positive way."

at last a woman

in the old style sitting

stout thighs apart under

a big skirt grandchild sliding

on off my lap a pleasant

summer perspiration

that's my old man across the yard

he's talking to the meter reader

he's telling the world's sad story

how electricity is oil or uranium

and so forth I tell my grandson

run over to your grandpa. ask him

to sit beside me for a minute. I

am suddenly exhausted by my desire

to kiss his sweet explaining lips

Mercy.

“Is there sufficient personal protective equipment for healthcare workers who are providing medical care?” the playbook instructs its readers, as one early decision that officials should address when facing a potential pandemic. “If YES: What are the triggers to signal exhaustion of supplies? Are additional supplies available? If NO: Should the Strategic National Stockpile release PPE to states?”

The strategies are among hundreds of tactics and key policy decisions laid out in a 69-page National Security Council playbook on fighting pandemics, which POLITICO is detailing for the first time. Other recommendations include that the government move swiftly to fully detect potential outbreaks, secure supplemental funding and consider invoking the Defense Production Act — all steps in which the Trump administration lagged behind the timeline laid out in the playbook.

“Each section of this playbook includes specific questions that should be asked and decisions that should be made at multiple levels” within the national security apparatus, the playbook urges, repeatedly advising officials to question the numbers on viral spread, ensure appropriate diagnostic capacity and check on the U.S. stockpile of emergency resources.

The playbook also stresses the significant responsibility facing the White House to contain risks of potential pandemics, a stark contrast with the Trump administration’s delays in deploying an all-of-government response and President Donald Trump’s recent signals that he might roll back public health recommendations.

“The U.S. government will use all powers at its disposal to prevent, slow or mitigate the spread of an emerging infectious disease threat,” according to the playbook’s built-in “assumptions” about fighting future threats. “The American public will look to the U.S. government for action when multi-state or other significant events occur.”

The guide further calls for a “unified message” on the federal response, in order to best manage the American public’s questions and concerns. “Early coordination of risk communications through a single federal spokesperson is critical,” the playbook urges. However, the U.S. response to coronavirus has featured a rotating cast of spokespeople and conflicting messages; Trump already is discussing loosening government recommendations on coronavirus in order to “open” the economy by Easter, despite the objections of public health advisers.

The NSC devised the guide — officially called the Playbook for Early Response to High-Consequence Emerging Infectious Disease Threats and Biological Incidents, but known colloquially as “the pandemic playbook” — across 2016. The project was driven by career civil servants as well as political appointees, aware that global leaders had initially fumbled their response to the 2014-2015 spread of Ebola and wanting to be sure that the next response to an epidemic was better handled.

The Trump administration was briefed on the playbook’s existence in 2017, said four former officials, but two cautioned that it never went through a full, National Security Council-led interagency process to be approved as Trump administration strategy. Tom Bossert, who was then Trump’s homeland security adviser, expressed enthusiasm about its potential as part of the administration’s broader strategy to fight pandemics, two former officials said.