Injection of Hope: America’s doctor, Anthony Fauci, injected hope into the coronavirus crisis with the announcement that an experimental drug called remdesivir helps coronavirus patients recover faster from the disease.

   It is not a cure. “The data shows that remdesivir has a clear-cut, significant, positive effect in diminishing the time to recovery,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said at the White House during a meeting with President Trump.

  The stock market shot up on the news.

  Remdesivir was originally tested as a treatment for Ebola, 

The drug in testing on coronavirus patients has been shown to cut recovery time from 15 days to 11. “Although a 31% improvement doesn’t seem like a knockout 100%, it is very important proof of concept,” Fauci said. “What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus.”

  The drug may also reduce the risk of death. The benefit mortality rate of for patients receiving remdesivir  was 8 percent versus 11.6% for the group receiving placebo.

Buddy, Can You Spare a Dime: Boeing said it’s going to lay off 10 percent of its work force. The ride service Lyft said it’s laying off 1,000 people. The Hertz rental company is on the verge of bankruptcy.

  This past week another 3.8 Americans filed for unemployment insurance, the Labor Department announced this morning, bringing the crisis total to more than 30 million. The situation is believed to be much worse because state labor departments are so flooded with claims many people can’t even register. 

  Under a nationwide shutdown, the US economy shrank by 4.8 percent in the first quarter, the biggest decline since the Great Recession when GDP fell 8.4% in the fourth quarter of 2008. 

 Things are actually worse. President Trump didn’t declare the national shutdown until March 13th, so this reflects only 18 days of the quarter. Some analysts say the second quarter will be worse, down by as much as 35 percent.

Success Story: President Trump declared yesterday that “This is going away” and “We did all the right moves.” His son-in-law, Jared Kushner, said, “The federal government rose to the challenge, and this is a great success story.” 

  The federal guidelines for social distancing expire today.

  This morning that success story has resulted in the deaths of 61,999 Americans since February 6^th. That’s an additional 2,464 in the past 24 hours. New York City had another 394 deaths.

  The United States is doing worst in the world — by far. Spain has just over 24,000 deaths; Italy, 27,682; France, 24,121; Great Britain, 26,166.

The Sports Page: Japan’s prime minister says the 2020 Olympics, which have been postponed, won’t be held next year either unless the coronavirus can be brought under control. — Former U.S. Olympic and national gymnastics team coach Maggie Haney has been suspended for eight years by USA for verbal emotional abuse of her gymnasts. — The NCAA  is proposing a rule change that would allow college athletes to be paid for the use of their image and likeness. Right now you can portray a college quarterback in a videogame and he gets paid nothing.

The Obit Page: Bollywood actor Irrfan Khan, a star in the Indian movie industry who appeared internationally in “Life Of Pi” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” has died at age 53. He had cancer.

The Bulletin Board: Police in Brooklyn found 40 to 60 bodies in an unrefrigerated truck outside a Brooklyn Funeral home that has been overwhelmed with coronavirus fatalities. — Florida’s governor says he’s going to begin gradually re-opening his state economy starting May 4^th. Florida ranks eighth for coronavirus deaths in the US.

Name Dropping: President Trump is known for putting his name on everything he touches, from hotels and apartment buildings to steaks. His name also appears on the IRS stimulus checks going out to millions of Americans, a ploy some people say, to get his name out there in a re-election year.

  Well, let’s use a Trump line. “Lots of people are saying it.”

  Three prominent lawyers across the political spectrum wrote a letter to the Justice Department asking for a special prosecutor to find out how Trump’s name got on the checks. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said it was his idea and Trump claims he doesn’t know, kind of like the way he doesn’t know somebody when he’s fired them 

 The letter was signed by consumer activist Ralph Nader; Louis Fisher, a constitutional scholar; and Bruce Fein, a lawyer who worked in Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department and for congressional Republicans. 

  The letter to Attorney General William Barr says, “The signature of President Trump on United States Treasury checks is superfluous to their value, legality, or authenticity. The signature serves no official government purpose.” reads the letter to “It does serve Mr. Trump’s 2020 re-election campaign by making it appear that he is responsible for a monetary windfall to tens of millions of voters.”

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