New Rules!: California Gov. Gavin Newsom last night ordered all 40 million Californians to stay inside and leave home only for essential business.

  Newsom said, “I think it’s time I tell you what I tell my family.” He said, “This is not a permanent state, this is a moment in time. We will look back at these decisions as pivotal.”

  In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott declared a public health disaster for the first time since 1901 and ordered the closing of restaurants and bars — takeout only. The order also called for closing schools, and a ban on gatherings of more than 10 people statewide.

  The State Department raised its travel warning to the highest level, advising Americans not to travel overseas and for all citizens abroad to come home if they can, or “shelter in place.”

  The United States, Europe and China are testing a quick vaccine for the coronavirus, but a well-tested and proven vaccine is still a year to 18 months away. 

  Medical workers across the country report difficulty getting surgical masks and gowns to deal with coronavirus patients. Some of them are making their own, or even re-using what they have.

The Statistics: Italy, with just over half the number of cases, has now surpassed China with coronavirus deaths. Italy reports that 3,405 people have died in that country, China, 3,249. 

  Italy says it had 427 deaths just yesterday. Cemeteries in the northern city of Bergamo are so overwhelmed that the army was called in to transport bodies elsewhere to be cremated. Traditional funerals have been outlawed as part of Italy’s ban on large gatherings.

  Apartment-bound Italians have taken to singing from their balconies in the evening to keep up the spirits of their friends and neighbors.

  Iran has the third worst problem with just over 18,000 infections and 1,284 deaths. 

  France crossed the threshold of 10,000 coronavirus cases yesterday as the nation experienced its third day of lockdown, reporting 10,995 cases and 372 deaths.

  Identified cases of the coronavirus in the US are beginning to take a sharp upward turn as testing becomes more available. With 14,250 cases, 205 people have died.

  New York, has become the major US hotspotwith 5,711 cases and 38 deaths. the The State of Washington, which initially took the hit in the US, has 1,376 infections and 74 deaths. Thirty-five of those deaths are associated with a single nursing home in Kirkland.

Econ 0000:  As the US economy comes to a shuddering halt, nearly 630,000 people in only 15 states have already filed unemployment claims this week, according to The NY Times. That’s in addition to the 281,000 people who filed claims last week.

  This week may top the worst of the Great Recession in 2009 when about 650,000 Americans lost their jobs. The Times  predicts that next week could be even worse.

The Inside Edge: Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina sold hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of stock last month as President Trump and fellow Republicans were still playing down the coronavirus threat. 

  Burr sold major stocks in mid-February, before the stock market went into a flat spin, and days after he wrote an opinion article for Fox News suggesting that the United States was “better prepared than ever before” to confront the virus. At least three other senators sold major stock holdings around the same time, The NY Times reports.

  As chairman  Intelligence Committee Burr gets regular briefings on threats to the United States. Two weeks after he sold stocks, Burr spoke  to the nonpartisan Tar Heel Club and said of the coronavirus, “There’s one thing that I can tell you about this: It is much more aggressive in its transmission than anything we have seen in recent history.” 

Patient Zero: President Trump opened his press briefing yesterday with a snide attack on the press, because he’s the primary victim of the coronavirus.

  “I have to say I think with social distancing that the media has been much nicer. I don’t know what it is. All these empty, these in-between chairs … You probably shouldn’t have anybody sitting behind you either,” he said. “It’s so much nicer, but I shouldn’t say that because you’ll get me now.”

  Then he blamed China for bungling the initial outbreak. “It could have been stopped where it came from, China,” Trump said. “If we would have known about it, if they would have known about it, but now the whole world almost is inflicted with this horrible … With this horrible virus, and it’s too bad … It’s too bad because we never had an economy as good as the economy we had just a few weeks ago.”

  Then he praised himself saying, “Somebody was on yesterday, on one of the networks and said that there’s never been a president at even close that’s been able to do what I’ve done in slashing all of the red tape and everything to get very important things to the market medical.”

  Hmmm … could that have been Fox News?. 

Beach Brains: Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who has collected two delegates for the Democratic presidential nomination, suddenly woke up yesterday and realized she’s not going to be president. She ended her campaign and threw her support to Joe Biden.

  Three other candidates who were doing much better pulled out weeks ago. Gabbard said, “My motivation has been to serve God, our country and the American people as best I can.” Finally, she is. 

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