Imports of medical supplies plummet as demand in US soars

The critical shortage of medical supplies across the U.S., including testing swabs, protective masks, surgical gowns and hand sanitizer, can be tied to a sudden drop in imports, mostly from China, The Associated Press has found.

Trade data shows the decline in shipments started in mid-February after the spiraling coronavirus outbreak in China led the country to shutter factories and disrupted ports. Some emergency rooms, hospitals and clinics in the U.S. have now run out of key medical supplies, while others are rationing personal protective equipment like gloves and masks.

The United States counts on receiving the vast majority of its medical supplies from China, where the coronavirus has infected more than 80,000 people and killed more than 3,200. When Chinese medical supply factories began coming back on line last month, their first priority was their own hospitals.

The government required makers of N95 masks to sell all or part of their production internally instead of shipping masks to the U.S.

The most recent delivery of medical-grade N95 masks arrived from China about a month ago, on Feb. 19. And as few as 13 shipments of non-medical N95 masks have arrived in the past month — half as many as arrived the same month last year. N95 masks are used in industrial settings, as well as hospitals, and filter out 95% of all airborne particles, including ones too tiny to be blocked by regular masks.

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US virus testing faces new headwind: Lab supply shortages

WASHINGTON (AP) — First, some of the coronavirus tests didn't work. Then there weren't enough to go around. Now, just as the federal government tries to ramp up nationwide screening, laboratory workers are warning of a new roadblock: dire shortages of testing supplies.

The shortages are the latest stumble in a botched effort to track the spread of coronavirus that has left the U.S. weeks behind many other developed countries. Dwindling supplies include both chemical components and basic swabs needed to collect patient samples.

There are "acute, serious shortages across the board" for supplies needed to do the tests, said Eric Blank, of the Association of Public Health Laboratories, which represents state and local health labs.

Late Friday, Blank's group and two other public health organizations recommended that testing be scaled back due to “real, immediate, wide-scale shortages.” The groups said only patients with COVID-19 symptoms who are elderly, have high-risk medical conditions or are medical staff should be tested.

“Testing for individuals who are not in these three groups is not recommended until sufficient testing supplies and capacity become more widely available,” said the joint statement, issued with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists.

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What you need to know today about the virus outbreak

The death toll from the global coronavirus pandemic surpassed 10,000 people worldwide and the effects of a global economy grinding to a halt because of the pandemic were beginning to show, from millions of unsold flowers rotting in piles in Kenya to the slow emptying of the world’s skies. In Southern Europe, gasping patients filled sick wards and field hospitals went up in hotels and a convention center in Madrid.

The U.N. chief warned of a looming global recession “perhaps of record dimensions." The governors of California, New York and Illinois ordered residents to stay home unless they have vital reasons to go out. Those orders affect 70 million Americans and encompass three of the country's largest cities. Other states, including Connecticut, appeared poised to follow suit with similar directives.

Here are some of AP's top stories Friday on the world's coronavirus pandemic. Follow APNews.com/VirusOutbreak for updates through the day:

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY:

— President Donald Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to get needed medical supplies on the front lines of the coronavirus outbreak and the private sector mobilized against it.

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`Accept it': 3 states lock down 70 million against the virus

Illinois and New York state joined California on Friday in ordering all residents to stay in their homes unless they have vital reasons to go out, restricting the movement of more than 70 million Americans in the most sweeping measures undertaken yet in the U.S. to contain the coronavirus.

The states' governors acted in a bid to fend off the kind of onslaught that has caused the health system in southern Europe to buckle. The lockdowns encompass the three biggest cities in America — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — as well as No. 8 San Diego and No. 14 San Francisco.

“No, this is not life as usual,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as the death toll in the U.S. topped 200, with at least 35 in his state. “Accept it and realize it and deal with it.”

Cuomo said that starting Sunday, all workers in nonessential businesses must stay home as much as possible, and gatherings of any size will be banned in the state of over 19 million people. California likewise all but confined its 40 million residents on Friday, and Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a similar order set to take effect on Saturday for the state's 12.6 million people. The governor of Connecticut, New York's neighboring state, said he also was poised to issue a comparable directive.

Exceptions were made for essential jobs and errands, such as buying groceries and medicine, as well as for exercise.

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Returning troops denied water, bathrooms under quarantine

WASHINGTON (AP) — It wasn’t the welcome home that U.S. soldiers expected when they returned from war zones in the Middle East in the past week.

When their planes landed at Fort Bliss, Texas, they were herded into buses, denied water and the use of bathrooms, then quarantined in packed barracks, with little food or access to the outdoors. “This is no way to treat Soldiers returning from war,” one soldier told The Associated Press in an email.

The soldiers posted notes on social media about the poor conditions. Their complaints got quick attention from senior Army and Pentagon leaders. Now changes are under way at Fort Bliss and at Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where the first soldiers placed under quarantine also complained of poor, cramped conditions.

Quarantining troops on military bases is becoming a greater challenge for military officials. While continuing missions and training, they also have to try to prevent the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus by enforcing two-week quarantines of soldiers who have spent months overseas.

In one of Bragg's remote training areas, large white tents have popped up over the past few days to house hundreds of 82nd Airborne Division troops returning to the base from Afghanistan and Middle East deployments. The tent city, being called Forward Operating Base Patriot (FOB Patriot), materialized almost overnight, after commanders realized the limits of the barracks when troops began arriving on Saturday.

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Trump vs Fauci: President and doctor spar over unproven drug

WASHINGTON (AP) — In an extraordinary exchange, President Donald Trump and the government's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, publicly sparred Friday on whether a malaria drug would work to treat people with coronavirus disease.

The scene played out on national television during the daily White House briefing on the outbreak. Anxious for answers, Americans heard conflicting ones from a just-the-facts scientist and a president who operates on gut instinct.

Reporters asked both men — first Fauci then Trump — if a malaria drug called hydroxychloroquine could be used to prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. A day earlier, when Fauci wasn't with him at that briefing, Trump had called attention to the drug.

On Friday, Fauci took the reporter's question and got right to the point.

“No,” he said. “The answer ... is no.

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Dow drops more than 900 points, ending worst week since 2008

Wall Street ended the week the same way it began: in full retreat from the coronavirus.

Stocks fell sharply and the price of oil sank Friday as federal and state governments moved to shut down bigger and bigger swaths of the nation’s economy in the hope of limiting the spread of the outbreak.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid more than 900 points, ending the week with a 17.3% loss. The index has declined in four of the last five weeks.

The latest sell-off wiped out the gains from a day earlier and capped the market’s worst week since the financial crisis of 2008.

Investors are worried that the coronavirus will plunge the U.S. and other major economies into deep recessions. Steps to contain the spread of the outbreak are causing massive disruptions and layoffs. Optimism that emergency actions by central banks and governments to ease the economic damage has waned as investors wait for the Trump administration to deliver on legislation that will pump billions of dollars into hurting households and industries.

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Just get through today: Sheltering in place amid a pandemic

OAK PARK, Ill. (AP) — A week ago, I was that crazy parent. “Did you tell my friends’ parents I can’t hang out?” my teen protested. Yep, I basically did.

Today, we are “sheltering in place,” an order from the mayor in our Chicago suburb, Oak Park, to leave home only for essential services until at least April 3 — and to stay 6 feet (1.8 meters) away from others when outside. Like many across the nation, we’ve already been hunkering down, working from home and home-schooling to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. Now it’s official, and even more eerily quiet.

My mind races. Two more weeks?? I try to shut it down. Just get through today.

And then tomorrow.

I text my nephew Sam in San Francisco. He’s already a sheltering veteran, as it were, with his entire state now being told to do so. New York state also is asking businesses with nonessential services to keep employees home. “Well, we just ordered delivery burritos!” he responds. I laugh. Moments of levity — the toilet paper jokes, the video with comedian Mel Brooks protected behind his glass door, the dog on Twitter who howls along with the “Law and Order” theme — are like a salve.

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Quarantinis anyone? Happy hours go virtual amid virus crisis

BOSTON (AP) — The hottest new bar's dress code? Your sweatpants. And you don't even have to leave your couch.

With bars shuttered and stressed-out workers stuck at home, companies and friend groups across the U.S. are holding happy hours over video chat to commiserate and keep spirits high amid the new coronavirus pandemic. In one community, neighbors are toasting to one another every night from the ends of their driveways to unwind — while keeping a safe distance, of course.

“Let’s be honest, we could all use a break and a drink right now,” said Nick Minerd, who recently took part in a virtual cocktail hour with more than 30 of his home-bound colleagues with Hendersonville, Tennessee-based STR, which provides data and analytics for the hospitality industry.

Video chat happy hours have popped up all over social media as communities have closed bars and restaurants to all but delivery and takeout and banned large gatherings in an attempt to slow the spread of COVID-19.

For most people, the virus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.

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Top Flyer: Dayton's Obi Toppin leads AP All-American team

The college basketball season came to an emphatic, dramatic end with the cancellation of the NCAA Tournament. The dream of playing under the bright lights of March Madness, of possibly hoisting a national championship trophy, wiped out by the coronavirus.

For a handful of players, earning a postseason honor offers a glimmer of happiness amid the uncertainty.

“Getting these awards, it brings brightness to my life right now,” Seton Hall's Myles Powell said. “To have it end so quickly was just like ... man.”

Powell added to his load Friday when he joined Dayton's Obi Toppin, Iowa's Luka Garza, Marquette's Markus Howard and Oregon's Payton Pritchard on The Associated Press All-America first team.

Toppin was the lone unanimous choice, receiving 65 votes from a nationwide media panel after averaging 20 points and 7 rebounds while shooting 63% in a breakout season. The 6-foot-9 sophomore helped the third-ranked Flyers match the program's highest ranking and be on track for a potential No. 1 seed before the NCAA Tournament was shelved. He is Dayton's first first-team AP All-American.