WHITE HOUSE MAY PROMOTE MASKS; DEMS MOVE CONVENTION TO AUGUST
Trump looking into ways to stop states from freeing inmates
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is formalizing new guidance to recommend that many Americans wear face coverings in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus, as the president is aggressively defending his response to the public health crisis.
The recommendations, still being finalized Thursday, were expected to apply to those who live in areas hard-hit by the virus. A person familiar with the White House task force’s discussion said officials would suggest that non-medical masks, Tshirts or bandannas be used to cover the nose and mouth when outside the home. Medical-grade masks, particularly short-in-supply N95 masks, would be reserved for those dealing directly with the sick.
President Donald Trump, who was tested again for coronavirus Thursday using a new rapid test, indicated he would support such a recommendation. “If people wanted to wear them, they can,” he said.
The White House said Trump’s latest test returned a negative result in 15 minutes and said Trump was “healthy and without symptoms.”
Democrats move convention; it’ll stay in Milwaukee
Democrats announced Thursday that they were postponing their presidential nominating convention in Milwaukee until August, an unprecedented move that shows how the coronavirus is reshaping the battle for the White House.
The party had hoped that a midJuly convention would give them more time to rally behind a nominee and unify against President Donald Trump. But concerns that large crowds will spread the virus prompted Democrats, including prospective nominee Joe Biden, to press for alternatives.
Milwaukee will still host the convention, which is now scheduled for the week of Aug. 17. Republicans are sticking with their plan to meet in Charlotte, North Carolina, a week later to renominate Trump.
Outside circumstances have affected conventions in the past, including hurricanes that forced relatively minor scheduling changes to Republican gatherings in 2008 and 2012. Still, the major political parties have always pressed forward with their conventions, even during times of crisis as severe as the Civil War.
The announcement on Thursday didn’t specify whether the convention will remain a traditional fournight affair or whether all aspects will be held in-person. There has been discussion of holding parts of the convention virtually.
Trump: ‘We don’t like’ release of prisoners
Trump is considering intervening to stop the release of some prisoners amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Correctional facilities in states such as California, Michigan and Pennsylvania have begun releasing certain inmates as the prisons face a shortage of medical supplies.
Trump said Thursday that “we don’t like it.”
The president added that “we’re looking to see if I have the right to stop it in some cases.”
Huge rise in jobless claims
The coronavirus outbreak has thrown 10 million Americans out of work in just two weeks in the swiftest, most stunning collapse the U.S. job market has ever witnessed.
The dire news of a record-shattering 6.6 million new unemployment claims, on top of last week’s unprecedented 3.3 million, came as economists warned unemployment could reach levels not seen since the Depression.
The Congressional Budget Office on Thursday projected the U.S. unemployment rate will exceed 10% this quarter, while the economy could shrink by an annualized rate exceeding 28%.
Worldwide, the number of infections hit another gloomy milestone — 1 million, with more than 50,000 deaths, according to the tally kept by Johns Hopkins University.
Fauci gets security detail
The blunt-speaking Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert, has had to contend with a deluge of online threats and uncomfortable personal encounters with admirers as the pandemic consumes his every waking hour. Nevertheless, the 79-year-old epidemiologist insists he’s doing just fine.
“I’ve chosen this life. I mean I know what it is,” Fauci said Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show. “There are things about it that are sometimes disturbing. But you just focus on the job you have to do, and just put all that stuff aside and try as best as possible not to pay attention to it.”
Still, concerns about his safety are serious enough that Fauci now has security. The Department of Health and Human Services requested the U.S. Marshals Service authorize special agents from the HHS inspector general’s office, according to a person familiar with the arrangements. The Justice Department approved a request to deputize nine agents, the person said.
Aircraft carrier captain fired
The captain of a U.S. Navy aircraft carrier facing a growing outbreak of the coronavirus on his ship was fired Thursday by Navy leaders who said he created a panic by sending his memo pleading for help to too many people. Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly said the ship’s commander, Capt. Brett Crozier, “demonstrated extremely poor judgment” by copying too many people on the memo, which was leaked to a California newspaper and quickly spread to many news outlets.
Wisconsin election date stands
A federal judge on Thursday declined to postpone Wisconsin’s presidential primary as the coronavirus spreads, but he ordered that people be given an extra six days beyond Tuesday’s election for absentee voting.
Wentworth sick from COVID-19
Ali Wentworth, comedian and wife of ABC news anchor George Stephanopoulos, confirmed her COVID-19 diagnosis on Instagram Wednesday, revealing that she’s “never been sicker.”
“I have tested positive for the Corona Virus. I’ve never been sicker. High fever. Horrific body aches. Heavy chest. I’m quarantined from my family.”
Fred Rosati, who helped his family’s pizzerias become a national chain after his brothers started the first restaurant in Mount Prospect, died Monday in Cave Creek, Arizona.
Mr. Rosati, who remained active in the Warrenville-based Rosati’s Pizza franchise company well into his 90s, was 102.
“You meet people that everybody seems to like,” said Rick Rosati, the company’s chief executive officer. “That was my dad.”
Jeff Rosati, the company’s chief financial officer, said his father enjoyed all sports but was passionate about the Cubs. He said the family rented a bus and brought his father to Wrigley Field to celebrate his 100th birthday.
Born in Chicago on June 23, 1917, Mr. Rosati was one of 10 children in a restaurant family.
In the late 1890s, his family served Italian food to customers in New York. They moved to Chicago at the turn of the century and opened a restaurant featuring Italian-style pizza, a precursor to the Rosati’s empire.
Two of Mr. Rosati’s brothers opened the Mount Prospect pizzeria in 1964, followed by locations in Niles and Arlington Heights. While with the family’s Tolona Pizza Products, Fred Rosati supplied his brothers’ Mount Prospect store and worked with them on weekends before co-founding the Rosati’s franchise company in the 1970s.
As a result of the franchising, Rosati’s Pizza spread across the suburbs, then the country. There are about 200 Rosati’s locations in several states.
Jeff Rosati said his father still was traveling from his winter home in Arizona and his summer place in Door County, Wisconsin.
“He never quit,” Jeff Rosati said. “He was always willing to go somewhere. That’s the crazy thing. At 102, he said, ‘Let’s get in the car and go to a [pizza] store.’ ”
Fred Rosati is survived by his 100-yearold wife, Theresa. The couple were married in 1946.
Other survivors include his seven children, 14 grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
A public celebration of Mr. Rosati’s life is planned at a later date.