Stocks skid worldwide as coronavirus infections keep soaring
By STAN CHOE AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Stocks are sinking again on Wall Street as more signs piled up of the economic and physical pain being caused by the coronavirus outbreak. The S&P 500 dropped roughly 3% in Wednesday morning trading after President Donald Trump warned the country to brace for “one of the roughest two or three weeks we’ve ever had in our country.” The selling was widespread, and all 11 sectors that make up the S&P 500 were down. Long-term Treasury yields sank as investors moved into safer investments. Stocks worldwide fell following a weak reading on Japanese business sentiment and after big British banks cut their dividends to preserve cash.

Virus cases in NYC top 1,000 as city prepares for worse
NEW YORK (AP) — Deaths from the coronavirus topped 1,000 in New York City as officials warned that the worst of the virus’ toll is yet to come. The city’s Health Department reported late Tuesday that nearly 1,100 people have died of the virus in the city. There are more than 1,500 deaths across New York state. Data released by the city shows that the virus is having a disproportionate effect in certain neighborhoods, mainly in Brooklyn and Queens. The city’s ambulance system is under increasing stress from the pandemic. Nearly a quarter of the city’s emergency medical service workers have been out sick.

U.S. businesses cut 27,000 jobs in March, before virus hit
By CHRISTOPHER RUGABER AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. companies shed 27,000 jobs in March, according to a private survey, a figure that mostly reflected the economy as it stood before the full impact of the viral outbreak. Payroll processor ADP said small businesses took the biggest hit, losing 90,000 jobs, while medium-sized and large companies still added workers. Economists forecast that much larger job losses, probably in the millions, will be reported in the coming months.

Trump says ‘life and death’ at stake in following guidelines
By AAMER MADHANI, KEVIN FREKING and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is urging Americans to heed his administration’s guidelines for responding to the coronavirus pandemic, calling it “a matter of life and death.” The president’s warning on Tuesday came with new projections that there could be 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S. even if social distancing guidelines are maintained. Public health officials stressed that the number could be less if people bear down on keeping their distance from one another. The coordinator of the White House coronavirus task force, Dr. Deborah Birx, says officials believe the nation can do much better than the grim forecast if everyone takes seriously their role in preventing the spread of disease.

State police: Wrong-way driver causes fatal interstate crash
BENSALEM, Pa. (AP) — State police say a driver traveling the wrong way on an interstate highway in eastern Pennsylvania caused a crash that left one person dead and two others critically injured. The accident occurred around 1:40 a.m. Wednesday in the northbound lanes of I-95 in Bensalem. State police say a southbound vehicle crashed head-on into another vehicle, though it wasn’t clear why the southbound vehicle was traveling in the wrong direction. Three people were taken to a hospital, where one was pronounced dead a short time later. The names of the injured and further details on their conditions were not disclosed.

Rural areas fear spread of virus as more hospitals close
By JAY REEVES Associated Press
CARROLLTON, Ala. (AP) — The coronavirus pandemic couldn’t come at a worse time for rural communities across the U.S. that have lost their hospitals. Nearly 200 small-town hospitals have closed nationwide since 2005, often forcing residents to drive much farther for health care. Last year was the worst yet for shutdowns, and officials say hundreds more rural hospitals are endangered by the pandemic. That’s because moneymaking procedures like elective surgeries are being delayed and resources diverted because of the viral outbreak. More than 46 million people live in rural areas, and the government says they are generally in poorer health than city dwellers.

Harrisburg, PA – The Pennsylvania State Police announced yesterday that Governor Tom Wolf has granted a six-month extension to the certifications held by privately employed agents pursuant to lethal weapons training.

The Lethal Weapons Training Act, commonly referred to as Act 235, provides certification to privately employed agents to carry a lethal weapon. A lethal weapon is any firearm, device, instrument, material, or any other substance that can bring about great bodily harm or death. The Lethal Weapons Training Act incorporates education and training as part of being a certified agent.

Privately employed agents include individuals employed by hospitals, health care facilities, and other life-sustaining businesses vital to the ongoing fight against COVID-19. The Governor’s action allows a six-month extension of the Act 235 certification for any agents whose five-year certifications expire from March 6, 2020, until September 7, 2020.

This extension was necessary because of the unavailability of Act 235 recertification training courses during the current state of emergency and will allow to continue their important duties during the ongoing public health crisis.

WASHINGTON, March 31 — Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) led nearly three dozen lawmakers in urging the Trump Administration to ease sanctions against Iran, as the country suffers from a major humanitarian crisis triggered by COVID-19. The letter comes just two weeks after the Trump Administration levied additional sanctions against Iran in the midst of the pandemic, which has to date killed more than 2,600 Iranians.

“Rather than continue to invoke new sanctions in the Iranian people’s hour of need, we urge you to substantially suspend sanctions on Iran during this global public health emergency in a humanitarian gesture to the Iranian people to better enable them to fight the virus,” the letter reads. “Additionally, we encourage the U.S. to find a way to deliver aid directly to the Iranian people to support the Iranian people’s fight against Coronavirus, as many other nations have done. There is precedent for both of these steps, as the George W. Bush administration eased sanctions and delivered aid to Iran following a deadly earthquake near Bam in 2003,” the members of Congress conclude.

“Iran is facing a catastrophic toll from the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. sanctions should not be contributing to this humanitarian disaster,” said Sanders. “As a caring nation, we must lift any sanctions hurting Iran’s ability to address this crisis, including financial sanctions. Every country on earth is going to be affected by the coronavirus. We are all in this together. If there was ever a moment to show each other unprecedented cooperation and support internationally, this is that moment.”

“The United States can begin to restore our moral leadership by removing any obstacles that prevent life-saving humanitarian assistance from reaching frontline health care professionals in Iran and other countries battling the novel coronavirus,” said Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.). “I am pleased to join Representative Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Sanders to demand the Trump administration make practical changes to its sanctions on Iran and other countries to give them a fighting chance against our shared invisible enemy: coronavirus.”

“Keeping in place sanctions on Iran during the current public health crisis is not only cruel, it’s criminal,” said Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). “These sanctions are not changing the behavior of the government of Iran, they are punishing innocent civilians who are suffering during this pandemic. A recent Human Rights Watch report found that our sanctions are making it harder for the country to import medicine and other humanitarian supplies—not to mention the devastating economic impact they have on everyday Iranians. The paralyzing network of US sanctions has led banks and companies to pull back from humanitarian trade, meaning Iranians suffering from coronavirus and other illnesses are unable to get the medicine and treatment they need. They are also making it harder for ordinary Iranian citizens to pay their bills—at a time of global economic crisis. Rather than putting in place even harsher sanctions, we need to lift these sanctions now. Lives are at stake.”

“Even as we relentlessly address the COVID-19 crisis at home, we can’t forget this is a global pandemic that requires American leadership,” said Congressman and Vice Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee Joaquin Castro (D-Texas). “That’s why I’m calling on the Trump Administration to enact temporary sanctions relief for the Iranian people and provide humanitarian assistance, as previous administrations have done during catastrophes.”

“Coronavirus is ravaging the globe, and nations like Iran are being hit especially hard. Stubbornly imposing harsh sanctions in the face of this deadly pandemic is inhumane. It will further damage the Iranian healthcare system that is already near collapse, and could contribute to the spread of COVID-19 in ways that jeopardize the safety of Americans and our allies in the region,” said Congressman Jared Huffman (D-Calif). “Past Administrations of both parties have eased sanctions in response to natural disasters in Iran. We should not let our disputes with the Iranian government prevent us from treating the people of Iran with compassion, decency and common sense during this deadly pandemic.”

“The Trump Administration’s ‘maximum pressure’ sanctions campaign is blocking vital medicines and medical equipment from reaching the Iranian people during a global pandemic,” said Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif). “Despite promises to stand by the Iranian people and despite ‘exemptions,’ they are preventing humanitarian supplies from reaching those who need them the most. These sanctions must be removed to ensure humanitarian assistance is not blocked from reaching the Iranian people.”

Additional signatories include Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representatives Pressley (D-Mass.), Pocan (D-Wis.), Tlaib (D-Mich.), Grijalva (D-Ariz.), McGovern (D-Mass.), Beyer (D-Va.), Jayapal (D-Wash.), Rush (D-Ill.), DeFazio (D-Ore.), Khanna (D-Calif.), Johnson (D-Ga.), Foster (D-Ill.), Norton (D-DC), Connolly (D-Va.), Watson-Coleman (D-N.J.), Davis (D-Ill.), Garcia (D-Ill.), Velazquez (D-N.Y.), Blumenauer (D-Ore.), Haaland (D-N.M.), Welch (D-Vt.), DeGette (D-Colo.), Eshoo (D-Calif.), Pingree (D-Maine), Dingell (D-Mich.), and Jackson Lee (D-Texas).

Endorsing organizations include: Just Foreign Policy, J Street, National Iranian American Council, Win Without War, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL), Ploughshares Fund, Indivisible, Peace Action, Demand Progress, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), Project Blueprint, Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND), and No War Campaign.