COVID-19 news: U.S. deaths surpass 80,000; governor pressuring for early reopening now in quarantine

At a Rose Garden press briefing today, Donald Trump lied repeatedly about the status of COVID-19 testing in this nation while claiming, with no evidence, that adequate testing for all Americans who want tests would be available "very soon." The appearance was most notable for its new two-podium setup, in which other speakers were not allowed to touch Trump's own podium—a sign of new Trump concern over multiple new White House infections—and for Trump leaving in a huff after a female reporter asked him a question he didn't like.

The number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States has now surpassed 80,000.

Today in pandemic news:

• Trump took to Twitter to insist that the "great people of Pennsylvania want their freedom now," another apparent effort to incite rebellion against state social distancing orders.

• Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, who signed on to a Washington Post op-ed by Republican governors touting their pandemic victories and who visited the White House to push for reopening states despite the pandemic, has now placed herself in modified quarantine after being exposed to the virus during that White House visit.

• A Mike Pence spokesperson rejected reports that Pence would self-quarantine after his press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the virus, saying Pence would in fact return to the White House today.

• Democratic frontrunner Joe Biden challenged Trump's incompetent and partisan pandemic actions in a Washington Post op-ed.

• A new memo from a Jared Kushner friend in the State Department proposes that the government offer Americans an exchange: $10,000 in relief now, if those Americans agree to cut their future Social Security and other retirement benefits.

• After blowing out the federal budget with gargantuan corporate tax cuts and authorizing a $500 billion corporate bailout package, Republicans are stating increasing concern over the "cost" of any pandemic relief spending targeted toward the rest of America.

• Despite Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's new reluctance to providing pandemic relief, in his home state of Kentucky the Democratic governor continues to make moves to more swiftly provide that assistance.

• Trump and allies continue to sell the deaths of 80,000 Americans as casualties of a "war" or "military" operation, an effort to rally nationalist sentiment for accepting those and future deaths.

• Fewer than 10% of Americans believe the official U.S. death rates being reported are accurate. About the same number now know someone who has died from the virus.

• Another apparent missed opportunity to ramp up N95 mask production before shortages could occur: A U.S. company told the administration in late January it could reactivate mothballed machines to produce an additional 1.7 million masks per week, though it would be "very difficult" and expensive.

• Pandemic preparedness is complex and difficult even when handled competently; a shortage of medical-grade glass would make it difficult to swiftly distribute a COVID-19 vaccine even if one were discovered tomorrow.

• Washington militia groups involved with state anti-lockdown protests are now threatening whistleblowers who have reported violations of state lockdown orders. The names of thousands of Washington residents who made reports, culled from public records, were published on an internet "Snitch List" by "3% of Washington" and "Reopen Washington State" Facebook groups.

• A Castle Rock, Colorado, restaurant defied closure orders to open on Mother's Day, attracting a packed crowd. The restaurant's Twitter feed declared it was standing "against the overreach of our governor in Colorado!"

• Large food delivery companies are furious at growing city caps on the fees they are allowed to charge restaurants as those businesses struggle to remain solvent under pandemic takeout-only orders, even as the delivery "apps" pull in record revenues. A Chicago restaurant posted the fees one such service was taking: Of $1,042 in prepaid food orders by customers, GrubHub took all but $376.

• Here's how to vote from home in every primary this year.

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