Reuters US Domestic News Summary

Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs. At some U.S. hospitals, drugs, catheters, oxygen tanks run low

It's not just protective facemasks that are in short supply: health workers in U.S. hospitals are reporting dwindling stocks of drugs, catheters and other medical miscellany vital for caring for a surge in patients stricken by the coronavirus outbreak. Marney Gruber, a doctor who works in emergency rooms around New York City, said a number of commonly used medications are in short supply, and at least one hospital had run out of central line kits, which are used to administer drugs to patients in intensive care. Coronavirus emerges as major threat to U.S. election process

U.S. election officials looking to construct a safe voting system in a worsening coronavirus pandemic are confronting a grim reality: there may not be enough time, money or political will to make it happen by the November election. The possibility the pandemic could last into the fall, or flare again as millions of voters are set to choose the nation's next president, has state and local officials scrambling for alternatives to help keep voters safe. U.S. ventilator makers pull out all stops to fight coronavirus

As U.S. demand for ventilators skyrockets during the coronavirus pandemic, smaller medical device makers are simplifying their designs and pushing other work aside to make more of the devices. The United States had equipment to help patients breathe when they can no longer do so on their own to about 160,000 people, according to research compiled by the Johns Hopkins Center for Health and Security. New York to build eight temporary hospitals, braces for surge in patients, Cuomo says

New York plans to build eight temporary hospitals to meet an expected surge in coronavirus patients, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Friday, and the state estimates that demand for hospital capacity will peak in three weeks. Cuomo also took an apparent swipe at U.S. President Donald Trump's claim that New York was exaggerating its needs for resources to fight the outbreak and did not really need the 30,000 ventilators it has sought from the federal government. Pentagon eyes Chicago, Michigan, Florida, Louisiana as coronavirus spreads

The U.S. military is watching coronavirus infection trends in Chicago, Michigan, Florida and Louisiana with concern as it weighs where else it may have deploy, after boosting aid to New York, California and Washington, a top general said on Friday. Air Force General John Hyten, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the military was doing its own analysis as well as looking at data on infections compiled elsewhere in the government. Trump to meet next week on next steps for virus battle, says U.S. to make 100,000 ventilators

President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would meet advisers early next week to discuss the next steps in fighting the coronavirus and the possibility of opening the U.S. economy, and said the United States would produce 100,000 ventilators in 100 days. Trump named White House aide Peter Navarro to coordinate production of the Defense Production Act, which the president invoked on Friday to require General Motors Co to build ventilators for coronavirus patients. U.S. group bombards doctors with coronavirus petition to cut 'red tape'

Dr. Eric Anderson had just finished vacuuming his New Hampshire home early on Wednesday when the phone in his pocket buzzed with an unusual text message. The message - part of a barrage of texts sent to doctors across the nation - urged him to sign a petition in support of hydroxychloroquine, an anti-malaria drug touted by President Donald Trump as a potential miracle cure for COVID-19, the contagious and sometimes deadly respiratory disease caused by the new coronavirus. Trump authorizes call-up of military reservists to active duty: white house

U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday signed an executive order authorizing the secretaries of homeland security and defense to call up military and Coast Guard reservists to active duty, the White House said. Under the order, the two secretaries are authorized to order reservists from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard to active duty for up to two years "not to exceed 1,000,000 members on active duty at any one time." As U.S. cases exceed 100,000, doctors decry scarcity of drugs and equipment

Doctors and nurses on the front lines of the U.S. coronavirus crisis pleaded on Friday for more protective gear and equipment to treat waves of patients expected to overwhelm hospitals as the number of known U.S. infections surpassed 100,000, with more than 1,500 dead. Physicians have called attention to a desperate need for additional ventilators, machines that help patients breathe and are widely needed for those suffering from COVID-19, the respiratory ailment caused by the highly contagious novel coronavirus. Bipartisan majority of Americans reject Trump idea to reopen by Easter: Reuters/Ipsos poll

A bipartisan majority of Americans appear to reject an idea floated by President Donald Trump to reopen businesses by Easter, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll, which also showed that nearly one in four have been laid off or furloughed during the coronavirus outbreak. The March 26-27 opinion poll, released Friday, also showed that the public is much more likely to heed medical advice when it is coming from doctors, local police and government officials than when it comes from Trump.