Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, issued a 30-day stay at home order this Wednesday, as part of a national effort to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, but by waiting this long into the pandemic to issue the order "absolutely" cost lives, according to Rep. Donna Shalala (D-Fla).

The Trump administration's approach of treating the federal government and all 50 state governments as independent purchasers of medical equipment needed to combat the outbreak of the novel coronavirus has caused New York to lose 17,000 ventilators it needs to support the large number of COVID-19 cases in the state, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

US political leaders, health professionals and others are all increasingly calling for a blanket national stay-at-home order to try to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus outbreak.

The public health professionals tracking the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic believe that there is a sizeable population of asymptomatic people infected with the virus who are playing a role in spreading the pandemic, according to Dr Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator.

COVID-19 patients who have to go on a ventilator only have a 20 percent of ever coming off of it again, according to New York Gov Andrew Cuomo (D), who is leading the largest mobilization against the disease in the United States.

Dr Anthony Fauci, the famed immunologist who is advising Donald Trump on the outbreak of the novel coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic--and has increasingly become the public face in the crisis--is starting to offer Americans a glimmer of hope even as the deadly virus continues to spread.