Covid-19: Who gets last ventilator? Pondering the unthinkable amid the coronavirus

As a shortage of ventilators looms over hospitals across the U.S., many of them are being forced to reckon with a very difficult question: Who should get these coveted machines? Patients who are infected with Covid-19 are often dealing with a host of other medical conditions, and it could become a small triage team's job to translate all that is in a patient's record into a number that can then be compared head-to-head to another patient's. STAT's Eric Boodman has more here.  

Here's what else is happening:

• Governors from six East Coast states, including New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, announced yesterday they would be coordinating with each other to explore how to slowly reopen operations in their states. Similarly, on the West Coast, governors from California, Washington, and Oregon also said yesterday they would be joining forces to decide how and when to slowly lift restrictions.
• As patients with chronic diseases are having to delay getting routine care due to disruptions from Covid-19, clinicians at health care startups are bracing for a second wave of complications in case these patients' relapse or their conditions worsen.
• STAT's Helen Branswell is out with a new story on how the decades-old BCG vaccine, which is used for tuberculosis, is being explored as a possible vaccine candidate for Covid-19.  
• During a live chat yesterday with Helen, former CDC Director Tom Frieden shared that the U.S. was likely to be "less safe" from the coronavirus if the agency is not communicating regularly with the American public. And in case you missed the chat, you can watch it here. 
• As officials and scientists debate the best way to reopen the economy, Rajaie Batniji writes in a new STAT First Opinion that employers need to lead the way in broad Covid-19 testing among their workforces and certifying who's clear to return to work.