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Good morning.

I'm James Holman from the Washington Post and this is the Daily 202 for Friday, March 20th.

In today's news, the novel coronavirus is killing men at much higher rates than women.

Rural areas of our country are likely to have the highest death rates,

and the shortage of testing kits

has amplified inequities in our health care system.

But first, the big idea.

Experts around the country have been churning out model after model, marshalling every tool from math, medicine, science, and history,

to try to predict the coming chaos unleashed by the coronavirus and to make preparations. At the heart of their algorithms is a scary

but empowering truth. What happens next depends largely on us, our government and

politicians and health institutions, and in particular the

328 million inhabitants of this country.

All making tiny decisions on a daily basis with outsized consequences for our collective future.

In the worst case scenario, America is on a trajectory toward 1.1 million deaths. That model envisions the sick pouring into hospitals,

overwhelming even makeshift beds and parking lot tents. Doctors would have to

make agonizing decisions about who gets scarce resources.

Shortages of frontline clinicians would worsen as they get infected,

some dying alongside their patients.

Trust in government already tenuous would erode further.

...