Confirmed COVID-19 cases have surpassed 1 million worldwide, with 1,039,166 cases reported  as of 10 a.m. CDT April 3. The U.S. has reported 245,646 COVID-19 cases and 6,068 deaths. 

With federal and state governments loosening restrictions on telemedicine due to the coronavirus pandemic, hospitals such as Tampa, Fla.-based Moffitt Cancer Center have reported steep increases in virtual visits with patients. 

New York City-based NewYork-Presbyterian will give a $1,250 bonus to employees who have worked in or supported the COVID-19 front lines, according to the health system.

Many U.S. hospitals and health systems have suspended elective procedures to save capacity, supplies and staff to treat COVID-19 patients.

Brentwood, Tenn.-based Quorum Health, which operates 24 hospitals across the U.S., is preparing Chapter 11 bankruptcy plans as COVID-19 puts pressure on hospital operators' finances, according to Bloomberg.

Citing financial uncertainty brought by the COVID-19 pandemic, Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare plans to raise cash and implement a cost-savings program that includes furloughing 500 workers and deferring capital projects, according to an investor presentation April 2. 

As COVID-19 sweeps the country, hospital CIOs are juggling the information that is necessary to share with public health officials and other employees throughout their organizations. 

Healthcare lost 43,000 jobs in March, with job losses primarily in ambulatory healthcare services, according to the latest jobs report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Louisiana is the state with the largest increase in unemployment due to COVID-19, according to an analysis by personal finance website WalletHub.

A foundation run by Patrick Soon-Shiong, MD, and his wife is trying to acquire a shuttered Los Angeles hospital and reopen it as a COVID-19 care and research center, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Conifer Revenue Cycle Solutions, owned by Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, is closing one office in Louisville, Ky., downsizing another, and laying off 136 employees, according to Louisville Business First.

About 73 percent of U.S. physicians reported being unable to test patients for COVID-19 quickly and easily, according to a recent Doximity survey. 

Registered nurses in seven states protested this week at 15 HCA Healthcare hospitals over what they say is a lack of COVID-19 preparedness, according to the union that represents them. 

Nearly a quarter of respondents in a new weekly survey of primary care practices reported that their practice may need to temporarily close due to COVID-19.

Orange, Calif.-based UCI Health has named Chad T. Lefteris CEO.

Ten hospitals and health systems posted job listings for supply chain expertise in the last week:

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center developed a strategy for hospitals to ethically allocate ventilators to patients when faced with shortages, Stat reported. 

A small study conducted in China shows that hydroxychloroquine, a drug used to treat malaria, could also be help COVID-19 patients recover faster.

The Office for Civil Rights of HHS announced April 2 that it would not penalize hospitals or their business associations for disclosing COIVID-19 related protected health information.

The CDC has "pretty much confirmed" that a significant number of people infected with the new coronavirus remain asymptomatic — as many as 25 percent of those infected, the CDC Director Robert Redfield, MD, said in a March 30 interview with radio station WABE, an NPR affiliate in Atlanta.