California could become the first state to set targets to keep the cost of health care from skyrocketing under a proposal offered by the administration of Gov. Gain Newsom (D).

California employees who lose work because of the coronavirus may be eligible for a range of benefits including paid sick leave, paid family leave, unemployment insurance and state disability insurance.

Emergency rooms would likely be swamped, overflowing into “surge tents” outside. Intensive care units might fill to capacity. Test kits and masks could run low. And medical personnel would almost certainly get overwhelmed.

Federal officials on Monday released groundbreaking rules that will let patients download their electronic health records and other health care data onto their smartphones.

Quarantines. Cruise ships idling offshore. Silicon Valley workers holed up at home. Dwindling international trade, and the possibility of sustained damage to the fifth largest economy in the world.

The United States is one of the only rich countries not requiring employers to give their workers paid time off when they’re sick. It has become an urgent issue for more Americans because of the coronavirus outbreak.