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Coronavirus US live: Andrew Cuomo says New York may be hitting apex of crisis
Coronavirus US live: Andrew Cuomo says New York may be hitting apex of crisis
(32 minutes later)
The governor of New York noted the state’s death rate has stayed relatively flat for two days, but warned healthcare system remains overwhelmed
The governor of New York noted the state’s death rate has stayed relatively flat for two days, but warned healthcare system remains overwhelmed
Trump says the US has performed 1.79m tests across the US. He’s downplaying the shortage of tests in the country, which has caused major problems. Some background on how the shortage is playing out in California:
Trump took a jab at the Democratic governor JB Pritzker of Illinois, saying, “Governor Pritzker may not be happy when he talks to the press.”
The governor had criticized Trump earlier about his criticisms of states.
Trump on his conversation with Joe Biden today:
Context on Trump’s claims that he is working with the FDA and companies are ready to assist London:
In the week beginning 30 March, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) provided hydroxychloroquine with an “emergency use authorization” to use on coronavirus patients in some circumstances. State officials in New York have said that about 4,000 seriously ill patients are now being treated with the drug.
But critics point out a side effect is heart stoppage, meaning the drug is potentially deadly. Some medical experts have called for the drug to be used to treat the virus but others have warned of a need for more trials and controlled testing to avoid worsening the pandemic.
Trump says Fema and HHS have distributed 11.7m N95 respirators and emphasizes that this is a large number. He is now praising the private companies, including Apple and Salesforce, that have been donating supplies and helping states.
Trump says the governors “are extremely happy with what we are doing”. He also said social distancing is working and is again striking an optimistic tone about hospital beds, saying, “We’ll see whether or not our original projects are right.” Officials have warned that this might be one of the worst weeks yet for the Covid-19 outbreak in the US.
Trump also said he asked drug companies to “contact London” regarding Boris Johnon to see “if we can be of help”. The specifics of these conversations were unclear.
Trump said he is praying for Boris Johnson, the UK prime minster now in intensive care with coronavirus: “We are working with London with respect to Boris Johnson.”
Trump’s briefing has begun. Dr Anthony Fauci is present. Follow along for updates.
Michael Che of SNL has lost his grandmother to coronavirus, according to an Instagram post
From the Guardian’s global coronavirus blog, the British pound has dropped against the US dollar following news that the UK’s prime minister had been moved into intensive care:
From the Guardian’s global coronavirus blog, the British pound has dropped against the US dollar following news that the UK’s prime minister had been moved into intensive care:
Trump says the briefing will begin in 15 minutes:
Trump says the briefing will begin in 15 minutes:
While we wait for Trump’s briefing to begin, my colleague Abené Clayton in Oakland has this report on the push for California’s prisons to release older people and others at risk of death behind bars due to Covid-19:
While we wait for Trump’s briefing to begin, my colleague Abené Clayton in Oakland has this report on the push for California’s prisons to release older people and others at risk of death behind bars due to Covid-19:
More here on the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 in black communities in the US:
In Chicago, the mayor has confirmed that more than half of the Covid-19 patients are black, even though black residents make up just 30% of the city’s population. More from the AP:
Joe Biden has reportedly talked to Trump about Covid-19, according to an NBC News reporter:
It hasn’t been reported yet what the two discussed. Earlier in the day, the president was mocking Biden for saying the Democratic convention may have to be “virtual” due to coronavirus.
Hi all - Sam Levin in Los Angeles taking over blog coverage for the rest of the day. Trump’s daily briefing is scheduled to start in half an hour, we’ll be covering it live with fact checks.
The Pentagon has just announced that it is sending a total of 1,500 medical personnel to New York City this week.
The goal is to offset the burden on local hospitals as soon as possible. About half of the 1,500 have already arrived, according to officials.
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Sam Levin, will take over the blog for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
British prime minister Boris Johnson has been moved to intensive care as he battles coronavirus. Johnson was hospitalized yesterday, and No 10 said today that his condition had worsened, although he is conscious.
The US coronavirus death toll has surpassed 10,000. More than 350,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed, and health experts have said this could be the worst week for the country since the crisis started.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the state may be starting to reach the apex of its crisis. But Cuomo extended the state’s “stay at home” order until April 29, emphasizing this is not the time to be lax about social distancing precautions.
Wisconsin governor Tony Evers issued an executive order to cancel in-person voting for tomorrow’s presidential primary. The move was immediately challenged by the Republican leaders of the state legislature, who refused to support a bill canceling in-person voting over the weekend.
Sam will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
The Dow closed up about 1,600 points, even as health exerpts warned this could be the country’s worst week yet since the coronavirus crisis started.
The Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all closed up more than 7% as some coronavirus projections showed improvement.
One frequently cited model lowered its prediction for the country’s overall coronavirus death toll by about 12,000.
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports on the latest from California:
With the number of hospitalizations for coronavirus in California rising 5.6% over the weekend, the state is loaning 500 state-owned ventilators to the strategic national stockpile inventory, the governor announced Monday.
“California is stepping up to help our fellow Americans in New York and across the country who are being impacted the hardest right now by the covid-19 pandemic,” said Gavin Newsom, California’s governor. “We still have a long road ahead of us in the Golden State – and we’re aggressively preparing for a surge – but we can’t turn our back on Americans whose lives depend on having a ventilator now. We’re meeting this moment with compassion.”
California is currently reporting 15,393 positive cases and 357 deaths. There are 1,085 people in intensive care unit beds throughout the state, and 2,509 hospitalized total, Newsom said.
Despite taking aggressive and early social distancing and stay-at-home measures, the state is still projecting that California will run out of hospital beds by mid-May.
Newsom has been pushing to add 50,000 hospital beds to the state’s capacity before then, as well as stocking up on protective gear and supplies like ventilators.
He noted that if California needs the 500 ventilators back, “we’ll get them back” – but at the moment, there is greater need elsewhere in the country.
Early evidence suggests African Americans are disproportionately dying from coronavirus.
Michigan has confirmed 617 coronavirus deaths, and 41% of patients who died were black, even though African Americans make up only 14% of the state’s population.
African Americans also account for 14 of the 24 coronavirus deaths in Washington, DC, where about 45% of the city population is black.
The Guardian’s global coronavirus blog has more details on British prime minister Boris Johnson’s move to intensive care:
British prime minister Boris Johnson has been taken into intensive care as he battles coronavirus.
No 10 said yesterday that the prime minister had been hospitalized with a high fever to receive tests. Officials have not denied he is on oxygen.
The global coronavirus death toll has now surpassed 70,000, with Italy and Spain accounting for about 30,000 of the deaths.
In comparison, the US death toll surpassed 10,000 earlier today, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins.
However, deaths in both Italy and Spain appear to be on the decline. Follow the Guardian’s global coronavirus blog for more updates:
