This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2020/apr/27/coronavirus-us-live-cases-america-trump-cuomo-states-reopen-plans-latest-news-updates

The article has changed 11 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Coronavirus US live: Trump holds briefing after previously canceling it Coronavirus US live: Trump holds briefing after previously canceling it
(32 minutes later)
Coronavirus task force briefing had been called off following Trump’s suggestion last week that virus be treated with disinfectantCoronavirus task force briefing had been called off following Trump’s suggestion last week that virus be treated with disinfectant
Fact check: Testing
Trump announced at the White House on 27 April overall the US has now administered more than 5.4m coronavirus tests, which is approximately the same as the figure according to the Covid Tracking Project.
From a very slow start, the US, which was previously testing at a rate lower than many other countries, has gradually ramped up. With a population of 329 million, 5.4m tests equates to one test for every 61 people. On 31 March, as the number of cases and deaths was rising fast, the US had conducted just over a million tests, or one for every 301 Americans.
The briefing has ended.
Fact check: Ventilator shortages
Trump has at intervals questioned some state governors’ assertions that they face shortages of medical equipment and are likely to run out of ventilators, or expressed skepticism at numbers being stated, especially by New York leaders.
It is true that some states, so far, have ended up with more ventilators than they originally projected they would need. California has loaned 500 ventilators to states like New York. California hospitals managed to increase their stock from 7,500 machines to more than 11,000, according to the state’s governor, Gavin Newsom. “That has put less strain and pressure on the state’s effort to procure additional ventilators,” Newsom said.
However, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a national shortage. The US has roughly 173,000 ventilators, according to the Center for Health Security at Johns Hopkins University. Experts from Harvard Medical School predict that the US could end up needing 31 times that number to treat coronavirus patients.
An article in the New England Journal of Medicine published on Wednesday 25 March categorically concluded that the US does not have enough ventilators to treat patients with Covid-19 in the coming months.
The authors, American public health experts, wrote: “There is a broad range of estimates of the number of ventilators we will need to care for U.S. patients with Covid-19, from several hundred thousand to as many as a million. The estimates vary depending on the number, speed, and severity of infections, of course, but even the availability of testing affects the number of ventilators needed.... current estimates of the number of ventilators in the United States range from 60,000 to 160,000, depending on whether those that have only partial functionality are included. The national strategic reserve of ventilators is small and far from sufficient for the projected gap. No matter which estimate we use, there are not enough ventilators for patients with Covid-19 in the upcoming months.”
Trump was asked whether he has any information about Kim Jong Un’s health, which has been the subject of rumors and speculation in recent days.
He says: “I can’t tell you exactly. Yes, I do have a very good idea but I can’t talk about it now.”
The vice president appears to be arguing that the administration actually met its goals because millions of test kits were distributed, even though they were not given and processed. That is quite an argument.
We’re hearing a lot about very large numbers of tests that will be done during the month of May. But it’s worth remembering that we have heard big promises in the past about testing, such as the big promises of drive-through testing run by Google, that have yet to materialize.
Asked if he takes any responsibility for reports of people ingesting disinfectant after his own remarks, Trump says: “No, I don’t.”Asked if he takes any responsibility for reports of people ingesting disinfectant after his own remarks, Trump says: “No, I don’t.”
We’ve moved on to questions from the press.We’ve moved on to questions from the press.
A reporter asks why the HHS secretary, Alex Azar, hasn’t been fired.A reporter asks why the HHS secretary, Alex Azar, hasn’t been fired.
Trump says it’s an unfair question and attacks Democratic politicians.Trump says it’s an unfair question and attacks Democratic politicians.
Brett Giroir, the HHS assistant secretary, is now discussing an eight-part plan for testing. Apparently we are on step eight.Brett Giroir, the HHS assistant secretary, is now discussing an eight-part plan for testing. Apparently we are on step eight.
Trump spoke again about testing, and has introduced Dr Birx to discuss a “blueprint” for states to expand testing.Trump spoke again about testing, and has introduced Dr Birx to discuss a “blueprint” for states to expand testing.
We also heard from Krogers, Walmart, and Rite-Aid. Now we’re back to the president.We also heard from Krogers, Walmart, and Rite-Aid. Now we’re back to the president.
The CEO of CVS Health just announced that the pharmacy chain will expand testing to 1,000 CVS facilities in May. For context, there are nearly 10,000 CVS locations across the US, so this means that approximately one out of 10 CVS locations will have testing capacity by next month.
Next is the Walgreens CEO, who says they will triple testing capacity, but does not provide hard numbers.
Trump spoke briefly and generally about the pandemic before introducing a group of CEOs who are choosing not to identify themselves by name. First up was the Quest Diagnostics CEO, Steve Rusckowski, who boasted that his company is now running 50,000 tests per day.
Donald Trump has just come out to start the briefing, alongside Mike Pence.
Computer issues at the Small Business Administration have slowed down the process for the second round of loan applications for the government’s small business relief program, the AP reports.
The SBA was supposed to begin accepting applications for $310bn in funding today, after the intial $349bn in funding for the program was used up in just two weeks. Banks had thousands of applications from small businesses ready to go today, according to the report, but are now struggling to send the applications through to the government computer system.
These loans are designed to protect jobs by offering forgiveness for the money small business owners spend on payroll.
For more on the challenges entrepreneurs facing under stay-at-home orders, my colleagues on the West Coast spoke to five small business owners:
Hello everyone, this is Julia Carrie Wong in Oakland, California, taking over the liveblog for the rest of the afternoon.
We’re waiting to hear from Donald Trump, who is expected to hold a White House briefing shortly. In the meantime, my colleague Daniel Strauss has written about the various groups of states that are uniting to form new regional partnerships to combat the coronavirus.
Here’s a look at what’s happened so far today.
Donald Trump is due to hold a press conference shortly. This was scheduled after the White House initially canceled the briefing.
A number of US states announced plans to reopen businesses despite concern from state officials and public health experts that they need to ramp up their testing capacity before it’s safe to ease restrictions. Ohio and Texas are among the states that outlined plans to reopen on Monday.
New York state cancelled its Democratic primary, sparking outrage among supporters of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders. Sanders campaign said the state should not get to send a delegation to the convention.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said the state’s death told was in decline. He will extend the stay-at-home order for some parts of the state, while allowing others to start easing restrictions on May 15.
Trump is meeting with business leaders from companies like Walgreens, Rite-Aid and CVS.
During the meeting, at which everyone abided by social distancing guidelines, Trump said that he had just gotten off the phone with the nation’s governors.
“Everybody was very happy, and the testing is going really well,” Trump said of his conversation with the governors, according to media pool report of the event. He added that there was “no complaints.”
“Since then, what we’ve achieved is really nothing short of amazing,” he said. “The United States now holds the world record for testing and by a lot.”
Trump said the US conducted more than 5.4m tests so far, which he noted was more than any other country. While true, it overlooks the fact that we lag behind countries like Germany and Canada when looking at tests conducted per million people.
Experts say the US needs to ramp up its daily testing capacity before it is safe to reopen businesses.
Trump said there are 73 retail sites testing sites in 25 states and that testing in communities of color is ramping up.
Former Senate majority leader Harry Reid is urging the US to take a “serious, scientific look” at the national security implications on the reported encounters with unidentified aircrafts.
Responding to a news article that the Pentagon released three Navy videos showing “unidentified aerial phenomena,” Reid said the new footage only “scratches the surface of research and materials available.”
As majority leader, the Nevada senator persuaded the Pentagon to set up a program to study the issue.
“The American people deserve to be informed,” he said on Twitter.
The six northern California counties that led the charge on the first stay-at-home measures in the nation have extended the order through the end of May, writes The Guardian’s Vivian Ho from San Francisco.
The extension came down Monday as California governor Gavin Newsom chastised the tens of thousands who packed beachesin southern California during a weekend heatwave, capturing the contrast in regional enforcement of behavioral shifts meant to curb the spread of the virus.
“This virus doesn’t take the weekends off, this virus doesn’t go home because it’s a beautiful, sunny day along our coast,” Newsom said.”We can’t see the images like we saw, particularly on Saturday in Newport Beach and elsewhere.”
The northern California order, which includes San Francisco and Santa Clara county, was originally set to expire on 3 May. The six counties issued their order four days before the governor issued his shelter-in-place order, which has no end date. Newsom has hinted in recent weeks that if Californians continue to flatten the curve, he may be able to discuss modifying the order soon.
As of Monday, California has had 43,464 positive cases and 1,755 deaths. The state has issued $4.4bn in unemployment insurance payments since 15 March, Newsom said.
Texas governor Greg Abbott says the state’s stay-at-home order on April 30, with “phase one” of the reopening process beginning on May 1.