The latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic for April 14, 2020
NEW YORK - FOX 5 NY is updating this blog with the latest developments on the coronavirus outbreak so you can get the information in one spot.
9:42 PM: Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have found that an anti-parasitic drug was able to eliminate the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, at a cellular level; human clinical trials are still needed.
9:40 PM: Ontario, Canada, extends state of emergency for another four weeks.
9:30 PM: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning that the world is facing "a dangerous epidemic of misinformation" about COVID-19.
9:00 PM: New York City health authorities are now including people who probably had COVID-19 but died without ever being tested in the city's official death toll; using this new method, the city's death toll soars to more than 10,000.
8:30 PM: Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey says he has begun to talk about how to ease up on the social distancing requirements; he hopes to reopen the economy "when it's safe."
8:00 PM: President Donald Trump appears to back off his claim of absolute authority and now says he is open to some states "reopening" before federal social distancing guidelines expire at the end of month.
7:30 PM: The U.S. government is debunking videos posted on social media and elsewhere that falsely claim you will have to repay the money you receive as part of the coronavirus economic recovery legislation; Treasury Department spokesperson says, "This is not an advance and there is absolutely no obligation to pay it back."
6:40 PM: President Trump says the U.S. will immediately suspend its share of the funding of the World Health Organization.
6:30 PM: CDC says between 10% and 20% of U.S. coronavirus cases are health care workers, though they tend to be hospitalized at lower rates than other patients.
5:28 PM: U.S. Treasury and airline companies tentatively agree on $25 billion in federal aid to pay workers and employ them through September.
5:15 PM: Major League Baseball cuts salary of senior staff by an average of 35% for this year; guarantees paychecks to full-time employees of MLB central office through May.
4:00 PM: NYC government sends out information about COVID-19 resources available for people with disabilities, access and functional needs.
3:15 PM: CEO Terry Glebocki says Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City has donated supplies to The Salvation Army and Atlantic City Rescue Mission and more than 7,000 pounds of food to the Food Bank of South Jersey.
3:08 PM: China faces a new coronavirus flare-up along its remote and porous northern border along Heilongjiang province, which is far from Wuhan province, the original epicenter of the outbreak.
3:05 PM: Police have searched the Pio Albergho Trivulzio facility in Milan; 143 people have reportedly died there in the past month; with 1,000 beds, it is the largest nursing home in Italy.
2:50 PM: Dr. Anthony Fauci of the White House coronavirus task force says the U.S. does not yet have the critical testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the nation's economy.
2:45 PM: The U.S. Navy removes 126 medical staffers from the USNS Mercy hospital ship docked off Los Angeles; seven of them tested positive for COVID-19.
2:36 PM: Murphy: Keep doing what you're doing; keep wearing masks; keep staying home; it is "absolutely working... we will get through this as one New Jersey family."
2:28 PM: Murphy: Golf courses are closed because of concerns about social distancing; we will reopen them when we're over the hump.
2:25 PM: Persichilli: One reason field hospitals aren't that busy is because some patients may be apprehensive about being tranferred there and have chosen to return home for home care, which is a good option when it is safe.
2:19 PM: Murphy: It is our behavior which is the most important factor; it is up to us; any deviation in that behavior, good and bad, has a huge impact.
2:10 PM: Persichilli: These are the numbers of people with the following underlying conditions that have died: Cardiovascular disease, 797; diabetes mellitus, 482; other chronic conditions, 390; chronic lung disease, 268; chronic renal disease, 200; neurological conditions, 193; cancer, 149; (note: patients may have had more than one condition).
2:07 PM: Persichilli: Model today looks better today than yesterday even though hospital admissions increased by 4% because we look at trends; our hospitals will be busy but appropriately staffed.
2:02 PM: Murphy: I may have given the impression yesterday that we'll make a binary decision by this week about schools (reopen/stay closed); this isn't true; we are looking at several scenarios.
1:57 PM: Murphy: The Hispanic numbers are different from those in New York and we will look at that.
1:49 PM: Persichilli: 27 deaths were from longterm care facilities. More than 5,000 cases in longterm care. 123 facilities are prohibited from admitting patients. Three new deaths at Paramus facility reported.
1:46 PM: Judith Persichilli, NJ Health Commissioner: Yesterday, Rutgers University approved a saliva test. It has the potential for mass testing. If we increase the number tested, that will give the state the data we need that will inform our state strategies moving forward.
1:43 PM: Murphy: Through #NJThanksYou, we turn to Zellie Thomas assisting vulnerable residents through the NJ Mutual Aid. Keep sharing your stories. There are unsung heroes.
1:42 PM: Murphy: I had a conversation with Vice President Mike Pence about what it will look like when we reopen this country.
1:41 PM: Murphy: 240 qualified volunteers have been sent to long-term care facilities to help alleviate staffing needs. More than 10,000 out of state health care professionals have received temporary licenses offering tele-health services. More than 400 retired health care workers have reactive their licenses in the past week.
1:40 PM: Murphy: We are still looking for people with nursing or other medical experience to help with our field medical stations. COVID19.nj.gov/volunteer
1:39 PM: Murphy: I'll be signing an Executive Order extending existing rules to 90 days past end of crisis.
1:38 PM: Murphy: I'll be signing bills including 12 weeks of paid leave to take care of a family member with COVID-19 without losing their job. I'll be signing the bill to extend the tax filing deadline and ending the fiscal year 2020 to September 30.
1:34 PM: Murphy: Unemployment Department has expanded capacity at call centers. 576,904 applications in just the past three weeks. $600 per week from the Federal Cares Act hits today. There are more than 50,000 jobs posted online at COVID19.NJ.GOV. Click on the link for Jobs Portal.
1:30 PM: Murphy: New testing site at American Dream in the Meadowlands for first responders and health care workers only. Visit njpba.adlabscovidtest.com New Raritan Valley Community College testing site opening Thursday. Doctor's prescription required. Visit: somerset-hunterdon@adlabscovidtest.com.
Visit COVID19.NJ.GOV/TESTING for more information.
1:29 PM: Murphy: PNC Bank Arts Center will open at 8 a.m. tomorrow and will hold a maximum of 500 tests. You must be a NJ resident and show symptoms consistent with COVID-19. Bergen Community College will reopen on Thursday at 8 a.m. Consider going to PNC in Holmdel as they have not been hitting their 500 test limit.
1:26 PM: Murphy: Stay at home unless it is essential that we go out. Wear your face covering. Stay six feet apart. COVID-19 can boomerang back on us if we stop doing what we're doing.
1:24 PM: Murphy: Eddy Germain, of the DOT, God bless him. Sgt. AlTerek Patterson of Bedminster leaves behind a wife and children. Iris Anaida Martinez Arroyo. She was an educator; a community and political activist. She was from Puerto Rico. We grieve with the families.
1:22 PM: Murphy: Another 365 blessed souls have died. That brings the total to 2,805 lost brothers and sisters of our New Jersey family. Some of these individuals passed over the last several days.
1:20 PM: Murphy: 4,059 positive test results. 68, 824 New Jerseyans have tested positive. 2,051 critical. 1626 ventilators in use. Between 10 pm Sunday and 10 pm Monday, 514 residents discharged. There may be overnight changes that may not be reflected in the data.
1:19 PM: Murphy: Off-topic: 4,000 outages hopefully resolved by tonight.
1:18 PM: Gov. Phil Murphy holds daily coronavirus briefing. Watch LIVE at this LINK: https://fox5ny.com/live
12:22 PM: Cuomo ends briefing.
12:16 PM: Cuomo asked why increase in death rate at nursing homes when they were the first cases: That population is so vulnerable. It takes one staff member to have the virus.
Dr. Zucker: They have multiple health conditions.
Cuomo: We learned that we could control the virus, but we have also learned our weakness- you cannot hermetically seal a population.
12:12 PM: Dr. Howard Zuker: The state will be at 2,000 tests per day next week. We are working with private sector companies in the 10s of thousands of tests. Cuomo: How many have had the virus? 10 percent ? 20 Percent? Dr. Zucker: 20 percent. Cuomo: How many antibody tests do you want to buy for a state? You want testing capacity as a tool. We want a cleaning protocol. The technology to trace people with the antibody. The states can't do this on their own. I'm not shy about capacity. When I tell you I can't do something, that's the first time you;ve heard me say that since I've been governor.
12:09 PM: Cuomo asked about the ppe supply being created in NYC: Do I believe we are going to see those numbers produced? No. Those companies are going to get oversubscribed and they're going to go to the highest bidder. Tell FEMA you buy all the tests, allocate them by need.
12:02 PM: Cuomo: Let's talk through how we do technology, masks, mass transit system cleaned. How do we make sure if there is an uptick that we have the medical equipment we need? By the way, where is the funding to help states do this? I'm broke. I don't have two nickels to rub together. The last stimulus gave us some Medicaid money. That's the intelligent conversation to have.
11:57 AM: Cuomo asked about making peace with President but he was on TV four times and said he wasn't a king: The first point is he has no total authority. The statement cannot go uncorrected. It's in the 10th amendment to the Constitution. This is not ambiguous. It violates the very concept of democracy. We opted for a president. I worked very hard to be in partnership with the federal government. He is right, I did call and say I need federal assistance. He is right that I asked for help with overflow beds. I praised him for his actions. He was right there, too. I know how key the federal government is. I know how powerful they could be. I don't think they were as powerful as they could be. The federal government has tremendous capacity. He's right that he delivered. I've said that all along.
11:56 AM: Cuomo takes questions from reporters.
11:51 AM: Cuomo: When I was in grade school in Queens I looked at a sign that said, 'Supposed they gave a war and nobody came?' Even then I was very literal. The priest came up behind me and said what's wrong Andrew. I said I don't get it. He said what if they refused to fight. Sometimes it takes more strength to walk away from a fight than engage it. The President will have no fight from me. Think about society. Think about your family. Act responsibly. This is no time to fight. If he wants a fight he's not going to get it from me. In this reopening, we could lose all the progress we've made.
11:46 AM: Cuomo: The President said he had total authority. That is not an accurate statement in my opinion. We do not have a king. The colonies formed the federal government. The colonies ceded some responsibilities to a federal government. The President did his briefing last night and the President was clearly unhappy. The President did a number of tweets this morning. He was clearly unhappy. The President is clearly spoiling for a fight in this issue. The worst thing we can do in this is start with political division. The best thing we have done for the past 44 days is we have worked together. Even though it's an election year. Even though the politics is so intense, we said not here. This is too important to play politics.
11:43 AM: Cuomo: We're all tired of this. We have a plan to reopen that is regional. A seven-state plan that is not counter to what we are doing in New York.
11:41 AM: Cuomo: We changed the curve. We could have done this whole lockdown and you still could have seen those numbers going up.
11:39 AM: Cuomo: 778 lives lost yesterday. That number is up. That is the most painful number. Over the last few days, the level is basically flat. 10,834 total deaths.
11:37 AM: Cuomo: We still have a few hotspots. The number of deaths in nursing homes is up.
11:35 AM: Cuomo: Hospitalizations, basically flat, ticked down. Probably the first tick down. We think we are the apex in the plateau. The curve in total hospitalizations over three days is down. New hospitalized per day is still down but we still have 1,649 new COVID cases yesterday.
11:34 AM: Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds daily coronavirus briefing. Watch LIVE at this LINK: https://fox5ny.com/live
11:00 AM: The New York Blood Center is seeking donations of plasma from those who have recovered from COVID-19: https://nybc.org/
10:54 AM: De Blasio ends briefing by highlighting the Made in New York initiative.
10:36 AM: De Blasio asked about seniors who can't access food. We are going to present a much more detailed plan from Food Czar Catherina Garcia. We will not let any New Yorker go hungry at either the 435 programs through DOE, all of the soup kitchens and food pantries we're supporting and direct deliveries. It needs to be an immediate turnaround.
10:34 AM: De Blasio asked about why medical personnel are required to present a doctor's note if ill: The intention is one thing: to make sure every available healthcare worker that is sick gets well.
10:30 AM: De Blasio asked about what work is being done to plan the future of the city in terms of transportation, sustainability : We are not looking to bring back the status quo. When we come back it also has to be about a redistribution in terms of fairness and equality. We have to build a city that uses more mass transit.
10:26 AM: De Blasio asked about budget and summer youth employment program: We've talked about somewhere in May and June that we have proof that we can change some of the restrictions. Then we have to watch like hawks. Today, those indicators went in the wrong direction. We cannot plan summer initiatives right now. We're not confident about June, July and August that people can gather. We are going to try to make available all online programs that we can to students.
10:24 AM: De Blasio asked if he has spoken to Gov. Cuomo about the regional supply effort: I have not. It's our police, our fire department, our EMS... who help our people. My job is to protect New Yorkers.
10:21 AM: De Blasio asked who will be prioritized for testing and cost of the tests from Aria and names of other companies: We'll get you a number about Aria. In the next few days, we'll announce partners. The exact priorities we will announce shortly. It's obviously the hardest-hit areas. Folks with preexisting conditions, folks who are older, and folks who have both.
10:18 AM: De Blasio asked about debate regarding opening the economy and who should make that decision: That fact is we cannot jump too soon. This is about safety and people's health, If we do it prematurely, we will see a resurgence. Prove that we have beaten it back. That's when you can start to loosen up.
10:16 AM: De Blasio asked about closing streets to vehicular traffic: I've asked the NYPD to analyze the Oakland Plan, adamantly, I was told we are profoundly different than Oakland, California. This is all about safety. I do not believe we can do that safely.
10:07 AM: De Blasio asked about how the testing kits and workforce will be deployed: The targeted piece in the communities hardest hit is necessary and applying testing everywhere that it's needed. Every day changes. To get the ppes to know we can sustain testing is still a challenge. Things change so rapidly. Literally, days ago, we were planning to convert our hospitals into ICUs. We are getting some improvement so that is freeing up the personnel. Every day we will be working to perfect that.
10:07 AM: De Blasio takes questions from reporters
10:06 AM: De Blasio: The three indicators that we're watching daily:
326 admitted to the hospital down from 383
850 in ICU up from 835
positive cases 59.6 up from 58.1 percent/ public health lab positive cases: 84 percent down 78.4 percent
9:59 AM: De Blasio: As cases reduce that will help free up some medical personnel. I want to challenge all New Yorkers and people everywhere who can contribute to this- tech companies, pharmaceutical companies, please communicate with us email us at TestHelp@edc.nyc.
9:57 AM: De Blasio: Starting in a few weeks, we will be producing 50K test kits per week with components put together right here. Companies, universities, building a brand new supply chain. Production will begin in May. In addition to the diagnostic test kits by Aria Diagnostics. We will have to take that capacity and make sure there are labs that can handle that capacity.
9:54 AM: De Blasio: A testing kit includes a nasal swab, liquid solution- the viral transport medium, and the tube with a screw top that keeps this sample secure and sanitary. You need all these things to test for the coronavirus.
9:50 AM: De Blasio: We had a breakthrough on the open market and one in NYC. Aria Diagnostics, Carmel, Indiana, confirms it can produce testing kits regularly for NYC. Starting Monday, we'll be purchasing 50K test kits per week from Aria Diagnostics. The calvary has come from Carmel, Indiana. That is going a major step forward for this city.
9:48 AM: De Blasio: The next point, surgical gowns. They are being made by five firms in NYC. Currently making 30K per week. Goal is 250K per week.
9:45 AM: De Blasio: Let me talk to you today about how we got to what I'm going to talk to you about. PPE (personal protective equipment) work is now being super-charged. We have eight companies all working together to make the maximum number of face shields. They are making 240K per week but will grow to 465K by April 24 and the goal is 620K per week. That means we will be able to fulfill our need right here in New York City. NYC will be self-sufficient.
9:42 AM: Mayor Bill de Blasio holds daily briefing. Watch LIVE at this LINK: https://fox5ny.com/live
8:39 AM: The Louis Armstrong Educational Foundation has established a fund that will provide $1,000 grants to assist freelance jazz musicians.
8:36 AM: The latest statistics on the coronavirus pandemic:
Total cases, worldwide: 1,930,780 cases
Total deaths, worldwide: 120,450 deaths
Total cases, United States: 582,590 cases
Total deaths, United States: 23,649 deaths
New York City and New York State Stats
New York State: 196,146 cases; 10,058 deaths
New York City: 106,763 cases; 7,349 deaths
Nassau County: 24,358 cases; 910 deaths
Suffolk County: 22,040 cases; 568 deaths
Westchester: 19,786 cases; 557 deaths
8:29 AM: A volunteer firefighter in Indiana recently had the surprise of a lifetime. Charles Calvin says he withdrew $200 from his checking account at an ATM last weekend and found a balance of $8.2 million. Calvin was supposed to receive $1,700 from the stimulus payments going out to Americans to help assist those impacted by the coronavirus.
7:12 AM: Students at a high school in Canada have launched a hotline aimed uplifting senior citizens who are alone during the coronavirus pandemic. Joy4All is a free service that offers positive, recorded phone messages including jokes, stories and upbeat messages. The initiative helps keep members of at-risk populations safe at home.
MORE: https://www.fox5ny.com/news/high-schoolers-launch-positive-hotline-for-seniors
7:00 AM: Watch Good Day New York at this link: https://fox5ny.com/live
5:51 AM: Heartbreaking loss for the family of a 38-year-old man who died from COVID-19. Adding to their grief, the fact that only one person can attend the burial for Jorel Alfonso. Younger brother Justin Alfonso says he will likely take on that emotional task as he is a photographer and has the equipment to live-stream for the rest of the family to take part in.
5:35 AM: Thousands of U.S. cities and counties grappling with the economic fallout caused by the coronavirus pandemic might receive little, if any, of the emergency funding allotted for state and local governments in the $2.2 trillion stimulus package.
https://www.fox5ny.com/news/most-covid-19-stimulus-deposits-to-be-received-by-wednesday-mnuchin-says