The latest developments on the coronavirus pandemic for April 30, 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.\
10:51 PM: In a world forever changed by the COVID-19 crisis, what will going out to a restuarant in the future look like?
10:01 PM: Amazon, which Americans are relying on heavily to stock up on goods, saw first-quarter sales skyrocketing in the first quarter but profits dropping 29% because of the rising costs to get all those packages shipped. In contrast, American Airlines and United Airlines lost a combined $4 billion as the pandemic triggered a sharp drop in air travel.
9:29 PM: As the White House’s social distancing guidelines expire and states like Georgia and Oklahoma lift coronavirus lockdown orders, the desire to go back to the way things were doesn’t necessarily mean that social life will be what it was before the restrictions.
Millions of people around the world got used to a new reality under self isolation, and social distancing isn’t likely to fade away anytime soon.
8:41 PM: The NYPD is reporting as of April 30, 2,667 uniformed members of the force are out sick, accounting for 7.4 percent of the Department’s uniformed workforce, down from a high of 19.8 percent. So far, 5,049 members of the NYPD have tested positive for coronavirus.
So far, 4,043 members of the NYPD have returned to full-duty after recovering from a positive test for the coronavirus and 753 uniformed members and 216 civilian members are still out sick, diagnosed with coronavirus. 37 members of the NYP have died due to coronavirus-related illnesses.
8:18 PM: The hordes of travelers who pack into New York City’s Times Square are long gone. So are the thousands of jobs catering to the tourists who make it the nation’s most visited city. The coronavirus pandemic has devastated the city's tourism economy.
7:20 PM: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says state and local governments are seeking up to $1 trillion for coronavirus costs. It's an eye-popping sum for the next relief package that’s certain to run into opposition from Senate Republicans.
7:00 PM: In a Thursday address on “protecting America’s seniors,” President Donald Trump discussed new initiatives pertaining to COVID-19 and its impact on nursing homes and their residents.
6:25 PM: Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the United States, is planning to reopen a number of its properties soon, but with strict coronavirus safety measures, according to multiple reports.
6:10 PM: Outrage is building among family members of the dead at a Massachusetts home for aging veterans who say leadership allowed the coronavirus to spread unchecked and failed to protect their loved ones.
5:29 PM: A survey finds that the coronavirus pandemic is taking a toll on Americans’ mental health and stress levels. Roughly two-thirds of Americans say they felt nervous, depressed, lonely or hopeless at least one of the past seven days.
4:56 PM: Fewer than half of working-age Americans could earn a paycheck in May as the coronavirus pandemic triggers millions of job losses.
4:40 PM: Little League International announced on Thursday, April 30 that it had canceled its seven World Series tournaments and respective regional qualifying events due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
4:20 PM: Murphy says that to his knowledge, nothing he raised with President Trump was outright refused.
3:52 PM: Department of Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli says that the rate of hospitalizations in the state is slowly decreasing.
3:46 PM: Murphy says that universal testing for Departments of Corrections’ inmates and staff will begin at the end of next week.
3:41 PM: Murphy announces 460 new coronavirus deaths, the state's largest daily death toll, bringing its death toll to 7,228.
3:38 PM: Murphy says that while he trusts New Jersey residents, if people do not maintain social distancing rules, the state’s parks will be closed again after this weekend.
3:37 PM: Murphy announces 2,633 positive coronavirus test results, with 118,652 statewide. Across the state the number of cases doubling has continued to slow.
3:35 PM: Murphy says that the federal government is sending New Jersey 550,000 new COVID-19 test kids and over 700,000 swabs. They have also received a commitment that 358 nursing homes in the state will be receiving a direct shipment of PPE.
3:34 PM: Murphy says he had a productive and broad discussion with President Donald Trump about mitigation strategies and eventually reopening the state. He also said he underlined to the President that the state wil not be able to recover without significant funds from the government.
3:32 PM: New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy is holding his daily coronavirus update. https://www.fox5ny.com/live
3:25 PM: NASCAR announced Thursday that it will resume its season without fans starting May 17 at Darlington Raceway in South Carolina with the premier Cup Series racing three more times in a 10-day span.
2:45 PM: The MTA is preparing to suspend overnight subway service so that crews can step up the cleaning of trains and stations.
2:10 PM: Birch Family Services, which provides services to more than 2,000 New Yorkers with autism and developmental disabilities and their families, has a fundraiser on GoFundMe to help cover the costs of PPE and other supplies for professionals on the front lines during the pandemic.
2:05 PM: Notify NYC message: "Help your city. Volunteer, donate or partner with the City of New York. Visit NYC.gov/helpnow to learn how to get involved."
2:00 PM: GEICO says it will give its auto, motorcycle, and RV policyholders a 15% credit on their next 6-month or 12-month policy term to "help provide support during COVID-19."
1:42 PM: U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the new coronavirus was “not manmade or genetically modified” but say they are still examining whether the origins of the pandemic trace to contact with infected animals or an accident at a Chinese lab.
MORE: https://www.fox5ny.com/news/us-intel-coronavirus-not-manmade-still-studying-lab-theory
1:39 PM: The Navy hospital ship sent to relieve stressed New York City hospitals as coronavirus cases surged left Manhattan's west side Thursday for its home port in Virginia.
MORE: https://www.fox5ny.com/news/navy-ship-comfort-sent-to-aid-nyc-hospitals-departs-manhattans-west-side
12:37 PM: Gov. Cuomo ends briefing.
12:34 PM: Cuomo asked about hospitals wanting to get back to elective surgeries.
Cuomo: We have a buffer on the capacity at hospitals. You can go up to 70 percent but you have to leave 30 percent in case that COVID number spikes.
12:33 PM: Cuomo asked about the Brooklyn funeral home that had trucks with bodies with unsanitary conditions.
Dr. Howard Zucker: We are investigating that funeral home. There were no complaints to the state Dept of Health before.
12:26 PM: Cuomo asked about an infected person going out and tracing that person's contacts.
Cuomo: They will trace people you have been in close contact with and then they go down that list. You do the best you can. They have sophisticated technology that can see where your phone is and ping other cell users.
12:25 PM: Cuomo asked about toxic shock in children.
Dr. Howard Zuker: We know it affects the lining of the blood vessels. Children who have inflammation of those vessels have toxic shock. It's rare. Its reported overseas.
12:24 PM: Cuomo asked about rent due and how NY can help.
Cuomo: We are doing everything we can to move the unemployment checks. No one can be evicted for non-payment of rent.
12:21 PM: Cuomo asked if he should have closed down earlier.
Cuomo: We were the first to shut down. We had cases coming from Europe and no one knew. The virus went from China to Europe, nobody saw that happening otherwise you would have had a Europe travel ban. If I could rewind the tape, I would go back to November/December and where is the CDC, NIH?
12:19 PM: Cuomo asked when subway cleaning is and if it is part of the PAUSE? When is the announcement on schools?
It's not part of the PAUSE. The cleaning will begin the morning hours of May 6. The announcement is coming at the end of the week.
12:17 PM: Cuomo: To essential workers, we are doing everything we can to keep you safe. We are going to move heaven and earth to make that happen.
12:08 PM: Mayor Bill de Blasio: It's a pleasure to be with you. When we disrupt something that isn't working and we go some place new and better that's a positive. I commend you and everyone at the MTA. I really appreciate contact tracing and that my predecessor is stepping up in a big way. NYC is hiring 1,000 contact tracers with medical background. On the issue of the MTA, look at the consistent heroism of the first responders, grocery store workers. We owe it to them to support them every way possible. This new plan will help us get to people more effectively. For decades, homeless encampments were tolerate in NYC. We shut them down and it helped us get the homeless the help they need.
11:59 AM: Cuomo: The MTA stepped up and cleaned the subways and buses every 72 hours. We learned the virus can live on surfaces hours and days. Trains and buses should now be infected every 24 hours. It's a task that nobody has ever imagined before. How do you disinfect a train? We clean them but how do you disinfect? This is new chemicals for workers, equipment and methods. YOu have to disinfect every place a hand can tough on a subway or wherever droplets could land. You have to disinfect the entire interior of the car. It's a massive undertaking. Stop train service from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. every night. The MTA will launch the Essential Connector Program: buses, dollar vans and for hire vehicles if necessary at no cost to the essential worker to provide transport during those hours. The MTA will also disinfect the fleet on the LIRR and Metro North without service disruption. This is ambitious as anything we've undertaken. The MTA has recommended this plan. The state will do whatever it can. It's going to require a lot of assistance from the NYPD and lots of city agencies. The Mayor is stepping up to the plate here. I applaud him for his ambition here and taking this on.
11:58 AM: Cuomo: I had two nightmares about this, that we would shut things down and we would see the rate go out. The other was our essential workers decide not to go to work. That's why I say they are the heroes of today. They need the public transit system. We need them to do it but what is our obligation? That we do everything we can to do it safe.
11:54 AM: Cuomo: Next problem. In an emergency, problems compound. We have that now with the NYC subway system. It had been happening for weeks. No one anticipated it. MTA employees and NYPD have become sick and some have lost their lives. You then have fewer MTA workers and NYPD workers on the trains. We have a greater need to disinfect the stations, trains, buses and ADA vehicles. You have fewer people to monitor and maintain the system. At the same time, you have more homeless people on fewer trains and fewer people to outreach to homeless people. Then, we need our essential workers to go to work on the subways.
11:51 AM: Cuomo: Thank you to Mayor Bloomberg. We are working with Governor Murphy and Governor Lamont.
11:47 AM: Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg: Contact tracing is our best hope for isolating the virus when it appears and keeping it isolated. It's a very big undertaking. We've enlisted the best public health hospital in the world at Johns Hopkins University. Hiring, training and deploying a small army of New Yorkers is the real challenge. We have brought in a staffing organization, CUNY and SUNY to hep identify job applicants. Johns Hopkins has created an online training class and test that you need to pass. Vital Strategies is developing three smart phone apps for tracers and patients. We'll make the playbook public. As tough as times are we are New Yorkers and we will get through this together.
11:45 AM: Cuomo: We will need an army of tracers. Mayor Bloomberg and his philanthropy, Johns Hopkins , and the NYS Department of Health are gathering the army. We will draw from local, county entities.
11:43 AM: Cuomo: Last week, we announced Mayor Michael Bloomberg would lead the initiative. We need it tomorrow. You need the tracing to come up to scale that we're doing on the testing. You need 30 contact tracers for every 100,000 and more tracers based on projected number of cases in region.
11:40 AM: Cuomo: Today we are going to talk about tracing. Second step is trace those people who have come back positive. The faster you trace the better. Trace who have they met with over the past 14 days and then you contact those people. The problem is the scale we have to do this at. Yesterday, 4,681 people were positive. How do you trace 4,681 people and contact the people they've been in contact with?
11:38 AM: Cuomo: Test, trace, isolate. We will test enough people so we have enough data to make a decision. We're ramping up testing. We do more testing in this state than any state in the United States. We are doing 30,000 tests per day.
11:37 AM: Cuomo: Everybody wants to reopen. Caveat is reopen but don't reopen that increases the spread of the virus, the rate of the spread of the virus. If rate of transmission goes over 1.1 you are in an outbreak. Do the testing. Second fact, do you have the hospital capacity if that rate of infection increases. Don't go above 70 percent capacity. Make sure ICU beds with 30 percent capacity. Make sure you have enough equipment.
11:36 AM: Cuomo: Hospitalizations down. New COVID cases down to 933 cases. Lives lost, still terrible: 306.
11:34 AM: Cuomo: I worked with a priest in the federal government and he would say 'today is another day to do better.'
11:33 AM: NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo holds coronavirus briefing. Watch live at this link: https://fox5ny.com/live
11:02 AM: De Blasio: We will find a way to a better day in this city. Thank you, every body.
10:57 AM: De Blasio: The 100K and 275K face coverings are separate, I believe. The kind they are we will get out those details. We want to make it easy in every way we can.
10:54 AM: De Blasio asked if the rabbis had told the people in the community to stay home they would have. Is this an act of defiance? Has anyone asked them if they encouraged people to stay home?
De Blasio: I can't give you the tick tock of everything that happened. I just know what went wrong.
10:51 AM: De Blasio asked if city will enforce people wearing masks. Also, no more warnings for large gatherings before summons and arrests. What kind of face coverings are you giving out.
De Blasio: We will get you the details on type of face coverings. All the medical grade masks are one thing, face coverings can be something informal. My interpretation is that everyone should be wearing one when they go outside. Private spaces- pharmacies, super markets- can eject people. We will back them up.
Gatherings in general are unacceptable.
10:49 AM: De Blasio asked about the possibility of bodies being returned to the medical examiner and how much testing is being done at the labs.
De Blasio: I just don't know the details on the question you're asking.
On testing, we are seeing more test kits. We have seen improvement on lab capacity.
10:45 AM: De Blasio asked about city workers enforcing social distancing. Who will they be and how it will be enforced? Also, is there anything the city is doing to help people struggling to bury their loved ones.
De Blasio: We have been able to provide some help and we want to provide more.
These workers will augment efforts of NYPD and giving out face coverings.
10:41 AM: De Blasio asked if there was more the city could do to address systemic issues with funeral homes.
De Blasio: There has been an outreach effort. We will increase the amount of information and support.
10:38 AM: De Blasio asked about how many families and individuals have access to hotels.
De Blasio: We started with healthcare workers, then families who need to isolate or individuals who need to isolate from family and more and more homeless people. We have not had a central apparatus to do this. That is what testing and tracing will provide. Food is provided, medical support, laundry. Test and Trace is going to get going in May.
10:35 AM: De Blasio asked about White House saying one thing and NYC doing other when it comes to fast masks, social distancing.
De Blasio: You watch the briefings and its the magical mystery tour. It's incoherent. The President of the United States was tweeting, liberate Michigan. In NYC, we have not beaten this disease and we need to hold the line. I fear when the President says to loosen up, people flock to beaches, there is going to be a flare up and its going to set them back and New York.
10:31 AM: De Blasio asked about cleaning the subways and help for funeral directors and bodies.
De Blasio: Funeral homes know there is a lot of support if they need it. They have been doing their jobs. They should have called the precinct. I don't see that as a widespread reality. I think they are doing an admirable job the vast majority of them.
As for the subways, have those 10 key stations shut down and then we surge NYPD and outreach to those stations and deal with all homeless folk there. More cleaning is always good.
10:26 AM: De Blasio asked about getting back to life the way it was six weeks ago.
De Blasio: Schools mean a lot of people in a close space. In basketball courts, putting up a net is going to be very tempting. On the beaches, if you invite a few people it will be hard for people not to socially distance. When we can loosen it up, we will delineate what it will be. Stage by stage, piece by piece.
10:18 AM: De Blasio asked about Rent Guidelines Board lowering rent. Also, what's the need for Samaritan's Purse in Central Park if USNS Comfort is going home?
De Blasio: The more I learned about the hospital the more concerned I got. I will leave it to Mount Sinai to decide if they still need help with patients. On the question of footage, we don't want them to proselytize for any exclusionary values.
The RGB should consider all the facts and other proposals but I think the balanced approach is a rent freeze.
10:15 AM: De Blasio asked about rat infestation on 6th Avenue. Pest control teams are not responding, according to 311, due to social distancing. Why isn't pest control responding?
De Blasio: A lot of the normal way we did business had to change. Everything was about making sure the disease didn't spread and keeping folks inside including our public employees. Now we have a situation that is improving but we cannot let that situation get out of hand. I will follow up with the Health Department today.
10:14 AM: De Blasio: We will find a way to recover. I have absolute faith in the people of this city.
10:13 AM: De Blasio: Number admitted to hospitals is down to 129. ICU admittance is down to 705. Percentage testing positive down to 22 percent. Public health lab went up to 36 percent.
10:12 AM: De Blasio: For small business loans, go to SBA.gov. That is where the application is. Get it in as soon as possible. If you need help with the application process, call 311.
10:10 AM: De Blasio thanks various companies that have donated to coronavirus-fighting efforts. Facebook is offering a grant for businesses. Visit: Facebook.com/GrantsForBusiness
10:06 AM: De Blasio: CitiBike is expanding free membership to healthcare workers. 100 new docking stations in the Bronx and Manhattan including at Lincoln Hospital and Harlem Hospital.
10:06 AM: De Blasio: 275,000 free face coverings will be distributed this week by city workers who will be enforcing social distancing.
9:59 AM: De Blasio: Face coverings. You have to do that to protect New Yorkers, you and your family. We are going to start to give them out free in our city parks. 100,000 will be given out this week. To find out where, go to: NYC.gov/FaceCoverings
9:57 AM: De Blasio: There are three test sites up and running at New York City public housing. There will be new sites opening with two more at Health + Hospitals sites. And, next week at all 11 Health + Hospitals. We will go to 30 sites by the week of May 18.
9:50 AM: De Blasio: The local businesses have stepped up to produce surgical gowns. They are producing 125,000 gowns weekly. One of those companies is BCI Brands which has been working with the city. They have a factory in Vietnam. We now have a large scale provider of surgical gowns. More than 1 million are on their way to New York City. We are sending the fabric to Vietnam so they can make even more.
9:47 AM: De Blasio: New Yorkers have been a driven people. People who set a goal and go and achieve it. Our teachers found a way. Our students found a way. Our entrepreneurs found a way to manufacture life-saving supplies and equipment. Our frontline workers have found a way.
9:45 AM: Mayor Bill de Blasio holds coronavirus briefing. Watch live: https://fox5ny.com/live
9:04 AM: From the NYC Office of Emergency Management DOE families: Get your remote learning device: https://coronavirus.schools.nyc/RemoteLearningDevices or 718-935-5100 & choose option “5.”
8:44 AM: More than 3.8 million laid-off workers applied for unemployment benefits last week as the U.S. economy slid further into a crisis that is becoming the most devastating since the 1930s.
MORE: https://www.fox5ny.com/money/3-8-million-more-workers-seek-us-unemployment-aid
8:12 AM: The U.S. government is expected Thursday to issue another bleak report on the layoffs that have cut through America’s workforce since the coronavirus forced businesses across the country to shut down starting last month.
MORE: https://www.fox5ny.com/money/another-glut-of-us-unemployment-applications-is-expected
7:25 AM: U.S. equity futures have pared overnight gains, but still point to a higher open when trading begins on Thursday. The major futures indexes are indicating a rise of 0.1 percent.
MORE: https://www.fox5ny.com/money/traders-brace-for-latest-jobless-claim-numbers
7:20 AM: Police Commissioner Dermot Shea tells 'Good Day New York' that over the past three weeks, police have ejected 180 people a day from the subways. "We have been working with the MTA on this, coming up with solutions that will work best for everyone," said Shea. "We have started to see some progress."
7:00 AM: Watch 'Good Day New York' at this link: https://fox5ny.com/live
6:21 AM: The Navy hospital ship sent to relieve stressed New York City hospitals as coronavirus cases surged is set to leave Thursday and return to its homeport in Virginia, the U.S. Navy said.
MORE: https://www.fox5ny.com/news/usns-comfort-to-leave-manhattan-dock-thursday
5:55 AM: Sources tell FOX 11 that California Gov. Gavin Newsom will announce Thursday that he is closing all beaches and state parks effective Friday, May 1st. The decision comes after Newsom sharply criticized beachgoers in Orange County for crowding beaches by the thousands this past weekend.
MORE: https://www.fox5ny.com/news/source-gov-newsom-to-announce-closure-of-all-beaches-and-state-parks