All the Coronavirus News From New York and Around the World

• New York Updates Cuomo Press Conference

• Deaths in New York State: 799 since yesterday, for a new total of 7,067.

  

• Confirmed cases: 159,937 statewide, up 10,621 from 149,316, a 7 percent increase. In New York City: 87,028, up from 81,803.

• People hospitalized: 18,279 statewide, up by 200 from 18,079 Wednesday, an increase of 1 percent.

• In intensive care: 4,925, up 84 from 4,841 on Wednesday, a 2 percent increase.

• The governor noted it has been 18 days since the state’s “stay at home” order went into effect, even though it may feel like “a lifetime” ago Cuomo also said hospitalizations in New York are currently lower than many projections initially predicted, applauding healthcare professionals and other first responders for their work. “We’re flattening the curve so far,” Cuomo said of social distancing measures, emphasizing that New Yorkers cannot get complacent now.
• Yesterday, the state recorded the lowest number of new hospitalizations since the crisis started. The number of ICU admissions and intubations are also down.
• He also cautioned that New York might only be in the first wave of the pandemic. The state would probably have enough hospital beds and ventilators to treat virus patients if current trends hold, he said, but its resources would be insufficient if the most drastic projections about the outbreak were realized “Everybody is assuming, well, once we get through this, we’re done,” Mr. Cuomo said. “I wouldn’t be so quick to assume that. This virus has been ahead of us from day one.
• The governor again emphasized that New York’s black and Hispanic communities were being hit the hardest by the virus, and he said that additional testing sites would be opened in predominantly black and Latino neighborhoods.
• Cuomo said the state would be bringing in additional funeral directors to help deal with the surge of deaths.

NATIONAL NOTES

Stats Nationwide 

Cases :457,035 Recovered: 24,775 Deaths:16,252 

•  Anthony Fauci,the nation’s top infectious disease expert, was hesitant to say that New York has flattened the curve, emphasizing that several days’ data will be needed. “I don’t want to jump the gun on that,” Fauci said when asked whether New York had flattened the curve. “But I think that is the case.”  He added, “I’m always very cautious about jumping the gun and saying, ‘Well, we have turned the corner.’ But I think we are really looking at the beginning of that, which would really be very encouraging. We need that right now.”
• Trump is reportedly planning to form a second coronavirus task force focused on reopening the US economy.
• More than 6.6 million Americans lost their jobs last week with 16 million jobs gone in the last three weeks as the coronavirus pandemic brought the US economy to a standstill, the US labor department confirmed on Thursday.
• The White House press office announced today that it would start administering rapid coronavirus tests to reporters after one journalist, who was last at the White House on Tuesday, started developing symptoms.
• Congressman Neal Dunn has tested positive for coronavirus, becoming the second members of Florida’s congressional delegation to contract the virus.
• American foodbanks are having a lot of problems keeping their shelves stocked with donations NBC reported
• A new survey of 1,000 people found that most have enough savings to last just three months. And of that 60%, 12% said that they could last “less than a week.”  Among the top items people would sell are jewelry and electronics, and some 36% would sell their blood. Some 7% would sell personal nude photos. About two-thirds would turn to a “side hustle” job.
• After Tuesday night’s violence that left seven people dead and 14 injured, and the inability for some to follow the stay at home order, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has placed a 9:00 p.m. liquor purchasing curfew starting Thursday.“Effective April 9, we are placing a 9:00 pm curfew on liquor sales in Chicago. A liquor curfew will remain in place during Illinois Governor JB Pritzker’s stay-at-home order,” Lightfoot said, CBS Chicago reported.
• New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia. On Jan. 31, President Trump barred foreign nationals from entering the country if they had been in China during the prior two weeks.It would not be until late February that Italy would begin locking down towns and cities, and March 11 when Mr. Trump said he would block travelers from most European countries,  DNYUZ reported.
• The federal government budget deficit is on track to reach a record $3.6 trillion in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, and $2.4 trillion the year after that, according to Goldman Sachs estimates. Businesses are drawing down bank credit lines and tapping bond markets. Preliminary signs are emerging that some households are turning to credit for funds, too. The debt surge is set to shape how governments and the private sector function long after the virus is tamed. Among other things, it could be a weight on the expansion that follows, WSJ reported.
• The military’s  second-highest ranking officer on Thursday warned of a new coronavirus outbreak aboard the USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier about to embark on a deployment to the Pacific as the military struggles to contain the spread of the virus that has already sidelined crewmembers from another carrier, US News and World report covered.

WORLDWIDE NOTES

The global death toll has passed 90,000 on the Johns Hopkins University tracker – the current figure is 94,567 

The US has now overtaken Spain with 16,252  deaths. Spain has 15,238, according to the Maryland-based university’s research.

Italy is the country with the highest coronavirus-related deaths at 17,669.

• 9,968 Israelis have so far tested positive for the coronavirus; 86 people have died.
• Six critically ill coronavirus patients in Israel who are considered high-risk for mortality have been treated with Pluristem’s placenta-based cell-therapy product and survived, according to preliminary data provided by the Haifa-based company.
•  Downing Street announced  Boris Johnson was no longer receiving critical care at St Thomas’ Hospital in London – where he was admitted due to his coronavirus symptoms persisting, Sky News reported.
• Chileans have a “moral duty” to stay home over the Easter holiday to stave of the spread of the coronavirus, Interior Minister Gonzalo Blumel said after reports surfaced of wealthy Santiago residents sneaking off to coastal enclaves by helicopter and private plane. Chile has confirmed nearly 6,000 coronavirus cases, among the highest tallies in Latin America. The hardest hit regions of capital Santiago, a city of 6 million, are posh, high-end neighborhoods at the foot of the Andes Mountains, Guardian reported.
• Egypt reported 139 new cases of coronavirus, bringing its total since the start of the outbreak to 1,699, according to a health ministry statement.
• Iran’s supreme leader suggested that mass gatherings may be barred through the Muslim holy month of Ramadan amid the coronavirus pandemic, AP reported.  Meanwhile, Amnesty International said it believes at least 35 Iranian prisoners were killed by security forces suppressing riots by inmates over the virus
• So far Brazil has recorded 16,238 cases and 824 deaths although low testing rates mean the true figures are likely to be much higher. Most cases have been concentrated in southeastern Brazil, of which both Rio and São Paulo are part, reported Tom Phillips reported.
• France has said the total death toll in hospitals and nursing homes has risen to 12,210, from 10,869 on Wednesday, Reuters is reporting. The number of confirmed cases in hospitals has increased to 86,334 today from 82,048 on Wednesday, while 30,767 are in hospital with the virus.
• The World Health Organisation reports that there have now been 1,202 cases confirmed in Iraq, and that 69 people have died from the disease there, while 425 have so far recovered.
• The World Health Organization has reported a drastic shortage of intensive care beds to treat Covid-19 patients  in Africa, where it estimates there are only around five per million people, compared with 4,000 per million people in Europe. Also reported from Africa: Uganda has recorded 53 cases of the coronavirus, and has implemented a 14-day lockdown with transport banned and a nightime curfew, however people are still allowed to move around on foot in groups of less than five.
• The figures from Italy  showed new infections rose by 1,165, or 1.7%. The number of intensive care beds in use continues to decline, as does the number of people hospitalized for the virus. Of the 96,877 people currently infected, 64,873 are recovering at home however   deaths rose by 610 Italy’s lockdown is due to expire on 13 April but is likely to be extended by another two weeks, according to Italian sources