Live reporting on the coronavirus in the US continues on Tuesday’s blog:
Evening Summary
Thanks everyone for following along on another grim day, as the death toll in the US exceeded 55,000. Here’s a rundown of the day’s biggest news:
- Donald Trump touted a plan to increase testing at a White House briefing featuring chief executives from medical testing firms, pharmacies, and major grocers such as Kroger and Walmart.
- Trump also continued to blame China for the pandemic and suggested his administration was investigating what had happened.
- And the president refused to take responsibility for people who acted upon his bizarre and unsafe suggestion last Thursday that injecting disinfectant could help patients with Covid-19. No one should ingest or inject disinfectant; it is very unsafe and could kill you.
- 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.
- The New York governor, Andrew Cuomo, said the state’s death toll 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 15 May.
Our global liveblog for coronavirus updates is live here:
Updated
Nursing homes have been hit hard by coronavirus across California, my colleague Sam Levin reports.
In Los Angeles county, nursing home residents have accounted for more than 30% of Covid-19 deaths and 72% in the city of Long Beach. At one Central Valley facility, nearly all 167 residents and staff tested positive, and at a home in Riverside, nearly 100 residents were evacuated after staff failed to show up due to an outbreak. The Gateway center is now under criminal investigation.
Behind the staggering numbers, advocates say, is a poorly regulated industry with a long history of chronic understaffing, inadequate infection control, a lack of critical equipment and weak labor standards. Experts and attorneys say the public health catastrophe was preventable, and that the botched response of some nursing homes constitutes criminal neglect.
Read his full report here:
Trump continued to blame of China for the pandemic during today’s briefing. At one point, while riffing on “so much unnecessary death,” he appeared to suggest that China could have stopped the outbreak: “It could have been stopped and it could have been stopped faster but someone a long time ago decided not to do it that way.”
He later said that his administration was conducting “serious investigations” into what happened with China.
“We’re doing very serious investigations ... We are not happy with China,” Trump said. “We believe it could have been stopped at the source. It could have been stopped quickly and it wouldn’t have spread all over the world.”
As Donald Trump speaks at the White House, the Daily Beast reports that Diamond and Silk, prominent African American supporters of the president, have lost their slot at Fox News due to their “bonkers coronavirus claims”.
There’s no official confirmation that the “MAGA vlogging superstars” will no longer appear on Fox Nation, Fox News’ streaming service, but the Beast reports:
The sudden split comes after the Trump-boosting siblings have come under fire for promoting conspiracy theories and disinformation about the coronavirus. “After what they’ve said and tweeted you won’t be seeing them on Fox Nation or Fox News anytime soon,” a source with knowledge of the matter told The Daily Beast.
Among such conspiracy theories and disinformation spread by Lynette “Diamond” Hardaway and Rochelle “Silk” Richardson:
- the number of US coronavirus deaths has been inflated to make Trump look bad
- the disease was “man-made” and “engineered”
- that people should expose themselves to the virus by breaking lockdown
- that Bill Gates wants to develop vaccines in order to practice population control
- that 5G technology might be being used to infect people and fill up hospitals
No word from Diamond and Silk either, though their Twitter account has been active all day. Trump has been cross with Fox News on Twitter recently, so you’d think the Beast report might provoke presidential comment before long…
Debate over Fox News’ role in spreading disinformation about Covid-19 has become a prominent part of media coverage of the outbreak. Here’s David Smith’s look at the network’s close relationship with the Trump administration, from earlier this month.
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.
Updated
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.
Updated
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.”
Maryland’s Republican governor Larry Hogan (who’s also chairman of the National Governors Association) said yesterday that his state’s health officials have received “hundreds” of inquiries about the safety of ingesting cleaning products after Trump last week raised the idea, saying internal use of disinfectant could be looked into as a possible treatment for the coronavirus.
Updated
We’ve moved on to questions from the press.
A reporter asks why the HHS secretary, Alex Azar, hasn’t been fired.
Trump says it’s an unfair question and attacks Democratic politicians.
Updated
Brett Giroir, the HHS assistant secretary, is now discussing an eight-part plan for testing. Apparently we are on step eight.
— Julia Carrie Wong (@juliacarriew) April 27, 2020
Updated
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.
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.
Updated
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.
California, Oregon and Washington have formed the Western States Pact. Seven east coast states, stretching from Delaware to Massachusetts, have formed another alliance. And seven mostly midwestern states – encompassing a vast region that includes Minnesota, Ohio and Kentucky – have created a third group.
The development has even raised fears – or hopes – that the federal government’s grip on America’s states will be loosened, perhaps threatening the union itself.
Monday afternoon
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.
Updated
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.”
I’m glad the Pentagon is finally releasing this footage, but it only scratches the surface of research and materials available. The U.S. needs to take a serious, scientific look at this and any potential national security implications. The American people deserve to be informed. https://t.co/1XNduvmP0u
— Senator Harry Reid (@SenatorReid) April 27, 2020
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.
Updated
Texas to let stay-at-home order expire on April 30
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.
#TEXAS BREAKING: Texas Governor Greg Abbott says the state wide executive stay at home order will expire April 30th. “It’s done our job, we’re ready to open Texas safely and in phases. We don’t want to reopen just to close again. Phase one begins this Friday, May 1st.” pic.twitter.com/5Dj6ynDf0p
— Sydney Hernandez (@SydneyHdzTV) April 27, 2020
PHASE 1 of Reopening Texas:
— Stephanie Whitfield (@KHOUStephanie) April 27, 2020
- Vulnerable populations (65YO+) should stay home
- More protection for senior living facilities
- Businesses that can reopen Friday: retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters, malls.
- Occupancy limited to 25%#khou11
Updated
California governor Gavin Newsom says the state is weeks, not months away from starting the process of starting to reopen its economy.
Breaking: Governor @GavinNewsom says “we are just a few weeks away, not months away, from making meaningful & measurable changes” to #ShelterInPlace & #SocialDistancing restrictions. It's the first time he's put a timeline on the possibility of easing #COVID19 #coronavirus orders
— sovernnation (@SovernNation) April 27, 2020
Ohio to begin easing restrictions next week
Ohio Governor Mike DeWine, a Republican, on Monday outlined what he called the “first steps” to easing the state’s stay-at-home order and re-opening its economy.
The phased-in approach will begin on May 1, when state will allow non-essential surgeries that do not require an overnight stay in the hospital. On May 4, manufacturing, distribution, and construction will reopen following social distancing and other safety guidelines. On May 12, the state will reopen its consumer, retail, and services businesses.
An order restricting gatherings of more than 10 people will remain in place.
With any decision, there is a risk.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) April 27, 2020
What we did today is a risk.
Doing nothing is a risk.
DeWine was among the first governors to begin taking steps to shut down businesses in Ohio as the coronavirus began to spread rapidly in March. His Midwestern state cancelled gatherings, forcing the presidential candidates to suspend their campaign events in early March.
The state also postponed its primary, which is now due to take place on Tuesday.
“With a decision like this, there is no easy decision - we have to balance,” he said. “We will be criticized by those who think we shouldn’t open up. We’ll be criticized by those who think we didn’t open up enough. I understand both arguments, but I think we found the sweet spot.”
Updated
New York Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is hosting Senator Elizabeth Warren to discuss her Essential Workers Bill of Rights, which she introduced as a framework for the Congressional response to the coronavirus pandemic.
Happening now: @AOC and @ewarren talking COVID-19 on Instagram Live. pic.twitter.com/sv1rOpkJjn
— Chris Geidner (@chrisgeidner) April 27, 2020
Sanders campaign slams NY decision to cancel primary
Bernie Sanders’ presidential campaign tore into the New York state board of elections on Monday after it decided to remove the senator from the ballot for the state’s June 23 election, the Guardian’s Sam Levin reports.
The state’s two Democratic election commissioners voted to remove Sanders on Monday, relying on a new provision in state law that allows the board to remove a candidate who actively suspends their campaign. Sanders had urged the board to let him remain on the ballot and had been hoping to gather delegates to gain sway over the party’s platform. His presence on the ballot also may have increased turnout in down ballot primary races.
No one asked New York to cancel the election. The DNC didn’t request it. The Biden campaign didn’t request it. And our campaign communicated that we wanted to remain on the ballot,” Jeff Weaver, a senior Sanders adviser said in a statement. “New York has clearly violated its approved delegate selection plan. If this is not remedied, New York should lose all its delegates to the 2020 Democratic National Convention.”
New York has also long had extremely restrictive voting policies - it had no early voting until last year - and Weaver called on Democrats to investigate “New York’s checkered pattern of voter disenfranchisement.”
The move comes as states are scrambling to figure out how to allow people to vote while protecting their health in the Covid-19 pandemic. New York governor Andrew Cuomo recently issued an executive order requiring the state to send an absentee ballot application to every registered voter in the state.
New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a top Sanders surrogate, called the decision “completely wrong.”
It is completely wrong for the BOE to cancel New York’s Presidential Primary.
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) April 27, 2020
This decision is not informed by public health: the state is still holding elections for every other seat that day, & so far the only way your ballot will 100% be counted in NY is to vote in person! https://t.co/l8iT7mxm9c
Updated
Coming soon to a living room near you ...
Former first lady Michelle Obama announced that a documentary based on her best selling memoir, Becoming, will be released on Netflix on May 6.
I’m excited to share that on May 6, @Netflix will release BECOMING, a documentary directed by Nadia Hallgren that shares the stories of the amazing people I met after the release of my memoir. During this difficult time, I hope you’ll find some inspiration and joy in this film. pic.twitter.com/fqsIbhXYeL
— Michelle Obama (@MichelleObama) April 27, 2020
“During this difficult time, I hope you’ll find some inspiration and joy in this film,” she wrote.
Obama has re-emerged lately as an advocate for vote-by-mail, an effort that has gained traction amid the Covid-19 pandemic. She has also been raised as a potential running mate for Joe Biden, who recently said he’d pick her in a “heartbeat” but suspected that she did not want to return to the White House.
Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell will convene the US Senate on May 4.
In a statement on Monday afternoon, McConnell said the Senate, which adjourned last month, must “honor our constitutional duty to the American people.”
If it is essential for doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, truck drivers, grocery-store workers, and many other brave Americans to keep carefully manning their own duty stations, then it is essential for Senators to carefully man ours and support them.
He said the Senate must urgently return to Washington to start working on the next round of legislation to help ease the economic strain of the coronavirus pandemic on American families and businesses.
This crisis has every part of our society in dire need of stability, clarity, and certainty,” McConnell wrote. “The Senate has already stepped up, but our work is not over. I look forward to seeing all my colleagues next Monday.”
Guardian reporter Vivian Ho sends this report on the death of a 57-year-old California woman who is believed to be the first person to die of coronavirus in the US.
Coronavirus caused a rupture in the heart of the California woman whose death is believed to be the first Covid-related death so far in the US, according to an autopsy report obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Patricia Dowd, 57, died 6 February in her home in San Jose, California after reporting flu-like symptoms in the days leading up to her death, according to the report. Though the first official death in the nation from the virus was reported in Kirkland, Washington on 29 February, and the first case had not reached Dowd’s county until 28 February, the medical examiner had been suspicious, and sent tissue samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for testing.
The autopsy found traces of the virus in her heart, trachea, lungs and intestines. Her official cause of death was listed as “acute hemopericardium due to rupture of left ventricle...due to covid-19 infection.”
Dowd worked as a senior quality manager for a semiconductor company for 28 years. She was a wife and mother who loved to travel, read and spend time with her friends and family. “She will always be remembered for her beautiful smile and infectious laugh,” her family writes.
Dowd was one of three deaths that have changed what experts have come to understand about community spread of the virus in the country. Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, has ordered medical examiners and coroners across the state to review autopsies going back to December to get a better understanding of when the pandemic truly began.
White House re-schedules coronavirus press briefing after cancelling it
Surprise!
After much back-and-forth the White House has re-scheduled and coronavirus task force briefing that it had previously cancelled after initially scheduling it.
The press conference is scheduled for 5pm EST in the White House Rose Garden.
UPDATE: The White House has additional testing guidance and other announcements about safely opening up America again. President @realDonaldTrump will brief the nation during a press conference this evening.
— Kayleigh McEnany (@PressSec) April 27, 2020
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Trump will “brief the nation” on additional testing guidance and new guidelines for lifting stay-at-home orders.
A spokeswoman for Mike Pence, Alyssa Farah, joked about the changes.
We like to keep reporters on their toes. 😉
— Alyssa Farah (@Alyssafarah) April 27, 2020
Updated
Jesse Ventura is considering a third-party run for president.
In a tweet tagged #MondayThoughts and #MondayMood, the professional wrestler, actor and one-term governor of Minnesota said wondered if he should run for president on the Green Party ticket.
OK, I've decided I'm going to test the waters. IF I were going to run for president, the GREEN party would be my first choice. I've endorsed the party and I'm testing the waters. #mondaythoughts #MondayMorning #MondayMotivaton #MondayMood
— Jesse Ventura (@GovJVentura) April 27, 2020
Ventura ran for governor in 1998 as the nominee for the Reform Party and narrowly beat the Democratic and Republican candidates. After his election, Ventura left the party and became a member of the state’s Independence Party.
This is not the first time Ventura has flirted with a third-party run.
He added on Twitter: “I haven’t filed anything. I authorized a letter of interest that was sent on my behalf to the Greens and I’m testing the waters for Green Party nomination. I’m an independent. I’m not a Democrat or a Republican because I know they’re not the solution.”
Two women have come forward publicly to corroborate details of a sexual assault allegation against Joe Biden, according to new reporting from Business Insider.
Tara Reade, a former aide in Biden’s Senate office, alleged that the presumptive Democratic nominee assaulted her in a congressional hallway in 1993. Biden’s campaign has denied the allegation.
In an interview with Business Insider, a former neighbor of Reade’s said Reade shared details of the alleged assault with her in the mid-1990s.
“This happened, and I know it did because I remember talking about it,” the neighbor, Lynda LaCasse, told the website.
The other woman, Lorraine Sanchez, a colleague of Reade’s in the office of a California state senator in the mid-1990s, told the website that she remembers Reade complaining that she had been fired after complaining about a former boss in Washington DC who had sexually harassed her.
In April 2019, Reade was among several women who came forward to accuse Biden of inappropriate behavior or conduct that made them feel uncomfortable. But last month, in a podcast interview with progressive media host Katie Halper, Reade made a much more serious allegation.
She said Biden cornered her in a semi-private corridor on Capitol Hill, pinned her against the wall and digitally penetrated her. She repeated the story to The Intercept, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Reade’s brother and a friend who has remained anonymous have confirmed aspects of her story. Reade also said she told her mother, who is deceased.
This weekend video archive emerged of a woman Reade identified as her mother calling into CNN’s Larry King Live in 1993 to discuss what Reade said was a reference to her claim. The woman’s question is vague but she references her daughter’s “problems” with a prominent senator.
Kate Bedingfield, Biden’s communications director, said in a statement last month: “Women have a right to tell their story, and reporters have an obligation to rigorously vet those claims. We encourage them to do so, because these accusations are false.” Biden has not publicly commented on the story.
Read Business Insider’s full story here.
Updated
Cuomo has finished his daily briefing. Here are the top lines:
- New York’s death rate is in decline, but hospitalizations are flat.
- Cuomo plans to extend a 15 May stay-at-home order for some parts of the state while other parts of the state may begin to “unpause”.
- Cuomo said the state is still seeing 1,000 new Covid-19 cases per day.
- A preliminary survey found that 14.9% of New York residents have antibodies to the virus.
- Cuomo said he would not “second guess” the state board of elections over a decision to cancel its June primary.
Updated
NY Board of Elections cancels June primary
The New York State Board of Elections has removed Bernie Sanders from the ballot and cancelled the states primary, which was scheduled for 23 June.
Sanders dropped out of the Democratic race earlier this month and endorsed Joe Biden, making him the party’s presumptive nominee. But Sanders had hoped to stay on the ballot in the remaining state primaries and collect delegates to influence the party platform.
New York, the center of the coronavirus outbreak in the US, was the most delegate-rich Democratic primary left on the calendar.
BREAKING: Democrats on the New York State Board of Elections just removed @BernieSanders from the ballot and canceled the presidential primary that was scheduled for June 23.
— Jimmy Vielkind (@JimmyVielkind) April 27, 2020
Sanders campaign had asked the primary to go on, even though he’s backed Biden.https://t.co/5AoRkQNlph pic.twitter.com/56aKnLluna
Sanders supporters had urged the state to keep him on the ballot.
“I’m not going to second guess the Board of Elections,” Cuomo said, responding to the development in real time.
The mechanics of voting has become a fraught political issue amid the pandemic, with several states, including New York postponing primaries until later in the year. States like Wisconsin pressed ahead with their primary despite warnings from public health officials, a decision that raised questions about how the nation would conduct a general election if there is a resurgence of the virus later this year.
Ohio, which delayed its March primary, is scheduled to hold elections on Tuesday.
Updated
Cuomo hammers the point that states still need federal assistance.
Governor Cuomo continues to call on the federal government for financial support. He says the state gives the federal government more than it receives in federal spending. "Nobody puts more money into the pot than New York. We are the number one donor state."
— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) April 27, 2020
He takes issue with the suggestion that politically-liberal states like New York “take more” from the federal government than conservative states.
Cuomo on the bailout debate: "If you want to go to who gets bailed out and who gets what, no one will be bailing out New York State. New York State has been bailing them out for decades."
— Nick Reisman (@NickReisman) April 27, 2020
Updated
Cuomo is now rhapsodizing about the American spirit and the possibility of remaking an economy and a body politic that has for decades advantaged the wealthy and the privileged.
“We have to use this moment to reimagine and be smart and grow,” Cuomo said. “This is one of these moments if you look back in history sometimes it takes a crisis to wake people up.”
He closed by praising the leadership of Kentucky governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat in a conservative state who he said “stood up” to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“It takes guts. You don’t get that from a typical politician,” Cuomo said. “So thank you, Governor.”
Preliminary results from an antibody survey of New York residents found that 14.9% of the state is positive for Covid-19 antibody.
The sample size of the survey was 7,500. Cuomo said the state will test 1,000 NYPD officers and 1,000 FDNY workers for antibodies
He said this is part of the state’s effort to prepare for the virus to return later this year. “Anticipate an issue in the future,” he said, noting that he spoke to Trump this morning.
Updated
Cuomo to extend stay-at-home order in some parts of state past 15 May
Cuomo said he would extend the stay-at-home order in some parts of the state, but will allow other regions to re-open on 15 May.
He said the state is still seeing 1,000 new cases per day.
“I will extend them in many parts of the state but in some parts of the state, in some regions, you could make the case that we should unpause on May 15,” Cuomo said at his daily briefing from Albany. “But you have to be smart about it. ... There is no light switch.”
He issued a warning to his colleagues who will be overseeing the reopening in the coming weeks: “If you are not smart you will see that infection rate go right back to where it was, right where we were 58 days ago.”
He described the reopening as turning a valve. How much to turn the dials will be based on four factors: hospitalization rate, antibody testing, diagnostic testing, rate of transmission.
Updated
Cuomo: New York death toll 'on the decline'
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said 337 New Yorkers died in past 24 hours, a sign of “decline” in the state.
BREAKING: 337 deaths in last 24 hours in NY, per @NYGovCuomo.
— Jesse McKinley (@jessemckinley) April 27, 2020
DOWN from 367 deaths, in previous 24 hour period, reported on Sunday.
He said the hospitalization rate is “flat.”
.@NYGovCuomo's press conference beginning now with a look at NYS hospitalization rate- which is flat. "Flat is not good," he says, but hopes its an anomaly from the weekend.
— Melissa Holmes (@2MelissaHolmes) April 27, 2020
337 deaths from yesterday, but death rate declining.@wgrz
Updated
Monday coronavirus task force briefing cancelled
The White House officially cancels a planned Covid-19 coronavirus task force press briefing, according to an updated version of the president’s daily schedule.
The briefing was initially scheduled for 5pm EST.
The cancellation comes amid concern that the briefings – during which Trump will hold court for 90 minutes, or more – have become politically problematic for the president. During a meeting last week, he mused that coronavirus might be treated with disinfectant, forcing manufactures and public health officials to issue urgent warnings to Americans about the serious, possibly fatal, dangers of ingesting such toxins.
Following the shocking – and baseless – suggestion, Trump took no questions at the briefing on Friday. No briefings were held over the weekend.
Axios reported on Sunday that the White House was planning to shift to events focused on the economy rather than the public health crisis in the coming days.
Updated
Some news out of New York Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Monday press briefing.
De Blasio announced self-swab testing, which he says is “simpler and safer” for health care professionals to administer.
NEW: @NYCMayor announces self-swab testing. It's a new method allowing patients to administer samples themselves at testing sites, while supervised by medical personnel. People will use shorter swabs in addition to offering a saliva sample. Mayor says it's simpler, safer, faster.
— Spectrum News NY1 (@NY1) April 27, 2020
The mayor said the new method will be rolled out this week.
“This is a whole different thing,” de Blasio said, describing the process. He said patients would be given instructions on how to administer the test using what he said was effectively a “sterile Q-tip.”
He said the new testing method, which will be overseen by medical professionals, will protect health care workers and help conserve personal protective equipment (PPE).
De Blasio also announced that the city intends to open up more streets to pedestrians, beginning with 40 miles around parks with a goal of reaching 100 miles.
.@NYCMayor says he has come to an agreement with City Council to open more streets to pedestrians - a minimum of 40 miles with goal to get to 100. Will focus on streets first that are in and around parks.
— danielle muoio (@muoiod) April 27, 2020
This should be a major quality of life improvement for New Yorkers
The supreme court has sidestepped what could have been a major decision to expand gun rights.
The Associated Press called it an “anti-climatic end” and a “disappointment” to gun rights advocates who had hoped the court’s newly-installed conservative majority would rule in their favor.
It ruled that the city’s move to ease restrictions on taking licensed, locked and unloaded guns outside the city limits, coupled with a change in state law to prevent New York from reviving the ban, left the court with nothing to decide. The court asked a lower court to consider whether the city’s new rules still pose problems for gun owners.
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Will there or won’t there?
The mystery over whether there will or won’t be a coronavirus press briefing on Monday evening appears to been resolved, for now.
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany told Fox News: “Today we’re not tracking a briefing.”
"Today we're not tracking a briefing," @PressSec tells @FoxNews, even thought a 1700EDT (2100UTC) #coronavirus task force briefing is on today's @WhiteHouse schedule that was released to the media last evening.
— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) April 27, 2020
Daily guidance for Mike Pence, which was sent one hour ago, listed a task force briefing at 5pm EST.
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Trump continued his long-running diatribe against the “Lamestream Media” claiming there has “never been, in the history of our Country a more vicious or hostile” national press corps. A second missive labeled the press the “ENEMY OF THE PEOPLE.”
Meanwhile, the US death toll from coronavirus is quickly approaching the number of Americans – 58,200 – killed during the Vietnam War.
There has never been, in the history of our Country, a more vicious or hostile Lamestream Media than there is right now, even in the midst of a National Emergency, the Invisible Enemy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2020
The comments followed a weekend of rage-tweeting against the press, in which Trump appeared particularly incensed by a New York Times article that portrayed the cloistered president as consumed by his own negative media coverage.
In a series of Sunday bulletins, Trump suggested reporters who won a “Noble” Prize for their coverage of Russia should have the award taken back. Responding to the Twitterati, quick to point out that the reporters received a Pulitzer prize and that the other award was the Nobel, not Noble, prize, Trump lamented: “Does sarcasm ever work?” (He has since deleted the tweets.)
Over the weekend, the White House gamely participated in a New York Post piece that rebutted the Times’ characterization of Trump’s daily preoccupations.
Indeed, the Post story begins with a claim from White House aides that Trump’s schedule is “so packed” that he “sometimes skips lunch”.
In the article, Mark Meadows, the president’s new chief of staff, said his “biggest concern” is ensuring the president gets “a quick bite to eat.”
That is perhaps not what you’d expect to be at the top of the White House chief of staff’s priority list during the worst national crisis since the second world war.
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The $2.2tn coronavirus stimulus deal, the largest economic rescue package in American history, was also, perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the most lobbied bills of all time, according to a new analysis by the Open Secrets, which tracks money in politics.
“OpenSecrets found that at least 3,200 clients reported lobbying on issues related to coronavirus and the stimulus bill. More than 1,500 lobbying clients specifically reported attempting to influence the House version of the CARES Act. Among all non-appropriations bills introduced since 2005, only the 2009 stimulus package drew more lobbying clients.
It also found that:
Clients that had never lobbied before hired lobbyists to ask Congress for financial aid in the stimulus bill. Industry groups asked Congress for more than $2.7 billion in direct support, but only a select few industries received carved-out stimulus funds. Some airlines increased their lobbying spending in the first quarter as the industry secured billions in taxpayer-funded grants. ...
Health sector spending reached $161 million, around the all-time high first-quarter mark set last year. Gilead Sciences, the drugmaker working on a COVID-19 treatment, saw one of the biggest jumps in spending. It spent nearly $2.5 million, beating its 2019 first-quarter figure.
You’ll remember that drugmaker Gilead had come under fierce criticism that it was exploiting the coronavirus pandemic, after it sought orphan-status from the FDA for its antiviral drug remdesivir, which is being tested as a potential treatment. Bernie Sanders had called it “truly outrageous” that the drug company would seek the special status, which grants drug companies market exclusivity. The company ultimately backtracked.
An interesting line from the Associated Press, which has found that “Americans’ support for mail-in voting has jumped amid concerns about the safety of polling places during the coronavirus pandemic”.
The AP also notes that its poll on the matter, conducted with NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, found “a wide partisan divide” which “suggests President Donald Trump’s public campaign against vote by mail may be resonating with his Republican backers”.
More:
Democrats are now much more likely than Republicans to support their state conducting elections exclusively by mail, 47% to 29%. In 2018, about half as many Democrats were in favor, and there was little difference in the views of Democrats and Republicans on the question.
and:
The poll also shows 60% of Americans support allowing people to vote via absentee ballot without requiring them to give a reason if the outbreak is still happening. That includes 73% of Democrats and 46% of Republicans. Some 40% of Republicans are opposed.
This month’s elections in Wisconsin, and remarks by the president to Fox News, brought the issue of mail-in voting to national attention. Here’s more from Sam Levine:
A final slice of AP:
The partisan differences could have a strong impact across the presidential battleground states. Five of the top seven swing states Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have divided government, and skirmishes over voting have already broken out in several. In some, there are signs that Democratic areas are moving faster than GOP ones to embrace mail voting
Trump trade adviser, coronavirus czar and noted self-pseudonym Peter Navarro has been speaking to Fox News about reopening US factories.
“We’re trying to figure out the best protocols to keep our factories going,” Navarro said. “We’re going to have to use appropriate protocols, different social distancing. You’re going to have to reconfigure factories. You’re going to have to use things like thermoscanners to check fever as they come in.”
Navarro had a reasonably warm time of it in the news a couple of weeks ago. Here’s Julian Borger’s profile, from then, which still has probably the greatest headline ever to grace a profile of a White House trade adviser:
Of course, the moment I blog that there’s a briefing on the White House schedule today, Geoff Bennett of NBC News tweets the following:
Update: Multiple White House officials tell NBC News this morning that there may NOT be a task force briefing today and that Trump may instead open to the press his 4pm Cabinet Room event with industry executives. (The current WH strategy, I’m told, is to show Trump “at work”.)
Why seek to show Trump “at work”? The New York Times, remember, reported last week that the president:
…arrives in the Oval Office these days as late as noon, when he is usually in a sour mood after his morning marathon of television.
He has been up in the White House master bedroom as early as 5am watching Fox News, then CNN, with a dollop of MSNBC thrown in for rage viewing … the president sees few allies no matter which channel he clicks. He is angry even with Fox [News], an old security blanket, for not portraying him as he would like to be seen.
The Times also said: “The daily White House coronavirus task force briefing is the one portion of the day that Mr Trump looks forward to, although even Republicans say that the two hours of political attacks, grievances and falsehoods by the president are hurting him politically.”
And it added: “After he is done watching the end of the daily White House briefing … Mr Trump watches television in his private dining room off the Oval Office. Assorted aides who are still around will join him to rehash the day and offer their assessments on the briefings. Comfort food – including French fries and Diet Coke – is readily available.”
From the White House, meanwhile, the first tweet of the day…
Blame the Democrats for any “lateness” in your Enhanced Unemployment Insurance. I wanted the money to be paid directly, they insisted it be paid by states for distribution. I told them this would happen, especially with many states which have old computers.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 27, 2020
Here’s what Florida governor Ron DeSantis had to say about problems in his state: that the unemployment insurance system there was “designed to fail”. And here’s what sometime Guardian contributor Steven Greenhouse says today:
Only 20% of the 850,000 newly laid off Floridians have received any unemployment benefits, leaving many families in dire shape.
— Steven Greenhouse (@greenhousenyt) April 27, 2020
The reason: when he was governor, Senator Rick Scott gutted Florida's unemployment benefits system to cut taxes for business.https://t.co/WYfnTyhWUo
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It’s worth noting that though Donald Trump did not brief the press over the weekend, amid reports that such briefings would be scaled back in an attempt to limit the damage done by the president’s freewheeling performances, there is a briefing on the White House schedule for Monday, at 5pm ET.
It’s also worth noting that one of Trump’s targets in his remarkable-even-by-his-standards Sunday tweet storm (which included a retweet of doctored video from an account named “Trump & Biden are Rapey”) was Fox News.
“The people who are watching Fox News, in record numbers (thank you President Trump), are angry,” he wrote. “They want an alternative now. So do I!”
One alternative for Trump seems to have been the New York Post, which released a report about how the president – contrary to a New York Times report about his working habits, diet and schedule – is supposedly too busy to have lunch every day. The Post is of course owned by Rupert Murdoch, who also owns Fox News.
Of the president and his words to the nation over the past week, meanwhile, the following is from CNN’s Brian Stelter and his Reliable Sources email. It’s pretty stark:
As the death toll has worsened, President Trump’s behavior has worsened. I think his statements and rants and tweets are newsworthy no matter what, but should be reported in context, and right now the death toll is crucial context.
As the US death toll approached 50,000, Trump mused about disinfectants.
50,000 dead, and he claimed he was just pranking the media.
51,000 dead, and he attacked CNN’s owner AT&T.
52,000 dead, and he tweeted about a professional wrestler.
53,000 dead, and he touted his ratings.
54,000 dead, and he went on a misspelled rant about ‘Noble Prizes’.
Nearly 55,000 dead, and he retweeted a far-right commentator who suggested ‘lunatics’ on the left might be inflating the mortality rates ‘in an attempt to steal the election.’
This morning, the Washington Post is out with a report which says “the White House is finalising expanded guidelines to allow the phased reopening of schools and camps, childcare programs, certain workplaces, houses of worship, restaurants and mass transit, according to documents under review by administration officials”.
According to the Post:
The 17-page guidance lists recommendations for each of six settings. It says all decisions should be made locally in collaboration with local health officials. An accompanying set of documents provides one-page checklists to help state and local health officials make decisions. The Washington Post obtained copies of the guidance and checklists.
Down south, Georgia is set to reopen restaurants and cinemas today, with social distancing restrictions in place. Gyms, barber shops and hair salons were allowed to reopen on Friday.
Governor Brian Kemp seems to have fallen rather afoul of President Trump on this one, his decision having been disowned by the president. The two men are not quite on the same page in other matters, politically, including Kemp’s appointment of Kelly Loeffler – she of the stock sales – to a vacant US Senate seat instead of Trump’s favoured pick, Republican congressman Doug Collins.
Experts warn, widely, that reopening too early risks a resurgence in Covid-19 infections. Oliver Milman spoke to one last week:
I don’t think the US is ready, there are 50 states all at different points in their epidemic,” said Yanis Ben Amor, executive director of the Center for Sustainable Development in the Earth Institute.
“We aren’t diagnosing enough people and if we don’t have a testing system in place it will flare up again badly. We just don’t have that testing system and as a human being I’m deeply concerned about the consequences for people who think their governor is saying it’s safe now.”
Pelosi endorses Biden
Nancy Pelosi is out with an endorsement for Joe Biden, the Democrats’ presumptive nominee to face Trump at the polls in November.
In the YouTube video, the House speaker says the former Delaware senator and US vice-president “will be an extraordinary president because he knows how to get the job done”.
Pelosi cites Biden’s record in office under Barack Obama and calls him “a voice of reason and resilience” in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, “with a clear path to lead us out of this crisis”.
Apropos of all this, something I at least found interesting: the billionaire Mark Cuban has told Yahoo Finance he might yet mount a White House run. Why do I find this interesting? Because Cuban is a rugby nut and discussed it with me a couple of years ago.
Rugby “taught me not to take myself too seriously”, said the businessman who volunteered to be Hillary Clinton’s running mate and has flirted with a run for the White House himself. “The beauty of rugby is that it’s so irreverent that you learn not to take anyone else too seriously too. You learn to accept other people for who they are.
The same piece discussed how Bill Clinton and George W Bush, Ted Kennedy and former national security adviser HR McMaster, and Newt Gingrich’s half-sister, Candace Gingrich, played and loved the greatest game. I didn’t note it at the time but I know now that Rhode Island governor Gina Raimondo, an outside bet to be Biden’s running mate, also played the game at college:
Turns out playing college rugby was good training for RI politics! #tbt pic.twitter.com/6CwKUfNie3
— Gina Raimondo (@GinaRaimondo) August 28, 2014
So there’s that.
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Good morning…
…and welcome to another day of coverage of the coronavirus outbreak in the US. First, the figures according to Johns Hopkins University:
- US cases: 965,767
- US deaths: 54,872
- New York cases: 288,045
- New York deaths: 22,269
For one comparison, around 58,000 Americans died in the Vietnam war.
New York is of course the worst-hit state but not the only state badly hit. There have been nearly 6,000 deaths across the Hudson in New Jersey, more than 3,000 in Michigan and nearly 3,000 in Massachusetts, with more than 1,000 in many other states.
One key question, with more than 26 million Americans unemployed due to the shutdown caused by the virus, is when states might move to safely reopen their economies. Andrew Cuomo, governor of New York, addressed the question on Sunday, as did Phil Murphy of New Jersey. One thing for sure – it will be gradual and dependent on death rates and hospitalisations declining, and testing capacity continuing to increase.
In the White House, meanwhile, Donald Trump stews over his prospects in a re-election year. Chastened by the fallout from his remarks about disinfectant and sunlight last week – or not, of course – the president did not brief the press over the weekend. Instead, he went on a Twitter tear against the press and reports regarding his own work ethic, a possible move to fire health secretary Alex Azar, and more. It wasn’t particularly pretty – it never is, particularly.
Here’s Rick Wilson, former Republican strategist and co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump effort, speaking to Lauren Gambino of this parish today:
All re-election campaigns – every single one of them – are a referendum on the incumbent. And if Donald Trump had come into this election with peace and prosperity, it would be a very high hill to climb to defeat him. But he’s not. He is coming into this with plague and depression.”
More to come of course – in the meantime, some further, devastating reading from Sam Levin in Los Angeles:
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