Live reporting on coronavirus in the US continues in Friday’s blog:
Summary
That’s it for today. Here’s what’s happened:
- Trump unveiled federal guidelines on reopening the economy. The plan includes several phases, which shouldn’t kick in unless a state sees cases decline for at least 14 days straight, despite robust testing. During his daily briefing, Trump undermined his administration’s planning, promising packed stadiums “very soon”.
- Roger Stone, the president’s longtime confidant and former aide, has been denied retrial and been released from a gag order. Stone’s defense argued that his jury was biased, but the federal judge overseeing the case ruled otherwise.
- Seven midwestern states are forming a pact to devise a regional plan on reopening. The pact, announced by the states’ governors today, mirrors similar efforts on the east and west coasts and somewhat pre-empted Trump’s announcement on the new federal guidelines.
- The Democratic chairman of the House rules committee recommended remote voting. Congressman Jim McGovern proposed allowing members to vote by proxy as a temporary measure to protect those lawmakers at higher risk of developing serious illness from coronavirus.
- New York extended its stay-at-home order until May 15. Several other cities and states -- including Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Wisconsin -- have similarly announced that non-essential businesses and schools will remain closed for at least several more weeks.
- Another 5.24 million people filed for unemployment last week, according to the latest report from the labor department. More than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past four weeks.
When is it safe to reopen the economy? Economists and public health experts weigh in
Renee C Wurth, population health scientist:
The battle against Covid-19 has always been one against unknowns. More information is necessary to make good decisions on when and how to open the economy. While we slowly improve our understanding of who has the virus, the goalposts are shifting toward the need to understand who has had the virus. Serology testing tells us who has at least partial immunity, which both improves our ability to gauge how easily the virus will spread and also presents the possibility for governments to certify immunity. Many countries have begun discussing issuing “immunity certificates” as a pathway to returning to work. Yet research on the length of immunity, as well as more viral and serology testing, is needed before proceeding with such a system.
Jeffrey Pfeffer, professor at Stanford’s graduate school of business:
As I point out in my book Dying for a Paycheck, there is really no trade-off between health and economic performance – at any level of analysis. Healthier people are less likely to be absent or voluntarily quit and are, no surprise, more productive and less likely to exhibit presenteeism – being physically at work but not able to concentrate. What is true for health in the workplace generally is also true for the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read more:
Joe Biden has raised more than $5m in two days, according to his campaign.
“We’ve raised more money online because of these folks than we ever have,” Biden told supporters during a Zoom fundraiser, according to reporters in virtual attendance. “We’re raising, we raised I think it was $2.75 million yesterday. Two and a half million dollars a day before,” the former vice president said.
Endorsements from Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Barack Obama have helped, Biden said. “We’re raising more money than we ever raised because they’re going out to their people and saying, ‘It’s time to give your five bucks, it’s time to help.’ They’re going into their lists as well,” he said.
Roger Stone is denied retrial
The judge overseeing the criminal case against Roger Stone has refused to grant him a new trial, rejecting his lawyers’ argument that there was juror misconduct.
Stone, a longtime confidant and former aide to Trump, was convicted in November of seven felonies in an attempt to interfere with a congressional inquiry. Amy Berman Jackson, a federal judge, sentenced him to 40 months in prison.
Stone must appear in person “at the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons” within 14 days to serve out his sentence, Jackson ruled. She also released Stone and his lawyers from a gag order.
The case set off a crisis at the Justice Department when Trump complained about what he viewed as a harsh sentencing recommendation of nine years in prison for his friend. Attorney General William Barr intervened and recommended a more lenient sentence, leading all four prosecutors in the case to quit the case.
More background:
Updated
The briefing has ended. Stay tuned for more news and anyalysis.
Minutes after the CDC director emphasized the importance of “early diagnosis, isolation and contact tracing,” the president contradicted the public health officials. There are states with “wide open plains, wide-open spaces,” Trump said. Aggressive testing and tracing aren’t necessary in those areas, according to the president.
“We’re beating the date” of reopening by May 1, Trump said. “That’s big stuff.”
He reiterated that many, “very important states” are ready to reopen.
But every state has hundreds, if not thousands to tens of thousands of cases. Trump will not say which states are doing well enough to considering scaling back distancing measures.
Fact check: Was the pandemic foretold?
“People should have told us about this,” Trump said, complaining that he wasn’t warned early on about the pandemic to come.
In fact Trump was warned at the end of January by one of his top White House advisers that coronavirus had the potential to kill hundreds of thousands of Americans and derail the US economy, unless tough action were taken immediately, new memos have revealed.
The memos were written by Trump’s economic adviser, Peter Navarro, and circulated via the National Security Council widely around the White House and federal agencies. They show that even within the Trump administration alarm bells were ringing by late January, at a time when the president was consistently downplaying the threat of Covid-19.
Moreover, the US intelligence community, public health experts and officials in Trump’s own administration had warned for years that the country was at risk from a pandemic, including specific warnings about a coronavirus outbreak.
An October 2019 draft report by the Department of Health and Human Services, obtained by the New York Times: “drove home just how underfunded, underprepared and uncoordinated the federal government would be for a life-or-death battle with a virus for which no treatment existed,” the Times reported.
Read more:
White House guidelines to reopen the country
The White House has published the guidelines here.
The virus has affected his own friends, Trump said. “Some are dead, right now. They’re dead.” At the same time, others who contracted Covid-19, had nothing more than “sniffles,” he said.
Ultimately, 29 states are “in that ballgame” of opening, and will be able to reopen soon, the president noted.
Of course, it’s up to state leaders whether and when to lift distancing measures.
Updated
Trump said that many states have already met the criteria to reopen, but declined to name any of those states.
Undermining what Drs Fauci and Birx just said, Trump is predicting a new normal that’s pretty much exactly like the old normal.
“We want every seat occupied” in an Alabama football stadium with 110,000 seats, Trump said. If a restaurant has 158 seats, all 158 should be filled, he noted. ‘That’s our normal,” Trump said. “And it’s going to happen relatively quickly.”
Dr Anthony Fauci presented many caveats to the administration’s plan.
“There may be some setbacks. Let’s face it,” he said. “We may have to pull back a little, and then go forward.”
The transition back to the “new normal” should be slow and cautious, he said. “Light switch on and off is the exact opposite of what you see here. The dominating drive of this was to make sure that this was done in the safest way possible.”
Phase 3 is a return to the “new normal,” Birx said. We can’t go back to not washing our hands, we have to continue giving people a six-foot birth.
She didn’t say this, but I imagine that the Happy Birthday song will never be the same for many of us.
If infections continue to decrease for more two weeks, we can get to Phase 2, Birx said.
Phase 2:
- People can go back to work, but should telework if possible.
- Non-essential travel can resume.
- Schools and daycares can reopen.
- Visits to senior living facilities should be prohibited.
- Large venues can operate, with distancing measures in place.
- Elective surgeries can resume.
Updated
If the number of infections seems to be decreasing fro two weeks, Dr Birx said there are four phrases to reopening the country:
Phase 1:
- Americans can return to work in slow, while teleworking whenever possible.
- Non-essential travel should be avoided.
- Schools should remain closed, and visits to senior living facilities should be prohibited.
- Restaurants and gyms can reopen if they adhere to distancing guidelines.
Before the US can consider reopening, there needs to be robust testing, especially for health care workers, and indications that the number of infections is decreasing for at least 14 days.
“We want every state to have a plan to protect the health and safety of its workers,” Birx added — states and counties need to also surveil and monitor cases among nursing homes and other vulnerable populations, she said.
Fact check: Americans want to ease back distancing
“America wants to be open and Americans want to be open,” Trump said earlier.
Of course, it’s hard to argue that we don’t want to get back outside, back to work, and reunited with friends and families who live away from us. But a Pew research poll published today found that “Americans say their greater concern is that state governments will lift restrictions on public activity too quickly (66%) than not quickly enough (32%).”
Fact check: Testing
“South Korea has done a great job, but we’ve done more,” Trump said.
Over all, the US had administered more than 3.4m coronavirus , according to the Covid Tracking Project. But compared to some other nations with high testing rates, including South Korea and Germany, we have tested a much smaller proportion of our population.
From a very slow start, the US, with a population of 329 million, had ramped up to a testing rate of one in every 138 people as of the first week of April.
In comparison, South Korea, has administered 486,003 tests overall, according to the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. With a population of 51.5m, the country has tested about 1 in every 102 people. Germany has done even better, testing every 1 in 63 people.
The UK, however, is behind, having tested only 1 in 230 people.
In America, despite the recent increase in testing, backlogs are reported in labs across the country, and many people with symptoms — including health workers — are still struggling to access tests.
Read more:
Updated
Fact check: Has coronavirus peaked?
Trump said the US has passed the peak in new cases; we’re now ready to start “life again” in a “safe and structured and very responsible fashion,” he said.
Is he right? Maybe.
The US is now firmly entrenched at the center of the global coronavirus outbreak, with more than 600,000 people confirmed as being infected by Covid-19 and more than 30,000 losing their lives due to the virus.
There are hopes that the US is starting to hit a peak in terms of new infections, followed by a long plateau and then drop, which will open the way to a gradual restart of normal life such as the opening of schools and businesses.
Anthony Fauci, the federal government’s top infectious diseases expert, has expressed “cautious optimism” that hospitalizations from the virus have started to slow down, although the rise in deaths will lag behind. “Once you turn that corner, hopefully we’ll see a very sharp decline,” Fauci said. On 13 April Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told NBC that “we are nearing the peak right now.”
A model relied upon by the White House, from the University of Washington, estimates that the virus will “peter out” in May and then essentially grind to a halt by the summer. This is based on the experiences of China and Italy, previous coronavirus hotspots.
But this model, like all predictions, is dynamic and depends upon the application of measures such as social distancing to slow the rate of transmission. Other forecasts have been more pessimistic, warning that it will be difficult to tame the spread of the virus until well after summer. Premature relaxation of restrictions on gatherings of people could see a second, much more severe, increase in infections.
The sheer size of the US, as well as its large population, means that there will be several ‘peaks’ at different times across the country. While the situation may be starting to stabilize somewhat in New York, areas in the heart of the country have yet to see the worst of the virus.”That is going to be confusing for people,” said Doug Burgum, governor of North Dakota. “If wow, New York had all these deaths and they are opening up, why aren’t we opening? That will be a communication challenge for us, but we have to just keep monitoring and see where we are going on this.”
Fact check: Economic recovery
Trump said the economy will “bouce back”. But will it?
The current economic shutdown is something the US has imposed on itself, so opening it up again - as Trump wants - could theoretically improve what’s become a dire situation.
Some 22 million people have so far been laid off or furloughed as non-essential businesses have been ordered closed to contain the spread of Covid-19 - not because the economy couldn’t support them.
But - and it’s a big but - no country in living memory has shuttered its economy the way the US has now done. Economists say a “V” shaped recovery - a sharp drop and bounce back - looks increasingly unlikely.
The global economic damage wrought by the pandemic will likely take months, if not longer, to unwind. The International Monetary Fund believes the recession will be the worst that the world has seen since the 1930s. And any true recovery will be dependent on more testing, a vaccine or a cure - none of which are likely to arrive soon.
Read more:
Fact check: Testing
“We’ve done the most advanced and robust testing of anywhere in the world,” Trump said.
In fact, some of the initial coronavirus tests sent out to states were seriously flawed. Part of the problem came from the CDC shunning the World Health Organization (WHO) template for tests, and insisted on developing a more complicated version that correctly identified Covid-19, but also flagged other viruses - resulting in false positives.
Other countries – after their first coronavirus case – swiftly asked private companies to develop their own tests. South Korea, which recorded its first case on the same day as the US, did so within a week. The US only allowed laboratories and hospitals to conduct their own tests on February 29, almost six weeks after the first case was confirmed.
The White House coronavirus briefing has begun
Trump is addresing steps he’s taken to “beat the invisible enemy”. He called coronavirus a “cruel” illness from “a distant land”.
Trump reportedly dodged a call from a Republican governor about whether the US is ramping up production of syringes to prepare for distribution of the eventual coronavirus vaccine.
One GOP governor on the Trump call today said we all talk about the coronavirus vaccine, but is production being ramped up for syringes for when that vaccine comes out? Trump said thank you for the question then didn't answer, I'm told.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) April 16, 2020
The question came during Trump’s call with governors this afternoon, during which the president previewed the federal guidelines on reopening the economy that he will unveil during his press conference.
Updated
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho reports on the latest from California:
California governor Gavin Newsom signed an executive order on Thursday offering two weeks paid sick leave for food workers.
The order covers workers throughout the food supply chain, from agriculture to food distribution plants to grocery stores and fast food shops. Anyone who has tested positive or been exposed or has been ordered to quarantine or isolate will be allowed to take two weeks off at minimum and still receive pay, Newsom said.
“We just want folks to know that they don’t have to work when they’re sick if they’ve been exposed, quarantined, been told to isolate or have a positive test of covid-19,” Newsom said.
“And I think all of us would agree that people delivering the food, people picking the food, people that are cooking the food and are serving the food, all of us would prefer that they’re safe and healthy as well. It’s in all of our interests that we prioritize the interests of these critical and essential workers.”
Newsom noted that some food workers may have not access to basic amenities like paid sick care, and that this executive order would act as a way to remedy that. He pointed to a food distribution center in San Joaquin Valley with more than 1,700 employees, where recently 51 workers tested positive for coronavirus and one died.
“It just reinforces the anxiety that people have that may not have basic care, basic sick leave,” he said.
There were 26,182 positive cases in California as of Thursday, as well as 890 deaths.
Today so far
That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Maanvi Singh, will take over for the next few hours.
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Trump will soon unveil federal guidelines on reopening the economy. On a call this afternoon with the nation’s governors, Trump reportedly told the state leaders to “call your own shots” on when to reopen, a marked reversal from the president, who claimed days ago that he had “total” authority to reopen the economy.
- Seven midwestern states are forming a pact to devise a regional plan on reopening. The pact, announced by the states’ governors today, mirrors similar efforts on the east and west coasts and somewhat pre-empted Trump’s announcement on the new federal gudelines.
- The Democratic chairman of the House rules committee recommended remote voting. Congressman Jim McGovern proposed allowing members to vote by proxy as a temporary measure to protect those lawmakers at higher risk of developing serious illness from coronavirus.
- New York extended its stay-at-home order until May 15. Several other cities and states -- including Washington, DC, Los Angeles and Wisconsin -- have similarly announced that non-essential businesses and schools will remain closed for at least several more weeks.
- Another 5.24 million people filed for unemployment last week, according to the latest report from the labor department. More than 22 million Americans have filed for unemployment in the past four weeks.
Maanvi will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
The Senate has adjourned its pro forma session without an agreement on replenishing funds for the Paycheck Protection Program.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell said lawmakers had made “absolutely no progress” on reaching a deal and expressed hope that Democrats “will come around.”
But Democrats have accused Republicans of playing politics as they seek to add more funds for hospitals and state and local governments, as well as the small business loan program, to the unanimous consent bill.
Senators’ next chance to pass the bill will be on Monday, when the next pro forma session is gaveled in.
#Senate pro forma sessions:
— Senate Periodicals (@SenatePPG) April 16, 2020
MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2:00 P.M.
THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 5:30 P.M.
MONDAY, APRIL 27, 8:00 A.M. AND THURSDAY, APRIL 30, 1:00 P.M.
The full Senate will next convene:
MONDAY, MAY 4, 3:00 P.M.
Trump reportedly shared a document called Opening Up America with governors moments ago, as the president and the state leaders held a conference call on reopening the economy.
Obtained by @cbsnews: Here’s Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3. Document says recommendations are “Based on up-to-date data and readiness; mitigates risk of resurgence; protects the most vulnerable” and is “implementable on statewide or county-by-County basis at governors’ discretion.” pic.twitter.com/CrCnYiHuDr
— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) April 16, 2020
The document lays out three phases of reopening, gradually easing social distancing guidelines as the country works to get the virus under control.
There do not appear to be any dates attached to each of the phases, indicating Trump is recognizing governors will have the final say on when to ease stay-at-home orders.
Interestingly, Phase 3 of the reopening still advises vulnerable populations to practice physical distancing and urges other individuals to minimize time spent in crowded spaces.
Updated
It appears that Mitt Romney was the only Republican senator not asked to join Trump’s congressional taskforce on reopening the economy.
Based on list the White House just sent, Romney appears to be the only GOP senator not on the congressional task force. https://t.co/B1JU4wWlVb
— Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) April 16, 2020
A staggering 65 senators, including 52 of the 53 Republican in the Senate, were asked to join the taskforce, which had a call with the president earlier today.
Trump has repeatedly taken swipes at Romney since the Utah lawmaker voted to convict the president on one of the two articles of impeachment earlier this year, making him the only Republican senator to do so.
Updated
Trump reportedly tells governors 'you're going to call your own shots'
Trump’s new guidelines on reopening the economy reportedly appear to put the onus on governors to determine when to start that process, another sign the president is backing down from his previous claim that he has “total” authority to reopen the economy.
The Wall Street Journal reports:
The new guidelines, formally known as Opening Up America Again, will include medical data on a county-by-county level, White House officials said. The guidelines won’t suggest reopening dates, and it was unclear whether they would provide a recommendation on a time frame to reopen based on the data.
The president previewed the guidelines during a call with governors this afternoon, the officials said.
‘You’re going to call your own shots,’ Mr. Trump told the governors, according to a person who was briefed on the call. ‘We’ll be standing right alongside of you and we’re going to get our country open.’
Trump is expected to formally announce the guidelines in a couple hours during his daily White House press conference.
Updated
The Congressional Budget Office has released a report estimating that the stimulus package will add about $1.8tn to the federal deficit over the next decade.
“Although the act provides financial assistance totaling more than $2tn, the projected cost is less than that because some of that assistance is in the form of loan guarantees, which are not estimated to have a net effect on the budget,” the agency wrote in its report.
Lawmakers are currently deliberating over the next coronavirus relief bill, which will likely allocate hundreds of billions of dollars in additional government funding as the US healthcare system and the economy suffer the effects of the pandemic.
Updated
Former Wisconsin governor Scott Walker criticized his successor, Tony Evers, for extending the state’s stay-at-home order until 26 May.
Walker, who narrowly lost the 2018 gubernatorial race to Evers, suggested the Democratic governor should wait to see what the next two weeks bring before extending the order through most of May.
How can a stay-at-hope order be extended nearly a month and a half without knowing what the next two weeks will be like? This is not logical.
— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) April 16, 2020
Although there are encouraging signs that the curve is flattening in many places, public health experts have warned that relaxing restrictions too quickly could cause a surge in infections.
Scott’s complaint comes as the question of when and how to reopen the economy is becoming an increasingly political one, with a number of Republicans, including the president, pushing for an earlier start date.
Updated
Ohio governor Mike DeWine said the state would begin reopening on 1 May, the target date that Trump has set for starting that process.
I am an optimist and am confident that Ohioans will also live up to the challenge of doing things differently as we open back up beginning on May 1st.
— Governor Mike DeWine (@GovMikeDeWine) April 16, 2020
But DeWine, who has been widely praised for the aggressive early steps he took to limit the spread of the virus, emphasized it would be a “gradual” reopening.
“We want to do this in a thoughtful way that engenders confidence and ensures customers and employees are safe,” the Republican governor said in a tweet, warning that normal life would not resume for some time.
Updated
Trump's guidelines on reopening US economy will be 'flexible'
A White House official said Trump’s forthcoming guidelines on reopening the US economy would be “flexible”.
“The president’s new guidelines are in fact that. They are recommendations,” the official told Reuters. “They are flexible. They are data-driven.”
Trump is expected to announce the guidelines during his daily press conference, which will take place at 6pm ET at the White House.
The official said the health experts on the White House coronavirus taskforce had signed off on the guidelines, which would serve as a template to governors as they start reopening their states.
“This is going to speak to every governor and in every situation and it is their choice as to what to do with these guidelines and recommendations,” the official said. “It will be a set of recommendations that every governor will be able to look to as a guide.”
The decision on how and when to relax stay-at-home orders will ultimately lie with governors, several of whom have already announced that social distancing restrictions will remain in effect for at least several more weeks.
Updated
Seven midwestern states form pact to reopen the economy
Seven midwestern states are forming a pact aimed at devising a regional plan to reopen the economy, mirroring similar efforts on the east and west coasts.
Governors Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, Mike DeWine of Ohio, Tony Evers of Wisconsin, Tim Walz of Minnesota, JB Pritzker of Illinois, Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Andy Beshear of Kentucky announced they would work in coordination to determine how and when to relax social distancing guidelines.
“Our number one priority when analyzing when best to reopen our economy is the health and safety of our citizens. We will make decisions based on facts, science, and recommendations from experts in health care, business, labor, and education,” the governors said in a statement.
The state leaders laid out multiple criteria, including sustained control of the new infection rate and expanded testing capacity, to meet before they would relax the restrictions.
“Phasing in sectors of our economy will be most effective when we work together as a region,” the governors said. “We look forward to working together as one region to tackle this challenge together.”
The news comes hours before Trump is expected to announce federal guidelines on reopening the economy, with an eye toward starting that process by 1 May.
But the governors’ announcement, combined with multiple states’ new extensions of stay-at-home orders, have effectively pre-empted Trump’s press conference, making it clear that state leaders will not observe any kind of federal deadline to reopen.
Updated
House rules committee chairman recommends remote voting
Jim McGovern, the Democratic chairman of the House rules committee, has released a recommendation that members be allowed to vote by proxy during the current crisis.
Chairman McGovern Statement on Presentation to the Democratic Caucus Recommending Implementation of Temporary Remote Voting During this Pandemic 🔽 pic.twitter.com/S09adfK4e0
— House Committee on Rules (@RulesDemocrats) April 16, 2020
“Under this plan, any member unable to travel to Washington due to the pandemic could provide specific instructions for each vote to a fellow member who has been authorized to cast those votes on their behalf,” McGovern said in a statement.
“A member casting a vote on behalf of another member would be required to have exact direction from that member on how to vote and would have to follow that direction. There would be no ability to give a general proxy. Members would have to direct each and every vote.”
McGovern said such an option would need to be authorized by a House resolution and would only be a temporary measure for the duration of the pandemic.
Congressional leaders, including the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, have previously expressed concerns about remote voting. “Let us hope that the blessings of technology will give us more options sooner to review,” Pelosi said last week. “We aren’t there yet.”
But lawmakers have faced more questions about remote voting in recent weeks, as several members have been diagnosed with coronavirus and the congressional recess has been extended to 4 May.
Updated
House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s spokesperson corrected Trump’s claim that she had deleted a tweet containing her comments from late February encouraging people to visit Chinatown.
Pelosi’s spokesperson said the clip the president tweeted was from local news coverage and had never been posted on the speaker’s account.
He also noted that the clip is from weeks before San Francisco issued its shelter-in-place order.
Fact check: We never posted this video. It’s obviously local TV coverage of the Speaker visiting Chinatown in San Francisco three weeks prior to the shelter-in-place order. https://t.co/sVCqbkD0DF
— Drew Hammill (@Drew_Hammill) April 16, 2020
Trump lashed out against Nancy Pelosi after the House speaker accused the president of causing unnecessary deaths through his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Trump criticized Pelosi for saying in late February, before there were any confirmed cases of coronavirus in San Francisco, that people should continue to visit the city’s Chinatown neighborhood.
“She wanted everyone to pack into Chinatown long after I closed the BORDER TO CHINA,” Trump said in a tweet. “Based on her statement, she is responsible for many deaths. She’s an incompetent, third-rate politician!”
Pelosi visited Chinatown in late February to help dispel racially tinged fears about coronavirus that had caused the neighbrohood’s businesses to see a stunning drop in customers.
It was a pleasure to try my hand at making fortune cookies at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory (with a little guidance from owner Kevin Chan, of course).
— Nancy Pelosi (@SpeakerPelosi) February 25, 2020
The message inside?
“United We Stand.” pic.twitter.com/3piGq4yKXq
“We know that there is concern surrounding tourism, traveling all throughout the world, but we think it’s very safe to be in Chinatown and hope that others will come,” Pelosi said at the time. “It’s lovely here.”
San Francisco county has recorded only 17 coronavirus deaths, so Trump’s claim that Pelosi has caused “many deaths” is questionable on its face. The president’s connection between his decision to block travel from China and tourists avoiding Chinatown is also problematic.
Reports of racist incidents targeting Asian Americans have increased since the start of the outbreak, and Trump was previously criticized for referring to coronavirus as the “Chinese virus”.
The Guardian’s Vivian Ho wrote this piece about the effect of the outbreak on Chinatown in late February:
Updated
Trump’s approval rating has slightly declined after enjoying a small bump at the onset of the coronavirus crisis, according to a new Gallup poll.
The Gallup survey found that Trump’s approval rating has slipped to 43%, down 6 points since last month. The figure represents his lowest approval rating since November.
However, 43% is still better than the president’s average approval rating since taking office, which Gallup puts at 40%.
Other recent polls have similarly indicated the small uptick in popularity that Trump saw as the country first realized the extent of the coronavirus crisis has proven to be short-lived, and the president has retreated to more familiar territory in terms of his approval rating.
Wisconsin’s governor, Tony Evers, has extended the state’s stay-at-home order until 26 May. The order was originally supposed to end next Friday.
The extension means the state’s non-essential businesses will remain closed through Memorial Day weekend, and schools will not reopen for the remainder of the academic year.
“A few weeks ago, we had a pretty grim outlook for what Covid-19 could mean for our state, but because of the efforts of all of you, Safer at Home is working. That said, we aren’t out of the woods just yet,” the Democratic governor in a press release.
“As I’ve said all along, we are going to rely on the science and public health experts to guide us through this challenge. So, as we extend Safer at Home, I need all of you to continue doing the good work you’ve been doing so we can keep our families, our neighbors, and our communities safe, and get through this storm together.”
Updated
New Jersey has extended school closures until at least 15 May, as the state grapples with a surge in coronavirus cases.
Governor Phil Murphy said students would not be able to return to class on 17 April, the previously set date, but he has not yet decided to cancel the rest of the academic year, as some other states have done.
“We cannot be guided by emotion, we need to be guided by where the facts on the ground, science and public health take us,” Murphy said at his daily briefing on the state’s response to coronavirus.
“And that means it will not be safe to reopen our schools or start sports back up for at lest another four weeks.”
New Jersey has lost more than 3,000 residents to coronavirus, making it the second hardest-hit state in the country, and New York is sending its neighbor 100 ventilators to help with the surge in cases.
Updated
British foreign secretary Dominic Raab announced the country’s lockdown measures would remain in effect “for at least the next three weeks”.
Raab, who has temporarily taken over some key duties of Boris Johnson’s as the prime minister continues to recover from coronavirus, urged British citizens to stay home in order to avoid overwhelming the hospital system.
“Now is not the moment to give the coronavirus a second chance,” Raab said at his press conference.
For more of the latest updates from London, follow the Guardian’s UK live blog:
Cuomo taps McKinsey for ‘Trump-proof’ NY reopening plan
New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, has tapped high-powered consultants to develop a science-based plan for the safe economic reopening of the region that can thwart pressure from Donald Trump to move more rapidly, state government sources have told Reuters.
Cuomo, along with many other state governors, shut all non-essential businesses to limit the spread of the sometimes deadly Covid-19 virus, and has warned that he is prepared to keep non-essential businesses shut ‘perhaps for several months more’ unless he can assure public safety in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
As part of Cuomo’s effort, McKinsey & Co is producing models on coronavirus testing, infections and other key data points that along with other research and expert opinions will help underpin decisions on how and when to reopen the region’s economy.
Dani Lever, communications director for Cuomo, said McKinsey has been primarily helping New York analyze the Covid-19 surge, such as hospital capacity and infection rates.
Cuomo has also recalled three former top aides: Bill Mulrow, a senior adviser director at Blackstone Group; Steven Cohen, an executive vice president of MacAndrews & Forbes Inc; and Larry Schwartz, who, like the others, previously served as secretary to the governor.
Deloitte is also involved in developing the regional plan, a source told Reuters on Wednesday.
The goal is to “Trump-proof” the plan, said an adviser to New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who has been coordinating with New York in recent days, along with some other north-east states.
“We think Trump ultimately will blink on this, but if not, we need to push back, and we are reaching out to top experts and other professionals to come up with a bullet-proof plan,” to open on the state’s terms, said a Cuomo adviser.
Updated
Today so far
Here’s where the day stands so far:
- Governor Andrew Cuomo extended New York’s stay-at-home order until 15 May. Cities like Los Angeles and Washington DC have similarly extended their orders for another month in recent days.
- The Small Business Administration said the Paycheck Protection Program had run out of money. The small business loan program created by the stimulus package was originally granted $350bn, and lawmakers remain at a stalemate over a bill to replenish the program’s funds.
- Another 5.24 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week, according to the latest report from the labor department. More than 22 million Americans have submitted unemployment claims in the last four weeks.
The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned.
Updated
Cuomo briefing summary
New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, has just concluded his daily briefing on the state’s response to coronavirus.
Here’s some of what he covered:
- New York’s stay-at-home order has been extended until 15 May. Cuomo’s announcement follows similar extensions already announced for Los Angeles and Washington DC, as many public health experts warn against relaxing restrictions too quickly.
- Cuomo said the state has controlled the spread of the virus through social distancing. The governor applauded New Yorkers for respecting social distancing guidelines over the past several weeks, and he said their success underscored why they needed to keep up their efforts.
- Another 606 New Yorkers died of the virus yesterday. The daily death toll remains high, but Wednesday’s figure represents a slight decrease from Tuesday’s death toll of 752.
- Cuomo acknowledged opposition to his newly announced order on wearing masks, but the governor said New Yorkers must cover their faces whenever social distancing cannot be maintained in order to protect themselves and those around them.
- Cuomo dismissed Trump’s baseless claim that New York City is inflating its coronavirus death toll. Cuomo said Trump’s accusation, which came after the city revised its death toll to include probable coronavirus deaths, was “even more bizarre than usual”.
Updated
New York governor Andrew Cuomo’s announcement that the state’s stay-at-home order would be extended until 15 May comes after Los Angeles and Washington DC, similarly extended their orders.
Los Angeles county announced on Friday it would extend its stay-at-home order for another month, and Washington’s mayor, Muriel Bowser, said yesterday that non-essential businesses and schools would remain closed until 15 May.
Those announcements conflict with Trump’s target date of 1 May to start reopening the economy, but a number of state and local leaders, including Cuomo, have said they will not relax their orders until it seems safe to do so.
Updated
Andrew Cuomo acknowledged there is “a lot of opposition” to his new order on wearing masks, which require New Yorkers to cover their faces whenever social distancing cannot be maintained, such as on public transportation or in for-fire vehicles.
You MUST wear a face covering or mask:
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 16, 2020
-On public transportation
-In for-hire vehicles
If you are a bus/train operator or a driver of a for-hire vehicle, you must also wear a face covering or mask.
These rules go into effect on Friday at 8PM.
“I understand that people do not like it,” Cuomo said, noting that many people also considered the stay-at-home order to be an example of government overreach.
However, Cuomo emphasized he considered the mask order necessary to avoid unnecessary deaths. “We want to see fewer people die,” Cuomo said. “I’m asking New Yorkers to wear a mask, not to just to protect other people but also to protect you.”
Updated
Andrew Cuomo dismissed Trump’s claim that New York was inflating its coronavirus death toll after the city revised its figure to include probable coronavirus deaths.
The governor described Trump’s claim as “even more bizarre than usual”, emphasizing that officials obviously do not want to see the death toll rise.
A spokesperson for New York’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, similarly said this morning: “These were people with names, hobbies, lives ... They deserve to be recognized, not minimized.”
Updated
New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, criticized the federal government for “starving state and local governments” of funds amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuomo said he has pressed New York’s own Democratic congressional members, including Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, on getting more funding for states.
Democratic lawmakers are pushing for more money for hospitals and state and local governments in the next coronavirus relief bill, while Republicans are trying to pass a unanimous consent bill to get additional funds for the small business loan program created by the stimulus package.
Updated
Andrew Cuomo applauded New Yorkers for flattening the curve of coronavirus cases through their social distancing actions.
“It’s about the behavior of our people,” Cuomo said. “It’s that simple.”
New York on PAUSE will be extended in coordination with other states to May 15.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) April 16, 2020
Non-essential workers must continue to stay home.
Social distancing rules remain in place.
We must STAY THE COURSE.
Cuomo described the stay-at-home orders issued by many state and local leaders as “some of the most life-changing policies government has ever issued”, and he expressed gratitude that “people are choosing to do the right thing”.
“I trust in New Yorkers,” Cuomo said. “And what they have done has worked.”
Updated
Cuomo extends stay-at-home order until 15 May
Andrew Cuomo announced the state’s stay-at-home order, known as New York Pause, would be extended for another month until 15 May.
Cuomo said New Yorkers’ actions had brought the infection spread rate, meaning the number of people each infected person goes on to infect, to 0.9. But China’s Wuhan region managed to bring that rate down to 0.3 before the economy was reopened.
“New York Pause has worked,” Cuomo said, arguing the success was indicative of why the order needed to be extended.
He added that wearing masks is “one of the best things we can do” to limit the spread of the virus and move toward reopening.
Updated
Governor Andrew Cuomo emphasized that New York had avoided the worst-case scenario predicted by experts weeks ago through social distancing.
“We slowed the infection rate by our actions, and theat’s why we’re in a better place today,” Cuomo said.
But the governor added that the state needed to closely monitor new cases as the economy starts to reopen to avoid a surge in coronavirus infections.
In another sign of New York flattening the curve, governor Andrew Cuomo said the state would send 100 ventilators to New Jersey.
Cuomo similarly announced yesterday that New York would send ventilators to Maryland and Michigan as those states address a surge in coronavirus cases.
A few weeks ago, Cuomo was begging for more medical equipment and staff to come to New York, and he promised the state would “return the favor” once its curve was flattened. He now appears to be following through on that pledge.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo reiterated that the state would need to significantly expand its testing capacity to start reopening the economy.
Cuomo said the state would need to develop a system to quickly identify new coronavirus cases and trace how those cases could spread.
The governor once again said the federal government would need to get involved to sufficiently improve testing. Cuomo acknowledged the federal government is “not eager to get involved in testing,” but he described it as an absolute necessity to move toward reopening.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said businesses would need to “reimagine” how they can operate as the state looks to reopen the economy.
A number of businesses have switched to telework amid the pandemic, and Cuomo suggested some businesses might continue that practice even as the economy starts to reopen.
Cuomo said these conversations were an opportunity for the state to determine the best possible path forward. “How do we learn the lessons so that this ‘new normal’ is a better New York?” Cuomo said.
Cuomo: 'We can control the spread'
New York is seeing evidence that it has effectively controlled the spread of coronavirus, governor Andrew Cuomo said at his daily briefing on the state’s response to the pandemic.
Cuomo announced that coronavirus hospitalizations have slightly dropped from 18,000 to 17,000, and the three-day average of intubations is also down.
The governor emphasized that 2,000 new people were still hospitalized with coronavirus yesterday, but more people are simultaneously being discharged.
“We can control the spread,” Cuomo said. “We did not know for sure we could do that.”
However, the state still recorded 606 deaths from coronavirus yesterday, although that represents a slight decline from Tuesday’s death toll of 752.
Updated
Defense secretary Mark Esper said evidence suggests coronavirus came about naturally and was not made in a Chinese lab, echoing similar comments from the chairman of the joint chiefs, General Mark Milley.
"A majority of the views right now is that it is natural, it was organic," says @EsperDoD on the origin of the coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/jaOkDjt46E
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) April 16, 2020
“A majority of the views right now is that it was natural, that it was organic,” Esper told the “Today” show in an interview this morning.
But the defense secretary also criticized China for their initial handling of the outbreak, saying Chinese officials had not been transparent about the virus and casting doubt upon Beijing’s latest comments.
“They’ve been misleading us, they’ve been opaque if you will from the early days of this virus,” Esper said. “So I don’t have much faith that they’re even being truthful with us now.”
Trump has similarly pivoted to trying to blame China, as well as the World Health Organization, for the outbreak of the virus as the number of cases continues to climb in the US.
However, the president initially praised Beijing’s response to the virus. Trump said in February, “I think China is very, you know, professionally run in the sense that they have everything under control. ... I really believe they are going to have it under control fairly soon.”
Defying social distancing guidelines, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner traveled with their children to New Jersey earlier this month to celebrate Passover.
The New York Times reports:
Ivanka Trump, President Trump’s eldest daughter and a senior White House adviser, has positioned herself as one of the leaders of the administration’s economic relief efforts and one of its most vocal advocates of social distancing. ...
But Ms. Trump herself has not followed the federal guidelines advising against discretionary travel, leaving Washington for another one of her family’s homes, even as she has publicly thanked people for self-quarantining. And effective April 1, the city of Washington issued a stay-at-home order for all residents unless they are performing essential activities.
Ms. Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, who is also a senior White House adviser, traveled with their three children to the Trump National Golf Club Bedminster in New Jersey to celebrate the first night of Passover this month, according to two people with knowledge of their travel plans, even as seders across the country were canceled and families gathered remotely over apps like Zoom.
As the Times notes, Trump even posted a video to Twitter late last month asking everyone who can practice social distancing to “please do your part” to limit the spread of coronavirus.
In these toughest of times, America shows her spirit and strength. This will end and we will emerge stronger than ever before.
— Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) March 30, 2020
In the meantime, social distancing saves lives! Please do your part. We are all in this together. 💛
[Part 1] pic.twitter.com/iYzMunLJyO
The White House confirmed in a statement this morning that Trump had traveled to New Jersey, defending her actions by saying she was practicing social distancing and staying at a “a closed down facility considered to be a family home.”
A White House official confirms to @cnn's @betsy_klein that, despite federal guidelines, @IvankaTrump and Jared Kushner and their children, left DC for their country home at Trump's private Bedminster, NJ, club, as first reported by the @nytimes. “Ivanka, with her immediate (1/4)
— Kate Bennett (@KateBennett_DC) April 16, 2020
The small business loan program has run out of money, and Congress is not expected to return to session until May 4.
The majority leaders of both the House and the Senate, Steny Hoyer and Mitch McConnell, announced earlier this week that they were extending the chambers’ recesses.
Lawmakers were originally expected to return on April 20, but that was delayed in light of social distancing guidelines.
With lawmakers not expected to return for another few weeks, the only way funding for the Paycheck Protection Program will be extended will be if a unanimous consent bill can be approved.
Democrats are pushing for the next coronavirus relief bill to include money for hospitals and state and local businesses, as well as the small business loan program.
But Democratic senator Kyrsten Sinema said she supported giving the small business loan program, known as the Paycheck Protection Program, more funding by unanimous consent, as Republicans have pushed for.
The PPP program is going to run out of funding soon - the Senate should approve add’l funding by unanimous consent ASAP. Small businesses need our help to survive during this emergency. https://t.co/kYTbjGHCXM
— Kyrsten Sinema (@kyrstensinema) April 16, 2020
If Democrats start to split on the question of whether to hold up the bill to push for more funding, it could allow Republicans to exploit the divisions and get their proposal passed.
However, it only takes one member objecting to a unanimous consent bill to prevent its approval, and many Democratic lawmakers have signaled they still want more money for hospitals and state and local governments.
SBA says small business loan program is out of money
The Small Business Administration said this morning that it has run out of its $350 billion funding for the Paycheck Protection Program, the small business loan program created by the stimulus package.
A message on the SBA website said, “The SBA is currently unable to accept new applications for the Paycheck Protection Program based on available appropriations funding. Similarly, we are unable to enroll new PPP lenders at this time.”
Thanks to Democrats, this is now the message small business owners will see when they try to apply for help through the Paycheck Protection Program. https://t.co/3ViZ7bfM87 pic.twitter.com/EMjoTrAiI5
— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) April 16, 2020
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy was quick to blame Democrats for the issue after Democratic senators objected to Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s bill that would have granted additional funding to PPP by unanimous consent.
However, Democratic leaders, including speaker Nancy Pelosi, argued Republicans are refusing to negotiate on their request for the bill to also include more money for hospitals and state and local governments.
Congressman Max Rose has returned from his deployment with the National Guard, where he helped establish a temporary hospital on Staten Island, which has seen an alarming number of coronavirus cases.
I’m returning today from my deployment with the National Guard, where in the last two weeks we set up an emergency COVID hospital on Staten Island.
— Rep. Max Rose (@RepMaxRose) April 16, 2020
But let me be clear—what I did was nothing compared to what our essential workers are doing every single day.
“It was a privilege to get this essential COVID-19 hospital up and running,” the freshman Democrat said in a statement announcing his return.
“This operation was a testament to what we can accomplish as a city, state, and country when we put aside differences and focus on getting the job done. We need that same focus on securing even more PPE, testing, staffing, and economic aid for New York. I am going to continue doing everything in my power to make that happen.”
Staten Island has confirmed more than 8,000 cases of coronavirus and has recorded at least 349 deaths from the virus.
Joe Biden said Trump is presenting a “false choice” between reopening the economy and protecting public health.
WATCH: Joe Biden discusses how he would have handled the coronavirus pandemic.
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) April 16, 2020
"We knew what was about to happen and instead of acting the president did nothing." pic.twitter.com/YnXwOaOdPn
“I say we should not send you back to work until it’s safe to send you back to work. This is a false choice,” the presumptive Democratic nominee told MSNBC in a remote interview this morning. “The way you revive the economy is you defeat the disease.”
Trump is expected to unveil federal guidelines on reopening the economy later today, but the decision on when to do so ultimately lies with governors, many of whom have expressed caution on relaxing stay-at-home orders.
LIke many public health experts, Biden emphasized the economy will not be able to restart until the country develops an effective and widespread testing system in order to identify and isolate new coronavirus cases.
“We have to ensure that hospitals are ready for a flare-up,” Biden said. “The idea this isn’t going to flare up is just preposterous — it’s going to come back in some form or another.”
A spokesperson for Nancy Pelosi responded to Trump’s mocking tweet by suggesting the president was projecting when he called the House speaker “totally incompetent.”
“Every knock from him is a boost,” said Pelosi’s spokesperson, Drew Hamill.
Response from Pelosi spox Hammill: "Every knock from him is a boost. It’s difficult to imagine more projection in one tweet.” https://t.co/vPW5pzTBgC
— Billy House (@HouseInSession) April 16, 2020
Trump mocked Nancy Pelosi as a “weak and pathetic puppet” after the House speaker criticized the president’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Crazy “Nancy Pelosi, you are a weak person. You are a poor leader. You are the reason America hates career politicians, like yourself.” @seanhannity She is totally incompetent & controlled by the Radical Left, a weak and pathetic puppet. Come back to Washington and do your job!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 16, 2020
“Come back to Washington and do your job!” Trump wrote in a tweet directed at Pelosi, even though the Washington metropolitan area is currently seeing a surge in coronavirus cases and officials are warning against discretionary travel.
On Tuesday night, Pelosi released a “Dear Colleague” letter arguing Trump’s mishandling of the current crisis had cost some Americans their lives.
“The truth is that Donald Trump dismantled the infrastructure handed to him which was meant to plan for and overcome a pandemic, resulting in unnecessary deaths and economic disaster,” Pelosi wrote.
CNN anchor Chris Cuomo announced last night that his wife, Cristina, has now also been diagnosed with coronavirus.
“Cristina now has Covid-19. She is now positive. And it just breaks my heart,” Cuomo said during an interview last night with his brother, New York governor Andrew Cuomo. “It is the one thing I was hoping wouldn’t happen, and now it has.”
Cuomo announced late last month that he had contracted the virus, and he has continued to host his CNN show from his New York home as he quarantines himself.
Cuomo made a virtual appearance at one of his brother’s daily briefings on the coronavirus response earlier this month and expressed gratitude for the health of his children and Cristina, who has been providing his meals as he quarantines.
“I don’t know how I would do without it,” Cuomo said. “I mean, I’ve always been emotionally dependent on my wife, but now, I don’t eat without Cristina.”
Another 5.24 million Americans file for unemployment
The Guardian’s Dominic Rushe and Amanda Holpuch report:
More than 22 million American have lost their jobs in the last four weeks as the coronavirus pandemic has swept across the US, according to government figures.
The US labor department announced on Thursday that another 5.24 million people filed for unemployment benefits last week, making a total of 22.2 million since 14 March when nationwide stay at home orders led to an unprecedented wave of layoffs across the country.
The largest number of people to ask for unemployment benefits in a four week period before the Covid-19 crisis came in 1992 when 2.7 million sought support.
The torrent of layoffs has swept across the country, and every sector of the economy, leading to backlogs and anger at state unemployment offices as people have struggled to make claims. The delays are likely to trigger further spikes in the figures in coming weeks.
“It’s akin to the entire country being hit by a hurricane,” said Jason Reed, assistant chair of finance at the University of Notre Dame. “And we don’t know when the hurricane is leaving.”
Trump to unveil new federal guidelines on reopening the country
Good morning, live blog readers.
Donald Trump announced at his press conference yesterday that he would unveil new federal guidelines aimed at starting to reopen the country’s economy today.
That annoucement came as some glimmers of hope emerged that states like New York, which has been particularly hard hit by the virus, are flattening the curve of coronavirus cases.
“These encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines for states on reopening the country, which we’ll be announcing. We’re going to be talking about that tomorrow,” Trump said at his press conference. “It’s very exciting.”
The president is scheduled to have phone calls today with members of Congress and governors, who will ultimately have the final say on when their states reopen, about the forthcoming guidelines.
But even as the president sets criteria for how and when to reopen the country, public health experts and state and local leaders are warning Americans may have to endure several more weeks of social distancing.
A number of states and cities -- including Virginia, Connecticut and San Francisco -- have already extended their stay-at-home orders past May 1, when the president hopes the country can start reopening.
Asked about the May 1 target date earlier this week, Dr Anthony Fauci, the government’s top infectious disease specialist, said, “We have to have something in place that is efficient and that we can rely on, and we’re not there yet.”
