At least 478 people across New York died from coronavirus yesterday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
"The worst news is the number of lives lost. That number is still horrific," he said.
Coronavirus pandemic in the US
By Meg Wagner, Elise Hammond and Veronica Rocha, CNN
Updated 9:15 p.m. ET, April 20, 2020
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At least 478 people died in New York from coronavirus yesterday
New York governor: The question now is "are we past the apex?"
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said coronavirus hospitalizations are down across the state.
The governor said that as hospitalizations increased, experts wondered when the city would reach the apex. Now, the question has changed.
"The question for us is, 'Are we past the apex?'" he said.
WATCH:
Brooklyn Supreme Court justice dies from coronavirus
From CNN's Erica Orden
Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Noach Dear died early Sunday from complications related to coronavirus, Lucian Chalfen, a spokesperson for the New York state court system, confirmed to CNN.
Dear was elected as a justice in 2015. He also served as a New York City council member for nearly 20 years.
US, Mexico and Canada will extend non-essential travel restrictions, US official says
From CNN's Priscilla Alvarez
The Department of Homeland Security will extend travel restrictions with US, Mexico, and Canada an additional 30 days.
Acting Secretary Chad Wolf announced the extension today, saying the decision was made in "close collaboration" between leaders in the US, Mexico, and Canada.
"As President Trump stated last week, border control, travel restrictions and other limitations remain critical to slowing the spread and allowing the phased opening of the country,” he said.
Why Shake Shack is returning its $10 million government loan
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Shake Shack announced that it’s returning the $10 million loan from the US government under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), after it received backlash for applying for the loan at all. Shake Shack has around $100 million in cash on hand.
Randy Garutti, Shake Shack's CEO, said the loan was intended to “take care of our team and employ as many people.”
“The good news for us is as a larger public company, we also have access to capital in different ways,” Garutti said about the company’s decision to return the loan.
He added that the burger chain was able to fundraise last Friday “to ensure long-term stability.”
“That $10 million now can go back in the pot, can go to the people who deserve it and we hope can go help inspire the next round, as you’re seeing the Treasury and everyone talking today about how to make the next round better," he said.
About the loans: The emergency program was touted as a way to help small businesses pay workers and keep their operations running during the coronavirus crisis but it ran out of the $349 billion stimulus last week. Several media reports showed that large chunks of the package, overseen by the Small Business Administration (SBA), were taken up by chain restaurants, hoteliers and publicly traded corporations, rather than small, local businesses.
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Florida lawmakers: There must be more testing before the state reopens
Florida representatives are calling on Gov. Ron DeSantis to expand testing for Covid-19 cases before reopening the economy.
During a press call, state Rep. Donna Shalala said paying attention to the public health experts and a strong testing regime is Florida's first line of defense against coronavirus. Those steps are vital to getting the economy up and running again.
"Gov. DeSantis can not be weak. He has to be a leader, and that means he has to lay out very strong procedures and you can not open up the beaches. Opening up the beaches is the most dangerous thing you can do." Shalala said.
Some background: On Friday, beaches in Jacksonville reopened for certain hours under some restrictions. The city said group activities and sunbathing are not allowed. DeSantis supported the idea of reopening beaches, parks and other public spaces as long as social distancing is practiced, WJXT reported.
Meanwhile, state Sen. Laurie Berman who also attended the morning presser said without widespread diagnostic and antibody testing, reopening the state and relaxing social distancing will jeopardize the health and safety of residents.
Berman is urging officials to use scientific data before making any decisions.
"If Florida fails to rise above the dangerous passions of this President's politics and doesn't adhere strictly to those educated we risk a second deadly wave right here in our state." Berman said.
Hospital admissions are down in New York City
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the number of people being hospitalized and the percent of people testing positive for coronavirus are down.
Here are the latest figures, according to the mayor:
- People admitted to hospitals for suspected Covid-19: 212, down from 317 on April 17
- People currently in NYC Health + Hospitals ICUs for suspected Covid-19: 853, up from 849 as on April 17
- Percentage of people tested who are positive for Covid-19: Citywide: 34%, down from 38% on April 17
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NYC cancels all non-essential June events
New York City has canceled all non-essential permitted events in June, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in a press conference this morning.
This includes:
- Parades
- Concerts
- Rallies
- Large gatherings
Former CDC officials says "pieces are not in place" to reopen the US
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
Dr. Richard Besser, the former acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the US economy is not ready to reopen.
He detailed what needs to be in place before reopening the economy, including:
- Adequate capacity in hospitals
- Enough protective equipment for all essential workers
- A plan to do contact tracing
- Money in people’s pockets to care of themselves and their families in case they need to quarantine and isolate
“Every plan that’s been developed out there calls on certain things being in place,” Besser said. “In America right now, the pieces are not in place.”
He also emphasized on the need for a federal effort on getting more testing and bolstering the US public health workforce.
“Most people are going to have no symptoms or mild symptoms and if we don’t have the capacity to test people with mild symptoms, we’re not going to be able to shift gears and open up," he said.