More than 820,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in the US
There are at least 820,104 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 44,228 people have died from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases.
As states begin to include “probable deaths” in their counts, so will JHU. In the upcoming days, these changes may show as surges of deaths in the United States.
On Tuesday, Johns Hopkins reported 33,136 new cases and 1,920 reported deaths.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as all repatriated cases.
6:15 p.m. ET, April 21, 2020
Mississippi governor in talks with other southern states about reopening
From CNN’s Jennifer Henderson
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, left, listens as State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs speaks about the state's continued efforts in dealing with the coronavirus during his afternoon news conference in Jackson, Mississippi, Tuesday, April 21. Rogelio V. Solis/AP
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said he’s had conversation with other southern governors on what reopening the economy might look like.
Reeves said at a news conference that he had a “great call over the weekend” with the governors of Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama, and said, “all of us are of similar minds."
"We each have different circumstances and different situation that are unique to each individual state," he said.
"We want to do it in a responsible safe way, but we also want to make sure that we get as many people back to work so that they're providing for themselves as best as they can. So, yes, we are working together. We are in conversations," Reeves added.
He said Mississippi is continuing to increase the number of staff to address the 14,000% increase in unemployment claims. They previously had 50 people answering unemployment phones and now they have more than 250 people and have processed about 50% more claims than they did last week.
Jackie Turner, executive director for Mississippi Department of Employment Security, said the state paid out $72 million in unemployment benefits last week.
By the numbers: There have been at least 4,716 coronavirus cases and at least 183 deaths in the state, according to Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas E. Dobbs III.
Dobbs said 90% of coronavirus deaths are people over the age of 60.
About 51.3% of positive cases and 64% of all coronavirus deaths in Mississippi are among black Americans. As of yesterday, 52,364 tests completed in the state.
“The reality is that we are still in the plateau, we are still in the eye of the storm, and the most important thing that every Mississippian can do is to use common sense. Stay at home, if at all possible. When you leave, go to work and go back home. If you need to stop and get groceries, wear a mask in the grocery store,” the governor said.
6:02 p.m. ET, April 21, 2020
Trump touts passage of Senate stimulus bill
From CNN's Betsy Klein
Alex Brandon/AP
President Trump touted Senate passage of the Paycheck Protection Program and Healthcare Enhancement Act Tuesday.
The administration, he said, “worked aggressively with Congress” to pass the bill, which includes $382 billion for small businesses, $75 billion for hospitals, and $25 billion for testing.
Regarding hospital funding, Trump said he was “proud of that.”
He urged the House to pass the bill and said they will be voting “very soon” and “probably tomorrow.”
5:31 p.m. ET, April 21, 2020
CDC director warns coronavirus outbreak could be "even more difficult" next winter
From CNN’s Mallory Simon
CDC Director Robert R. Redfield speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus at the White House on April 8, in Washington. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
The director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned a second wave of the coronavirus this year could be worse because it will coincide with flu season.
“There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said in an interview with The Washington Post.
“And when I’ve said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don’t understand what I mean.”
Redfield told the Post that having two respiratory outbreaks would burden the health care system.
Redfield has warned previously that the United States will feel the impact of the virus in months and years ahead, saying during an interview with CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta in February the virus “is probably with us beyond this season, beyond this year.”
During a CNN coronavirus town hall in April, Redfield said next year “will be another challenging time,” adding “I want to be able to have it so that we respond to it next year with the fundamental of public health — early case identification, isolation, contact tracing,” in order to avoid serious mitigation steps.
Watch:
5:37 p.m. ET, April 21, 2020
Abbott's rapid tests can produce false negatives under certain conditions
From CNN's Curt Devine and Drew Griffin
In this April 10, 2020, file frame grab from video, a lab technician dips a sample into the Abbott Laboratories ID Now testing machine at the Detroit Health Center in Detroit. Carlos Osorio/AP
Medical device company Abbott Laboratories has warned that its rapid coronavirus test can produce false negatives if the specimens tested are first stored in what are called viral transport media, which are special solutions used to move or store specimens.
Abbott instructed health care providers last week not to use such solutions for patient samples tested on the company’s rapid ID NOW device. False negative results suggest patients are not infected when in fact they are.
The guidance came more than two weeks after the Food and Drug Administration issued emergency authorization for the test and after President Trump touted the rapid Abbott system at a Rose Garden news conference.
Clinical pathologists and lab scientists at the Cleveland Clinic found that the ID NOW test only detected coronavirus in 84.4% of specimens known to contain the virus, which was a lower rate than four other tests the researchers assessed, a spokesperson for the Ohio-based medical center said. NPR first reported that assessment Tuesday.
The Cleveland Clinic spokesperson told CNN that a dilution effect can occur whenever a sample swab is placed into viral transport media, but she added that in the assessment, the tests were performed from the same viral transport media, so it was a true head-to-head comparison.
An issue of volume: Because Abbot’s ID NOW testing machine only processes one test at a time, labs might have used the transport media to store the test samples until they can be processed.
The company now advises its customers to place swabs containing patient samples directly in the ID NOW system for testing.
“When the direct swab method is used, the test is performing as expected and we are confident in its performance,” the Abbott spokesperson said, adding that when the company learned about the issue it immediately notified its customers and communicated with the FDA.
5:41 p.m. ET, April 21, 2020
Nursing home deaths dramatically understated, Detroit mayor says
From CNN's Raja Razek
Detroit is planning to test every nursing home resident in the city, Mayor Mike Duggan said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Duggan said the city is two-thirds of the way through testing every nursing home, and they will be done with the testing by Thursday.
"The Health Department did a really good job of getting to the problem nursing homes first, and getting help there," he said.
The rate of positive testing, which had been about 30%, has now dropped to 26%, according to the Mayor.
Duggan also discussed nursing home deaths in the city, saying, "We are showing now 124 deaths in nursing homes. I am sure that number is dramatically understated when the data starts to catch up."
Speaking at the same news conference, Detroit Chief Public Health Officer Denise Fair said clinicians from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had been sent to help the Health Department fight Covid-19.
Four CDC clinicians will be in Detroit for the next two weeks helping the Health Department with skilled nursing facilities, assisted home facilities, and nursing home strategy. They will also develop a plan for testing and screening, perform sight visits, and provide training, according to Fair.
5:24 p.m. ET, April 21, 2020
Senate approves $480 billion coronavirus relief with funds for small business, hospitals and testing
From CNN's Clare Foran, Ted Barrett and Manu Raju
Senate TV
The Senate just approved a roughly $480 billion relief package that includes hundreds of billions of dollars in new funding for small businesses hurt by the coronavirus outbreak along with other priorities like money for hospitals and expanded Covid-19 testing.
The measure passed by voice vote, a move that gave lawmakers the opportunity to approve the deal without most senators needing to return to Washington, DC, during the pandemic.
After the Senate convened at 4 p.m. and ahead of the vote, a handful of senators, Republicans and Democrats, spoke on the floor to debate the deal. Republican Sen. Rand Paul criticized the deal.
“I rise in opposition to spending $500 billion more. The virus bailouts have already cost over $2 trillion. Our annual deficit this year will approach $4 trillion. We can’t continue on this course. No amount of bailout dollars will stimulate an economy that is being strangled by quarantine. It is not a lack of money that plagues us, but a lack of commerce. This economic calamity only resolves when we begin to re-open the economy," he said.
Paul said that he understands that it would have been hard for many senators to return during a pandemic and for that reason he did “not invoke the Senate rules to demand a recorded vote,” but added, “I did return today though so that history would record that not everyone gave in to the massive debt Congress is creating.”
Republican Sen. Mike Lee was critical of the process for passing the bill, arguing that if Congress is going to legislate during the pandemic, members should return to Washington.
“This is not acceptable, we should not be passing major legislation … without Congress actually being in session, without members actually being here to discuss, amend, and consider legislation,” he said.
The total price tag of the bill is approximately $484 billion. It will authorize the Paycheck Protection Program to spend an additional $310 billion. The deal appropriates roughly $320 billion in total for the program.
The program was set up to deliver aid to small businesses struggling from the economic deep freeze triggered by the pandemic. Funding for the program ran dry earlier this month, prompting concern and outcry from the small business community. The deal will also provide $75 billion for hospitals and health care providers stretched thin by the pandemic to address coronavirus expenses and lost revenue and an additional $25 billion to facilitate and expand Covid-19 testing.
It will next need to be passed by the House before it can go to the President’s desk. Trump tweeted in support of the deal earlier in the day, indicating that he will sign it.
5:23 p.m. ET, April 21, 2020
Georgia's coronavirus task force members say they didn't know about reopening order
From CNN's Dave Alsup and Angela Barajas
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp listens to a question from the press during a tour of a massive temporary hospital at the Georgia World Congress Center on Thursday, April 16, in Atlanta. Ron Harris/Pool/AP
Members of the Covid-19 task force appointed by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said they did not know about his intentions to start reopening businesses ahead of his televised announcement Monday afternoon.
On a Facebook video, Bernice King, co-chair of the task force, said she found out about the governor's intention via text message from a friend.
"To be clear, neither I nor any member of the committee that I co-chair, the community outreach committee of Governor Kemp's coronavirus task force was consulted or informed regarding the reopening of the venues and facilities that are listed in the executive order that he signed on today [Monday]," said King, CEO of the King Center and daughter of Martin Luther King, Jr.
King said she had expressed her concerns to the governor following the announcement and would be making the determination to stay or leave the task force based on his answers.
Leo Smith, co-chair of the task force, said he told Kemp's aides he would've "preferred a heads up," according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
State Rep. Clay Pirkle, another member of the Covid-19 task force, told the AJC "it wasn't a big deal."
"Our role on that committee is advisory in nature, and the advice comes from us to him," Pirkle said.
5:10 p.m. ET, April 21, 2020
Georgia House Democrats call on governor to rescind his executive order on reopening
From CNN's John Murgatroyd
The Georgia House Democratic Caucus submitted a letter to Gov. Brian Kemp Tuesday requesting the governor rescind his order that eases restrictions of the state's shelter-in-place order.
The letter states that the governor's decision should be "consistent with facts, science, and the best available public health guidance."
The Democrats also wrote "under the President's Guidelines for Opening Up America Again, Georgia should show a downward trajectory of documented cases within a 14-day period before proceeding with the type of decision you announced yesterday. At present, Georgia cannot show such a 14-day downward trajectory."
Calling the action, "too much, too soon," the Democratic Caucus said Kemp's recent order "puts Georgians at risk and may very well wind up resulting in more prolonged restrictive measures in the future."
Some background: Kemp announced Monday that gyms, fitness centers, bowling alleys, body art studios, barbers, hair and nail salons, estheticians, and massage therapists can reopen as early Friday. Theaters and restaurants can open on Monday.
The governor's order states that no local ordinances can restrict the openings.
Several of Georgia's mayors have spoken out against the decision, saying the governor did not talk to them before announcing the loosening of restrictions. They also say residents in their communities do not feel safe.
The caucus called Georgia's testing capacity "inadequate" and urged the governor "to permit local governments to enact more restrictive measures as necessary to protect their communities."
