Coronavirus pandemic in the US

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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." 

There have been at least 814,587 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 43,796 people have died from the disease, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

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 27,619 new cases and 1,488 reported deaths. 

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as all repatriated cases. 

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said the state could implement a new order after it's current stay-at-home order expires on May 1.

“I know you are waiting for more details on what comes after April 30. We don’t know yet,” he said at a news conference this afternoon.

Edwards said that they are working to figure out where the state is in terms of the threshold criteria to reach a phase one reopening — part of the White House's guidelines.

Yesterday, Edwards said he hoped the state could reach phase one “sooner, rather than later.”

In phase one, the state would continue social distancing and limit social gatherings to less than 10 people. Schools would remain closed as well as visits to senior living facilities and hospitals.

Large venues as well as gyms, movie theaters and places of worship would be allowed to operate under social distancing protocols. Bars and clubs would remain closed.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he had a “productive” meeting with President Trump at the White House today.

“The meeting went well and I think it was productive. The big issue was testing as everybody knows that’s going to be the next step as we go forward. And how do we separate the responsibilities and the tasks on testing vis-a-vis a state and the federal government and the acknowledgement that we will need to work together on this. It has to be a real partnership. And I think we had a very good conversation,” he said via phone on MSNBC.

The state should regulate labs, follow up on tracing and determine where tests are taken, he said, but the federal government’s role is to “make the supply chain work for manufacturers.”

He said it is their goal to double testing in New York state from 20,000 to 40,000 per day.

The two leaders also spoke about the need for state government funding. Cuomo went on to say that Trump seemed “very open and understanding of that” and said he would be open to that in the next round of legislation.

Former Ohio Govs. Richard Celeste and Bob Taft will led a Testing Strike Team, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine announced today.

The former governors will work with Ohio leaders from business, academia, and public health to be part of the effort to help Ohio source critical testing items such as reagents, according to DeWine.

Asked about making testing widely available in Ohio’s nursing homes, DeWine said the goal for the state is to be able to test throughout the facilities.

“That's our goal, to be able to surge in when we see that there is a problem,” DeWine said. “And I don't want to underestimate the importance of that hospital in that community. We have asked every hospital to really take ownership and a sense of responsibility to reach out to the nursing homes within their area, their natural area, and establish those relationships.”

Coronavirus numbers in New Hampshire have stabilized but the state still has “a ways to go,” before it reopens, Gov. Chris Sununu said Tuesday afternoon.

“This is not an open/close situation, it just isn’t, nor should it be,” he said. “We’ve always said public health has to be preeminent, has to be one of the key factors that we are looking at when we take any step.” 

New Hampshire may take a phased approach to the loosening of the state's stay-at-home order at some point, Sununu said. He went on to say that certain geographic and demographic conditions may mean some people might remain on the stay-at-home order longer than others.

State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan cautioned that while coronavirus numbers have stabilized, they haven’t declined yet. He said people should continue to practice social distancing, stay home and only go out for essential items.

“When people are out, we recommend that they wear a cloth face covering if they are in public settings where they cannot avoid close contact, such as in grocery stores," Chan said.

The state, he said, is continuing to work aggressively to increase testing and its capacity.

Twelve city streets in San Francisco will be temporarily closed to cars in order to be used as a shared space for foot and bicycle traffic to make it easier to maintain social distancing, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency announced today.

The new program called Slow Streets will go into effect this week to manage traffic speeds and create a safe network for essential walk and bike travel while transit service levels are reduced, SFMTA said.

Streets will not be closed completely, and local vehicle access is permitted. There will be no changes to parking or driveway access for residents, according to the statement. 

Oakland city officials put a similar strategy in place earlier this month.