Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Crematoriums in hard hit areas of New York have a backlog of nearly a month and now, volunteers are coming to their aid.

Mike Lanotte, the executive director for the New York state funeral directors association, told CNN that volunteers are helping to ease the burden that downstate crematories are experiencing due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Licensed funeral director volunteers, like 58-year-old Dave Penepent, work with multiple funeral homes to pick up and transport bodies of the deceased.

Penepent, who is also an associate professor of Funeral Services Administration at SUNY Canton, said, “I knew that with the backlog of human remains down in the NYC area there was going to be the need to find a solution to get these remains to a final resting place.”

Some context: In the beginning of April, Penepent created “Hands with a Heart” along with four of his students who have been deputized as resident funeral directors. 

“I’m just offering a hand, and what is in that hand? The hearts of the bereaved families. In the middle of our hands is the grieving hearts of the bereaved,” Penepent told CNN. 

Over Easter week Penepent said he and his team transported 70 bodies to crematories out of the area to their final resting place.

This past week “Hands with a Heart” transported 150 bodies, and Penepent says he is looking at close to roughly 250 human remains to be transported this week. Most bodies are going out of state to places like Connecticut, Vermont and Pennsylvania.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said she signed an executive order to temporarily ease licensing restrictions on the state’s healthcare workforce to “adjust to the urgent demands” Covid-19 has placed on the health care system.

“The actions I'm taking today will we move roadblocks and bolster the number of qualified health care workers who are able to contribute to our Covid-19 response at their full professional capabilities,” Kelly said at a news conference Wednesday.

The governor said this measure will temporarily wave physician supervision or collaboration requirements from certain medical professionals who are assisting in the state’s response efforts such as physician assistants and registered nurses.

The executive order will also permit registered nurses and licensed practical nurses “who hold a specialty license that is exempt, inactive, or has lapsed within the last five years to provide medical services appropriate to their qualifications,” Kelly said.

She added that the order will also allow students enrolled in programs to become licensed, registered, or certified healthcare professionals to help in whatever appropriate roles are necessary to support a facility's response to the pandemic.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Wednesday encouraged hospitals to move forward with scheduled surgeries.

Newsom emphasized those surgeries include important medical procedures like heart surgery and cancerous tumor.

Elective procedures like cosmetic surgery are not a priority, he said.

Newsom said allowing hospitals to perform scheduled surgeries is the first phase in returning to normalcy in California.

State officials have been asked to draft a plan for reopening parks and beaches in Rhode Island, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced on Wednesday. 

On Wednesday, Rhode Island announced 365 new coronavirus cases and 10 new deaths, bringing the state total to 5,841 cases and 181 deaths. The state has performed a total of 41,722 tests.

New York City has 9,944 confirmed coronavirus deaths and 5,052 probable deaths from the virus, according to the city website.

The New York City Health Department defines probable deaths as people who did not have a positive Covid-19 laboratory test but their death certificate lists as the cause of death “Covid-19” or an equivalent.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus deaths and probable coronavirus deaths in New York City is 14,996.

There have been 138,435 coronavirus cases in the city and approximately 35,920 people have been hospitalized, according to the city.

State budget directors warn that cuts “will exacerbate the economic fallout from this crisis, as well as impede states’ ability to provide vital services to citizens,” wrote the National Association of State Budget Officers (NASBO) in a letter obtained by CNN that was sent to President Trump and congressional leaders.

NASBO paints a grim picture of states’ fiscal health “unless there’s direct federal aid to states,” according to the letter. 

The group says that "given the sudden, severe, and unprecedented nature of this crisis and its economic impacts, even with the use of rainy day funds, states will still be forced to cut essential services in order to balance their budgets." 

The letter also notes that the current crisis is worse than the last recession, when states faced a revenue decline of 11.6%.  States today are forecasting declines of up to 20%.

However, NASBO says that some budgetary management tools used during the financial crisis, like reducing Medicaid provider payments, "may be unwise or unfeasible when combating a public health crisis." 

The group also rules out raising taxes and fees given the large rise in unemployment claims.

Harvard University decided to return federal fund allocated to them under the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund after saying they would not do so when President Trump said he would be calling on the university to return the funds the day before.

Even though they did not apply for the support, the university said in a statement that “the intense focus by politicians and others on Harvard in connection with this program may undermine participation in a relief effort that Congress created and the President signed into law for the purpose of helping students and institutions whose financial challenges in the coming months may be most severe.”

Harvard's decision comes after Trump mentioned the funding during yesterday's coronavirus press briefing.

“I’m going to request it,” Trump said during the briefing. “Harvard’s going to pay back the money. They shouldn’t be taking it.” 

When Trump initially called on Harvard to return their funds, the university held their position firm, writing in a statement, “Harvard did not apply for, nor has it received any funds through the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses. Reports saying otherwise are inaccurate.

The statement continued: "President Trump is right that it would not have been appropriate for our institution to receive funds that were designated for struggling small businesses. Like most colleges and universities, Harvard has been allocated funds as part of the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund. Harvard has committed that 100% of these emergency higher education funds will be used to provide direct assistance to students facing urgent financial needs due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Harvard joins Princeton and Stanford in deciding to not accept the funds provided to them by the CARES Act Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.

CLARIFICATION: This posted has been updated to clarify that Princeton and Stanford have not yet received funds.

 The US Department of Health and Human Services announced the distribution of billions of dollars in additional federal coronavirus aid money to health care providers from the initial $100 billion allocation in a media briefing Wednesday.

Some of the money from the CARES Act will go to reimburse caregivers who treated Covid-19 patients who had no health insurance, HHS Secretary Alex Azar told reporters. Some will also pay for testing uninsured Americans for Covid-19, said the administrator for the HHS’ Health Resources and Services Administration, Thomas Engels.

“When an FDA-approved vaccine becomes available, it will also be covered,” Engels said.

But neither Azar, nor Engels, would provide any more details about the testing provisions in the giant coronavirus relief fund or how it might work on the state or local level.

A lack of testing has been a critical problem in the spread of the epidemic throughout the United States and is a major requirement for reopening society, according to top health experts.

President Trump signed the $2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act into law on March 27 to provide financial assistance to families, small businesses and industries, including health care.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said that he will introduce his state's reopening plan on Friday.

During a news conference today, Hogan described the plan, "Maryland Strong Roadmap to Recovery," as "a safe, effective and gradual plan, which will allow us to reopen, to rebuild and to recover just as soon as it is safe for us to do so."

Hogan said the plan has "four essential building blocks that are needed to be solidly in place before we can be in position to begin lifting restrictions."

He said the four parts include:

The state has been working hard and "making incredible project progress" on all four areas and as the "numbers start to improve and look better, we will be in a position to safely reopen our state and get people back to work with these crucial components," Hogan said.