By Meg Wagner, Fernando Alfonso III and Veronica Rocha, CNN
There are at least 846,982 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 46,609 people have died, 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 Wednesday, Johns Hopkins reported 22,093 new cases and 1,567 reported deaths.
From CNN's Will Brown
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Wednesday he will likely not extend the state’s shelter-in-place order, which is set to expire Monday.
Reeves suggested he might narrow the directive to apply only to the state’s high-risk population, such as the elderly and those with preexisting conditions.
He said steps to fully reopen the state’s economy might take weeks, and could happen incrementally by region or county. He promised the process would be cautious and gradual.
“We are not going to be able to switch the light switch from off to on,” Reeves said at a Wednesday news conference.
Reeves signaled a final decision on Mississippi’s shelter-in-place order will come by the end of the week.
From CNN's Allison Flexner
Montana's stay-at-home order will be lifted Sunday, as part of a gradual and phased reopening of the state, Gov. Steve Bullock tweeted today.
His phase one measures outlined in a statement include giving local school districts the option to return to in-classroom learning beginning May 7.
Places of worship can become operational on April 26 in a manner consistent with social distancing between people who are not members of the same household.
Main street and retail businesses can become operational on or after April 27 if they can adhere to requirements to limit capacity and maintain strict physical distancing. Employers are directed to develop policies to keep employees and customers safe including teleworking when possible, enforcing social distancing protocols, and other measures.
Restaurants, bars, breweries, and distilleries can begin providing some in-establishment services beginning May 4.
Businesses where groups gather without the ability to social distance including movie theaters, gyms, and other places of assembly will remain closed.
Montana’s travel quarantine will remain in effect.
“Our new normal is going to look different. This virus isn’t gone from Montana. So as we turn to support our main street businesses and get more families back to work during this time – as we should – we must also be sure to continue looking out for those around us and protecting everyone around us,” Bullock said.
“Once we begin to reopen, we want to be able to stay open. Our personal responsibility to protect those around us – particularly those most vulnerable – remains just as important as any time during this pandemic.”
From CNN's Jamiel Lynch
The Nevada Gaming Control Board has put out guidelines for the reopening of gaming establishments in the state once the temporary closures end.
Nevada operations are currently closed under the state's stay-at-home order. The guidelines would go into effect once that order is lifted or changed by the governor.
Establishments must send a reopening plan to the audit and enforcement divisions at least seven days before reopening, or as soon as possible, the memo said.
The board also listed 18 procedures that licensees should follow and have in place when reopening including that the establishment must comply with all prescribed local, state and federal Covid-19 heath requirements.
From CNN’s Sharif Paget
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo announced Wednesday that she will require people to wear face coverings in public to combat the spread of Covid-19 in her county, which includes Houston, Texas.
“I’m signing an order requiring folks who absolutely have to go out in public to wear a face covering,” she said wearing a face mask at news conference with Houston’s Mayor Sylvester Turner. “We have to use every tool in the toolbox."
The order will go into effect April 27 and will last for 30 days, said Hidalgo who emphasized that this new measure is “not a substitute for social distancing.”
Turner will announce a plan tomorrow to distribute 70,000 face coverings "to vulnerable communities," the mayor's office tweeted today.
From CNN's Alexandra Meeks
Beginning today, all essential workers in San Francisco, California, can receive Covid-19 testing, Mayor London Breed announced at a news conference today.
The expanded testing is available to both public and private sector workers and any other resident with symptoms who cannot otherwise access testing, Breed said.
"We want to ensure all frontline and essential employees that leave their homes every day to serve our residents have a fast, easy, and accessible option for testing,” Breed said. “We also want those who don’t have insurance, or who lack access to health care or access to basic services to know they can be tested through CityTestSF and receive the support and health care they need."
Breed also announced approximately $10.5 million is being allocated to a response and recovery fund to support vulnerable San Franciscans and small businesses during the pandemic.
As of Wednesday, 1,233 San Francisco residents have tested positive for coronavirus and 21 have died, Breed said.
From CNN's Vivian Kuo
Stakeholders have been meeting to discuss how North Carolina might be able to ease restrictions while still protecting its residents, said Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the state's Department of Health and Human Services.
“I look forward to sharing more ways in what easing restrictions in the state could look like in the coming days,” Cohen said at a news conference Wednesday.
Cohen said decisions are currently being made on the state level, and not county-by-county.
“I think making decisions at the county level is incredibly challenging given how people move throughout the counties. The virus certainly does not respect county borders. I think it's reasonable to look at regions, but we have to be guided by the data to do that. And we're going to continue our work here. At the moment, we want to be making statewide decisions,” she said.
From CNN's Brian Vitagliano
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.
From CNN’s Sharif Paget in Atlanta
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.
