Coronavirus pandemic in the US

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled details on a new initiative called "test and trace," the steps and measures he says would get the city to a low-level transmission phase.

"This is how we ultimately defeat this disease," de Blasio said this morning.

The mayor gave what he called broad strokes to the approach to the plan, which is based on widespread testing for the disease. If a patient is found to be Covid-19 positive, determining who they have been in contact with and testing those people. 

"Plenty of sites and plenty of tests," de Blasio said. 

The goal is to make testing available in every community, provide immediate assessment isolation and support, rapidly trace contacts and have more testing available in May.

People who test positive will be immediately assessed, isolated, monitored and supported at home or in a hotel or hospital, the mayor said. 

De Blasio said he would like to identify widespread collection sites to minimize the burden on hospitals and the health care system. The city will also conduct interviews with positive patients to determine who they have been in close contact with. 

"If you were in close contact with your cousin, then we want to talk to your cousin," he said. "It’s going to take thousands and thousands of people to do this right and we’re putting those people together now."

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Monday that "there are more important things than living" during the coronavirus pandemic, pushing for a reopening opening of the state’s economy.

But Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner thinks that could upend progress that the state has made in fighting the virus.

"I don't think it's an either/or, and I don't think you have to provide those type of choices. I simply think you just have to listen to what the doctors are saying, take their advice. … You don't have to sacrifice one group in order to save another," Turner said. 

Turner said he agrees that some hospitals can start performing elective surgeries, but reopening shouldn’t go further than that. 

Turner also stressed that this health crisis should not be made political.

"It has no respect of persons or parties or social or economic status," he said, adding that 70% of the deaths in the city have been people of color. Turner also reiterated that his city needs more widespread testing in order to gauge the reopening of the economy, referring to the response when Hurricane Harvey hit the area in 2017. 

"You can look on the radar and you knew where the storm was, when it was going to hit, when it was going to exit. For us with this particular challenge, the radar happens to be testing. And it needs to be widespread and it needs to be robust," he said.

US stocks opened higher today, rebounding after two days of losses brought on by the collapse of oil prices.

The oil market continues to be in distress, as global benchmark prices fall to their lowest level since 1999. US oil remains around $14.

But investors focused instead on the Senate's approval of a new tranche of fiscal stimulus, including more aid for the payroll protections plan. The House is expected to vote on the plan today.

Meanwhile, earnings season is roaring on and companies are fulling their guidance amid the coronavirus uncertainty.

Here's where things stand this morning:

You can follow live updates on the markets here.  

Tyson Fresh Meats has announced plans to indefinitely suspend operations at its Waterloo, Iowa, pork plant “mid-week until further notice."

The plant is one of the city's largest employers, with some 3,000 workers, many of them immigrants and people of color who don't have the best access to health care.

The announcement comes as local officials in Black Hawk County, Iowa, had urged the plant to close voluntarily after a suspected outbreak of Covid-19.

The Black Hawk County health department announced Tuesday that 182 of the county's 374 cases are linked to the Tyson Waterloo plant. 

The Board of Health voted yesterday to pass a proclamation urging Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Tyson Foods to temporarily close the Waterloo plant for deep cleaning and to test employees.

Last week, two dozen local and state elected officials — including Waterloo's Mayor — sent a letter formally requesting Tyson shut down the plant due to the outbreak. Mayor Quentin Hart told CNN he was afraid if action wasn't taken soon, his city could be the "next hot spot."

Dr. Sanjay Gupta said the US needs to focus on its lack of testing in the country — not on how we compare to other countries. 

While answering viewers' questions this morning, he was asked about the US's testing numbers.

“At the White House briefings, it’s often mentioned that the US has done more testing than any other country. Is that true? Wouldn't it be more accurate to compare testing numbers by the amount of tests administered per million people?” the viewer asked.

Here's how Gupta answered:

Gupta said the US has the "strategies to be able to contain this virus."

"This is a solvable problem. I want to make this clear. We have the strategies to be able to contain this virus. It’s not going to be easy. But we know how to do it," he added.

Watch more:

Dr. Sanjay Gupta answered viewers’ questions about coronavirus on CNN’s New Day. Here’s what he had to say about haircuts as Georgia Gov. Kemp announced that some businesses, including hair salons, can reopen in the state starting this week. 

On viewer asked: “Is it safe to go to a barber for a haircut? If unsafe, what precautions should the barber take and what precautions should I take?”

Here's how he responded:

Watch more:

Experts still estimate that it could take about a year — or 12 to 18 months — to develop a vaccine against the novel coronavirus, Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, said during an appearance on "CBS This Morning" today.

That means a vaccine would not be available until around March 2021.

"But we're really trying to accelerate the efforts," Hahn said. "And we will try for sooner."

Coronavirus continues to spread in the US: As of this morning, there are more than 825,000 cases across the country, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

Lawmakers are working on financial relief for small businesses, health experts are warning of another outbreak wave, and the timeline of the spread of the virus in the US could be shifting.

Here's where things stand this morning:

Data suggests that people have dramatically reduced their time in public places and are largely staying at home — but easing social distancing restrictions could change the forecast, according to researchers. 

Lauren Ancel Meyers, who is leading researchers at the University of Texas-Austin, explained her team’s model with CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. 

Ancel Meyers said that Americans are largely staying at home and away from common places, which is why deaths are not continuing to skyrocket.

“That is the secret to success. That is why we have seen a trailing off of mortality in this country. And that is why it's going to be important going forward that we continue to take measures to prevent transmission by just keeping out of contact with each other or reducing the likelihood of transmission when we do have to come in contact with each other,” she said. 

Ancel Meyers said her team’s model builds on the one from IHME, which is frequently cited by the White House.

Both models predict near-future coronavirus cases based on the current strict social distancing guidelines, but cases and deaths could increase again as state economies start reopening, she said.

“One of the things we can't predict at this point is how behavior is going to change in the next week or two or month or two. To the extent that changes, the forecasts may look very different,” she said.