Missouri will begin loosening some restrictions on May 4, governor says
From CNN's Andy Rose
Missouri Governor's Office
Missouri will begin loosening restrictions on businesses and some public gatherings beginning on May 4, Gov. Mike Parson said at a news conference Friday.
“Since Missouri's first case nearly 50 days ago, we have accomplished a tremendous amount of work together,” the governor said.
He said the “reopening” will include restaurants, salons, gyms and houses of worship. Details outlining social distancing measures will be released next week, the governor said.
Parson said he is extending the state’s coronavirus emergency declaration through June 15.
“Extending the emergency declaration simply allows us to continue using our resources and deploying them across the state,” he said.
4:22 p.m. ET, April 24, 2020
Indiana state leaders tell residents not to ingest disinfectants
From CNN's Laura Dolan
Senator Mike Braun speaks to reporters in the Senate basement at the U.S. Capitol on January 30, in Washington, DC. Zach Gibson/G
Indiana Department of Health Commissioner Kristina Box acknowledged that she has received questions about the wisdom of ingesting disinfectant and has told these people it is not something she recommends.
Sen. Mike Braun was more critical, saying, “sometimes when you’re not clear with how you say things, and especially when you’re at a high level where people watch, it’s best probably not to venture into areas that you may not know a lot about.”
Gov. Eric Holcomb followed Box, repeating the President’s explanation today that he was being sarcastic but also added the state will give sound medical counsel if anyone asks.
"Yeah and I would just add, apply those disinfectants to surfaces. They work. Not yourself," Holcomb said.
4:21 p.m. ET, April 24, 2020
California unveils program to feed seniors and employ farmers and restaurant workers
From CNN's Cheri Mossburg
California Gov. Gavin Newsom speaks at a news conference in Rancho Cordova, CA on April 14. Rich Pedroncelli/AP
California is unveiling a new program focused on caring for seniors while also getting farmers, restaurant workers and delivery people back to work.
Touted as the first of its kind in the nation, Gov. Gavin Newsom said the program will focus on seniors who are particularly vulnerable and dealing with isolation.
The program will allow for restaurants to reopen in order to prepare and deliver meals to seniors.
Elderly people meeting eligibility requirements, including financial means and vulnerability to coronavirus, will receive three meals a day, seven days a week. The meals will be made with an eye on locally-produced ingredients in an effort to put farmers back to work, and will follow nutritional guidelines, the governor said.
“It’s not just about the meals. It’s about the human connection,” Newsom said. “It’s about someone just checking in as they’re delivering those meals and making sure people are okay.”
4:22 p.m. ET, April 24, 2020
Boston mayor: We're not at the coronavirus peak yet
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh listens to a question at a press conference on March 13, in Boston, Massachusetts. Scott Eisen/Getty Images
As of yesterday, Boston coronavirus cases were up by at least 398, for a total of 6,958, Mayor Marty Walsh announced.
This is the city’s largest one-day increase so far in the pandemic, he said. The city had 11 new coronavirus deaths for a total of 232.
“These are certainly big increases, and we’re approaching the peak of the coronavirus but we’re not there yet,” Walsh said.
He added: “We do know that the measures we are taking in Boston are working. These numbers would be much higher if we had not taken very strong steps and if the folks in the communities haven’t been social distancing, physical distancing, staying at home and doing everything that they have been for the last, say, six or eight weeks here."
4:15 p.m. ET, April 24, 2020
Maryland is not ready to reopen yet, governor says
From CNN's Deanna Hackney
Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan talks to reporters during a news briefing about the ongoing novel coronavirus pandemic in front of the Maryland State House April 17, in Annapolis, Maryland. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Because Maryland has yet to hit its Covid-19 peak and cases are still on the rise, the state is not ready to open back up for business, Gov. Larry Hogan said at a news conference this afternoon.
Hogan said that the federal guidelines issued by President Trump last week called for states to meet specific gating metrics before considering lifting restrictions, including a 14-day downward trend in key numbers.
“Here in Maryland we took some of the earliest and most aggressive actions in the nation to slow the spread of Covid-19, because of those efforts of everyone, we have far fewer cases, hospitalizations and deaths than all of the models were calling for," Hogan said.
Maryland has not seen a “spike” in Covid-19-related illnesses and it is not ready to open, Hogan said.
“We have been successful in flattening and lengthening the curve in our state, and we have not had the very high spikes that you have seen in other states. But that is also why we are several weeks behind those other states who spiked earlier, and the number of new cases of Covid-19 is still rising here in Maryland and throughout the Maryland, DC, and Virginia region, and by the federal standards instituted last week, and under the guidance given in the studies and reopening plans that we cited Maryland is not yet able to lift our restrictions," Hogan said.
4:15 p.m. ET, April 24, 2020
Tens of thousands of Miami-Dade residents carried Covid-19 and showed no symptoms
From CNN’s Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez speaks during a press conference at the Miami Beach Convention Center on April 8, in Miami Beach, Florida. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
A new study revealed that tens of thousands of Miami-Dade residents had Covid-19 and didn’t even know it, Miami Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced during a news conference Friday.
Gimenez said a random antibody testing study of some of the county’s 2.8 million residents was recently conducted. About 1,800 people participated.
The data showed 6% of the sample tested positive for Covid-19 antibodies, which would be about 165,000 residents, he said.
According to the Florida Department of Health, there are 10,701 coronavirus cases in Miami-Dade. That means that the actual number of cases, according to the study, is 16.5 times the number reported by the state, Gimenez said.
Gimenez pointed out that this means a significant number of people were carrying coronavirus while being asymptomatic. He emphasized that social distancing restrictions are working.
“Identifying the number of asymptomatic individuals is critically important for public health,” Gimenez said. “Like I have said before those are the folks who can pass on the virus to the most vulnerable.”
The data also shows that black Americans might be twice as likely to be infected with Covid-19 than other racial groups, he said.
4:00 p.m. ET, April 24, 2020
New Jersey will allow tenants to use security deposit on rent
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tours an emergency field hospital being prepared at the Meadowlands Expo Center on April 2, in Secaucus, New Jersey. Michael Mancuso/Pool/Getty Images
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy will sign an executive order to support renters, the governor announced during a Covid-19 news conference today.
The order will allow renters to use their security deposit to pay their rent, the governor said.
There will be a question and answer portal for tenants and landlords about their rights and responsibilities.
3:58 p.m. ET, April 24, 2020
Fact check: Trump lies that he was being "sarcastic" when he talked about injecting disinfectant
From CNN's Daniel Dale
President Donald Trump speaks during the daily briefing on the novel coronavirus at the White House on April 23. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
President Trump lied Friday when he said he was being "sarcastic" when he asked medical experts on Thursday to look into the possibility of injecting disinfectant as a treatment for the coronavirus.
Doctors and the company that makes Lysol and Dettol warned that injecting or ingesting disinfectants is dangerous. But when Trump was asked about the comments during a bill signing on Friday, he said, "I was asking a question sarcastically to reporters like you just to see what would happen."
He then suggested he was talking about disinfectants that can safely be rubbed on people's hands. And then he returned to the sarcasm explanation, saying it was "a very sarcastic question to the reporters in the room about disinfectant on the inside."
A reporter noted that he had asked his medical experts to look into it. Trump responded: "No, no, no, no — to look into whether or not sun and disinfectant on the hands, but whether or not sun can help us."
Facts First: Trump was not being "sarcastic" on Thursday when he raised the possibility of injecting disinfectant. There was simply no indication that he was being anything less than serious. He was also wrong Friday when he denied he had asked the medical experts to "check" the idea of disinfectant injections; he was looking at them at the time. And he did not mention hands during his Thursday remarks.
Here's what Trump said Thursday while looking in the direction of coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx and Department of Homeland Security science official Bill Bryan:
"And then I see the disinfectant, where it knocks it out in a minute. One minute. And is there a way we can do something like that, by injection inside or almost a cleaning. Because you see it gets in the lungs and it does a tremendous number on the lungs. So it would be interesting to check that. So, that, you're going to have to use medical doctors with. But it sounds — it sounds interesting to me," Trump said.
What happened on Thursday: Bryan, the acting undersecretary of science and technology for the Department of Homeland Security, outlined tests in which he said disinfectants like bleach and isopropyl alcohol quickly killed the coronavirus on surfaces. Bryan also spoke about how the virus was found to be negatively affected by exposure to UV rays and higher temperatures.
Trump first spoke about the possibility of using light as a treatment for people who already have the coronavirus, musing that a "very powerful light" could be used to "hit the body" or be brought "inside the body...either through the skin or in some other way."
Trump said Bryan had said he is going to "test that." (Experts said this idea does not make sense; when Trump asked Birx if she has heard of the use of heat or light related to the virus, she said, "Not as a treatment.")
Bryan said he would "get to the right folks" who could do testing. Trump then began his comments about disinfectant, which he concluded by saying "it sounds interesting to me."
Reminded by a reporter on Friday that he had been looking at Birx when he made these Thursday comments, Trump said he was looking at Bryan, Birx, but also "some of the reporters." In fact, the video shows he was looking in the direction of Birx and Bryan for almost the entirety of his musings about disinfectant, glancing forward at reporters only very briefly.
Later in the Thursday briefing, when a reporter asked Bryan if there is any scenario in which household cleaners could be injected into a person, Bryan said, "No, I'm here to talk about the findings that we had in the study. We won't do that within that lab and our lab."
Trump then interjected: "It wouldn't be through injection. We're talking about through almost a cleaning, sterilization of an area. Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't work. But it certainly has a big effect if it's on a stationary object."
Trump can argue that he walked back his comments during the briefing. But even in this more cautious follow-up, he offered no indication that he had been anything less than completely serious.
The White House's initial statement on Friday about the disinfectant remarks did not say the President had been sarcastic. It only alleged that the media had taken him out of context.
Watch:
3:41 p.m. ET, April 24, 2020
Action sports event X Games cancels July event
From CNN's David Close
The annual summer action sports and music festival X Games has been canceled.
Originally set to take place July 17-19 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, X Games organizers blamed the ongoing concerns of Covid-19 for the cancellation.
X Games host Jack Mitrani announced the news via a video on Twitter.
