Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has signed an executive order declaring that the state's shelter-in-place mandate will expire at 11:59 p.m. tonight.

The governor issued a statement urging Georgians to continue to stay home "whenever possible."

Here's what Kemp said:

Juan Desmarais, a barbershop owner in California, is planning to reopen his business this week, defying the state’s stay-at-home orders.

When pressed by Baldwin about risking punishment and fines, Desmarais said, "I'm not going to live in fear. It's not American."  

He added that he would take sanitary precautions like scheduling appointments one-on-one and having barbers wear masks and gloves.

Desmarais said he believes it is his constitutional right to pursue his life and that officials are basically telling him to “walk away” from his business with the restrictions that are in place.

“I’d rather get citations, do as much as I can, work and hustle, not ask the government for a single penny and if I flop, I’d rather flop working than flop just sitting there letting them take away my rights, take away my businesses and take away the legacy I’m going to leave my children,” he said.

A small rural county on the northeastern edge of California plans to reopen businesses, schools and churches starting Friday as well.

Pennsylvania has reported 1,397 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the statewide total to 45,763 cases across all 67 counties, Pennsylvania Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine announced Thursday.

Of those total number of cases, 2,753 are health care workers and 8,112 are associated with Pennsylvania’s 468 long-term care living facilities, which include nursing homes and personal care homes.

There are 2,706 patients currently hospitalized across the state and 562 patients are currently on a ventilator or breathing machine. 

There have been 2,292 coronavirus-related deaths in the state and to date, all of the deaths have been in adult patients, Levine said.

There are at least 1,053,036 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 61,547 people have died from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the country.

On Thursday, Johns Hopkins reported 13,127 new cases and 581 reported deaths. 

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

Vice President Mike Pence is wearing a mask today as he tours a GM ventilator facility in Kokomo, Indiana.

Earlier this week, Pence faced widespread criticism for not wearing a mask during a visit to the Mayo Clinic, which has a policy that everyone must wear masks.

Today, his wife, Karen Pence, claimed he only found out the Mayo Clinic’s policy after leaving – although it was reported his staff was aware.

In defiance of Gov. Gavin Newsom's stay-at-home order, a small rural county on the northeastern edge of California plans to reopen businesses, schools and churches starting Friday, according to the county's Facebook page.  

Bordering Oregon, Modoc County is the first in the state to openly reject Newsom's continued restrictions to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Modoc County is one of the least populated counties in the state with less than 9,000 residents. It’s Board of Supervisors approved the reopening plan earlier in the week.  

The plan posted on the county’s Facebook page says “restaurants and bars may open inside dining but may only be at half capacity.” 

The plan says residents must also adhere to social distancing guidelines and there can be “no large gatherings where proper social distancing cannot be maintained.”

Local officials say they feel comfortable with the reopening since there have been no confirmed cases of Covid-19 in the county.

“We submitted plans and letters to the governor six days ago and we have not heard a word from him,” said Ned Coe, vice chair of Modoc County Board of Supervisors.

Newsom hasn’t publicly commented on Modoc’s move and it’s unclear if the county’s reopening will cause any friction between state and local authorities.

Rural communities like Modoc are increasingly at odds with Newsom’s order. On Tuesday, business operators representing other rural parts of the state were joined by local politicians to publicly ask the Newsom to begin lifting restrictions.

San Diego Mayor Kevin Falconer is criticizing Gov. Gavin Newsom's potential decision to close California beaches and parks.

Newsom has made no secret of his disdain for crowds of beachgoers amid the pandemic and is expected to announce the statewide closure later today.

Meanwhile, Falconer said a statewide closure of beaches “sends the wrong message.”

San Diego is one of the areas Newsom has praised for adhering to physical distancing guidelines.

Read Falconer's tweet:

The West Virginia Department of Health and Humane Resources is compiling data on how the coronavirus has impacted the African American community, DHHR Secretary Bill Crouch said at a news conference Thursday

The information should be available to the public by Monday, Crouch said.

The data will include the location of individuals, numbers of positive cases and number of deaths in the community, he said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) says 102 potential Covid-19 vaccines are in development around the world, according to documents posted on the organization’s website. 

Eight of the potential vaccines are approved for clinical trials. That is up from seven vaccines four days ago. The additional group is from China, but it is unclear if they have started trials on human study subjects – the other seven have.

Of the groups approved for clinical trials on humans, four are from China, one is from England, one is American and another is a combined American and European group.

The American National Institutes of Health (NIH) trial was the first to start testing in human trial subjects on March 16.