Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine confirmed today that the state’s stay-at-home order, which was set to expire May 1, will be extended with certain exceptions.

The governor said people can certainly continue to go to the grocery store, they can meet with their own family in a home, they can take walks, and “they can do a number of different things.”

“The social distancing is really the key to about everything, and people just keeping that distance. And that’s what we need to continue to do as we move to get back to work,” DeWine added.

Utah state epidemiologist Angela Dunn said that the state saw a 3.5% growth rate of Covid-19 cases in the past day, up to 4,495 total cases statewide. 

The total number of hospitalizations rose slightly to 383, up 13 from the day before but the state is not reporting any additional deaths over the past day. As of Thursday, 45 people have died in Utah.

Some more context: Earlier today, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert issued an executive order that will place Utah under a lower, “moderate risk” protocol beginning on midnight May 1, according to a statement on the governor’s website. 

Restaurants and bars will open for dine-in services but with “strict requirements.” The requirements include limiting tables to groups of 10, enforcing social distancing, and face coverings for staff. 

Dunn said that there will be some individuals who need to continue to practice extra precautions to prevent infection. These individuals include those over the age of 65, individuals at long-term care facilities and those who have underlying health conditions. 

Tyson Foods said it will temporarily stop operations at its Dakota City, Nebraska, beef facility to complete a deep cleaning of the entire plant, according to a statement released by the company.

The statement said the facility will stop operations between May 1 through May 4.

Tyson said the plant is one of the largest beef processing plant in the country, employing about 4,300 people and producing enough beef to feed about 1.8 million people a day.

"However, with increased absenteeism over the last few weeks, the company has scaled back production," the statement said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency will coordinate the shipment of personal protective equipment to more than 15,000 nursing homes across the country starting next week, if not sooner, according to a document obtained by CNN.

The shipment includes “more than 7.1 million surgical masks, nearly 32.3 million gloves, more than 922,000 goggles and other eye protection, and nearly 9.7 million gowns.”

The equipment is only being shipped to Medicaid and Medicare-certified nursing homes based on input from the American Health Care Association.

The document, dated April 24, notes that facilities may not receive notification prior to the shipment arriving, citing a large number of nursing homes.

“However, as possible, FEMA will provide notification to a state prior to shipments arriving at their Medicaid/ Medicare-certified facilities,” it notes.

The first shipments are targeted for New York City metro area and northern New Jersey. The rest will be sent to other hotspots around the country. Shipments are expected to be completed in mid-June, the document says.

North Carolina reported 561 new positive coronavirus tests on Thursday, the state’s largest daily increase since the pandemic began, according to Dr. Mandy Cohen, secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services.

Cohen explained that the increase is due to an increase in testing and that overall trends remain positive. North Carolina processed 6,000 tests on Wednesday.

“We remain optimistic that trends will be stable enough to move into phase one next week,” Cohen asserted in a Thursday press conference, referencing the governor’s three-phase plan for reopening the state.

North Carolina has reported 10,509 total positive coronavirus cases and 378 deaths.

Little League International has canceled the upcoming Little League World Series.

The World Series was originally scheduled for August 20 through 30. The organization’s Board of Directors canceled the regional qualifying events as well, citing public health concerns with coronavirus.

This is the first time the event won’t be held since the tournament began in 1947.

Little League International says it will donate about $1.2 million to help fund local Little League programs as they continue their operations.

Connecticut is on its eighth consecutive day of hospitalizations decreasing across the state, Gov. Ned Lamont said on Thursday. The state saw a decrease of 41 hospitalizations from the previous day, bringing the total hospitalizations to 1,650. 

One of the state’s criteria for initial reopening in the state is a 14-day decline of hospitalizations, Lamont said.

There are at least 27,700 cases of coronavirus in the state and at least 2,257 people have died from the virus.

The state has continued to increase its testing, which is a requirement on the state’s list of criteria for reopening. At least 97,133 tests have been performed so far.

Frontier is the second US airline to require passengers to wear masks or face coverings on flights beginning May 8.

"This new measure is aligned with CDC recommendations and those of many municipalities within the US that include wearing a face covering when out in public," Frontier CEO Barry Biffle said in a press release.

Customers must wear masks when they're around Frontier ticket counters and gate areas, as well as during flights. Young children will be exempt from the policy.

JetBlue announced a similar policy on Tuesday.

On Monday, American Airlines said its flight attendants would be required to wear face masks during every mainline and regional flight starting May 1.

US stocks finished the last trading day of the month in negative territory. Another bleak look at the US labor market and inaction from the European Central Bank weighed on investor sentiment.

Here's where things ended up:

Despite the pessimistic economic data showing the disruption the coronavirus pandemic is causing the economy, it was a historically good month for stocks.

The Dow climbed 11.1%, while the S&P 500 added 12.7% in April. It was the best monthly gain since January 1987 for both indexes.

The Nasdaq Composite gained 15.4% for the month, its best performance since June 2000.