Coronavirus pandemic in the US

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlined a plan to suspend New York City subway service for four hours every night to disinfect the trains.

Cuomo said the city's Metropolitan Transportation Authority will stop train service from 1 a.m. until 5 a.m. nightly.

"I to 5 are the slow hours," Cuomo said, noting that about 10,000 people ride the system during that period of time.

He said the city and state will provide alternative travel for essential employees who need to get to and from work during those hours. While this is happening, there will be "buses, dollar vans" and, if necessary, "for-hire vehicles at no cost to the essential worker during those hours."

The shutdown goes into effect on May 6, the governor said.

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said contact tracing — tracking those who came into contact with coronavirus patients — is key to monitoring and controlling the coronavirus infection rate. But unprecedented widespread tracing throughout the state is a hefty undertaking.

“It will require, under any estimate, a tracing army to come up to scale very, very quickly,” he added.

Cuomo said the estimate is that 30 contact tracers are needed for every 100,000 people who are in affected areas, which would be about 6,400 to 70,000 tracers, depending on the outcome of projected cases. 

“It’s of a scale never been done before and, by the way, we need it tomorrow,” Cuomo said. 

Former NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg and Johns Hopkins are working together with the state Department of Health to recruit and train tracers. 

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Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the state will use three new smartphone apps to assist with coronavirus contact tracing.

The first app will help contact tracers find information and data quickly, he said during a press conference with Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The second app will help the public provide information to the health departments, and the third will allow those in quarantine to access the services they need as well as report symptoms, Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg said those hired to do contact tracing will also receive additional training.

"Johns Hopkins has developed a training class which can be taken remotely. It will cover all the basic information of epidemics, contact tracing and privacy. There's also a test at the end of the training which you have to pass in order to be hired," Bloomberg said.

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that while the death rate is down, the toll is "still terrible."

At least 306 people died across New York state yesterday, he said. That's down from the 330 who died on Tuesday and the 335 who died on Monday.

Trump economic adviser Kevin Hassett continued to project what his colleagues have referred to as “doom and gloom” regarding the economy following another release of unprecedented unemployment numbers today, continuing his comparison to the Great Depression.

Asked by CNN whether it’s realistic, as Jared Kushner said, that the economy could be normal by June and “rocking” by July, Hassett said it’s possible and depends on the virus, but he’s planning for every scenario.

 “If the virus is mostly gone, then everybody will get back to their normal lives and the baseball stadiums will be filled with fans and so on. And if the virus is still lingering or even staying at about the level we see right now, then activity will stay lower. And my instructions, the economic team’s instructions from the President are to have a plan for every eventuality and that’s what we’re doing,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rejected calls from some Senate Democrats not to return to session next week while the coronavirus epidemic is still on the rise in Washington and across the country.

McConnell said the Senate has essential constitutionally-mandated duties to carry out, including the confirmation of President Trump’s judicial nominees.

The House will not return: House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced Tuesday the Capitol attending physician Brian Monahan "forcefully" emphasized that the number of novel coronavirus infections in DC is still going up and that some surrounding areas in Maryland are hotspots.

"The House physician's view was that there was a risk to members that was one he would not recommend taking," said Hoyer.

When McConnell was asked if he had gotten different advice from Monahan, about whether the Senate – which has only 100 members compared to 435 in the House – should return to work, McConnell would not directly answer other than to say, “we can modify our routines in ways that are smart and safe.”

New York City this week will begin distributing free face coverings at parks around the city, with a focus on hard-hit communities and high-traffic parks, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday morning.

About 100,000 face coverings will be distributed this week, he said.

New Yorkers can visit this website for details on where they will be distributed.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called the discovery of 60 bodies stored inside trucks outside a Brooklyn funeral home "absolutely unacceptable."

"Funerals are private organizations, private businesses. They have an obligation to the people they serve to treat them with dignity. I have no idea in the world how any funeral home can let this happen," de Blasio said today at a press briefing.

He continued:

The NYPD said their initial investigation determined there was no criminality. They said the state's Department of Environmental Protection and Department of Health are looking into this matter.

What happened: On Wednesday, the bodies were discovered after someone reported fluids dripping from four trucks parked outside the Andrew Cleckley Funeral Home in Brooklyn, a law enforcement official told CNN.

The home was overwhelmed and ran out of room for bodies, which were awaiting cremation, and used the trucks for storage, a second law enforcement source said Wednesday.

There has been at least 1,042,874 cases of coronavirus in the US, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

At least 61,123 people have died from the virus so far.

On Thursday, Johns Hopkins has reported 2,965 new cases and 157 reported deaths. 

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