Coronavirus pandemic in the US

New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has locked down the city of Gallup in an effort to "mitigate the uninhibited spread of Covid-19."

Starting at noon today, "all roads into Gallup are closed," the governor's office said in a statement.

Businesses in the city will close from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m., and vehicles will only be allowed to have a maximum of two individuals, the statement said.

The move comes after Gallup's former mayor requested that Grisham declare a state of emergency in the city, according to a letter made public by the governor's office.

McKinley County, the home of Gallup, has 1,027 positive cases of Covid-19 as of Thursday. That's more than 30% of the state’s total cases and the most positive cases in the entire state, the governor's statement said.

"Its infection trend has shown no sign of flattening," the statement said.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany will hold her first briefing in the White House briefing room at 2 p.m. ET.

She will likely face questions about the coronavirus pandemic, the US's response and how it's affecting the economy and.

Thursday marked 417 days since the last briefing by a White House press secretary.

Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said how the US fights the coronavirus pandemic in the upcoming months will be "critical" to how the virus will evolve this autumn.

Schuchat told JAMA Editor in Chief Howard Bauchner she doesn't know if there will be a resurgence of the virus once the temperature goes down, explaining, "A lot of the seasonality of respiratory viruses may relate to the way we work, the way we interact, and in the fall, people go back to school — whether it's school or colleges, and we don't know how much of that is driving that upsurge that we see."

The Louisiana Department of Health announced Friday 710 new cases of Covid-19 in the state, bringing the total to 28,711. This is the biggest jump in new cases in a day since April 11.  

According to the governor's office, the health department has two new labs reporting tests, which likely explains the bump. Those labs reported 381 positive results, so the increase could be a function of delayed reporting to the state.

At least 1,927 people have died of coronavirus across the state. 

Although Gov. John Bel Edwards extended the stay-at-home order through May 15, he did ease some restrictions to the order, which go into effect today.

Malls throughout the state will remain closed to the public, but stores can offer curbside delivery. Restaurants can still do takeout and delivery orders, but can also offer outdoor seating. Edwards said workers interacting with the public will be required to wear masks.

However, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell tweeted not long after the governor's announcement that there would be no changes to the existing mandate throughout Orleans Parish. The tweet went on to say that "restaurants will not be allowed to host curbside seating and stores will not be allowed to open curbside delivery."

The number of coronavirus cases in Georgia has surpassed 27,000 with nearly 1,000 new cases reported in the past 24 hours, according to the state's department of health. 

As of noon on Friday, Georgia Department of Health reported 27,134 cases, up from 26,175 recorded cases on Thursday. 

The majority of the state's cases are in the metro Atlanta area. 

At least 1,147 Georgia residents have died as a result of COVID-19 

Texas A&M University and the University of Texas will reopen and be operational for the fall semester.

Fall enrollment is also up and though online classes "are an option if needed," the university is planning to open its campus for the fall semester, Young said. University faculty and staff are "preparing for all the requirements necessary to do so safely across academics, athletics and campus activities," according to Young. 

The University of Texas (UT) said plans for its campus reopening won't be announced until the end of June, UT President Gregory L. Fenves said in a letter to students. 

"Our goal remains to reopen the Forty Acres in the fall, likely with some courses and activities held in person and others online as dictated by health and safety concerns," Fenves said. 

Hospitalization numbers across New York state are dropping, and that “is a credit to the community, and the social conscience, and the responsibility of New Yorkers,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference Friday.

Because there are still about 1,000 new coronavirus hospitalizations per day, “which is still a very high infection rate” and a burden on the hospital system, he said the state wants more targeted information on these new patients.

“Let’s drill down on those 1,000 new cases. Where are they coming from, why is the infection rate continuing, who’s getting infected, and let’s get more targeted in our response," Cuomo said. 

The governor said he will be speaking with hospitals this afternoon to ask them to provide more specific information on new Covid-19 cases.

Information requested will include where the patients live and work, how they commute, their age, sex and health status.

Most of the new cases are coming from downstate New York — 17.5% are from Manhattan, Cuomo said.

Washington, DC, has continued to see an overall rise in coronavirus cases over the last seven weeks. 

As of Thursday, DC tested 21,135 people, with 4,658 total positives. There have been a total of 231 deaths. The number of positive cases took a drastic jump to 335 cases Friday — the biggest rise in a single day.

Friday’s rise in cases coincides with the first day DC has received more than 1,000 test results in a single day.

When broken down by race, 48% of positive Covid-19 cases are African American.

DC’s stay-at-home order is set to expire on May 15.

The World Health Organization said it still considers the coronavirus pandemic a public health emergency of international concern, WHO's highest level of alarm for the world.

Houssin added that there is still much to learn about the transmission of the coronavirus.Currently, there is no vaccine nor licensed therapeutics for the treatment of Covid-19.

Assessing the response: On Thursday, WHO reconvened the committee of independent international experts to assess the state of the coronavirus pandemic and review WHO's recommendations on how to respond.

Officials said the committee would meet again in 90 days, or sooner, if needed.