Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Pennsylvania on Tuesday reported 554 new coronavirus-related deaths, according to the state's Department of Health.

It is important to note that the large increase is due to the state reconciling data from multiple different sources. The deaths occurred over the past two weeks, and did not all occur in a 24-hour span.

The total number of deaths in the state is now 3,012. 

At least 2,029 people were residents in nursing or personal care facilities, according to the health department.

Pennsylvania also reported 865 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to 50,957.

At least 11 employees at the Bornstein Seafoods processing facility in Astoria, Oregon, have tested positive for Covid-19, Clatsop County Public Health Department said in a statement released Monday.

The company has closed its Astoria facilities and is “closely following direction from the Public Health Department,” the statement said.

All remaining staff that have not yet been tested will be tested today, Dr. Michael McNickle, Public Health Director for the Clatsop County Department of Public Health told CNN today.

“We have already begun contact tracing and all staff who tested positive are under self-quarantine,” he said.

A long-term disaster morgue at Brooklyn’s 39th Street Pier is now operating, according to the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). 

The disaster morgue, where human remains are frozen inside trucks, was established to ease the stress that overwhelmed funeral directors in New York City are experiencing from the unprecedented amount of deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

On Monday, funeral home directors, faith leaders, morgue operators, cemeteries joined OCME on a conference call, according to Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

“Even a public health crisis of this magnitude should not get in the way of treating decedents with basic dignity,” he said in a press release Monday.

OCME outlined three recent policy changes to help the “death care system” operate in a smoother fashion:

Michael Lanotte, executive director of the New York State Funeral Directors Association, told CNN the Brooklyn morgue would reduce the pressure on the city's overloaded funeral industry.

“The additional morgue operating hours will also help funeral directors by providing them with evening hours for transfers since they spend the vast majority of the daytime hours conducting funerals, making arrangements and answering calls from families seeking their services,” said Lanotte. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo again called for more federal funding for states during the coronavirus pandemic.

"What the government does will literally determine how many people live or die,” Cuomo said. 

Cuomo responded to President Trump’s comments to the New York Post that blue-state bailouts are unfair to Republican states. 

According to the governor, New York state has a $13 billion deficit due to the coronavirus pandemic’s effect on the economy. Cuomo said that New York has contributed more money to the federal government than the government has given back. 

“It’s not a blue-state issue. Every state has coronavirus cases. This is not any mismanagement by the states,. If anything, the mismanagement has been on behalf of the federal government, and that's where the mismanagement have gone back decades,” he said. 

WATCH:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the decision to reopen is about the balance between the economic cost between staying closed and the human life cost of reopening.

The governor said the faster his state — or any state —reopens, "the higher the human cost."

He noted that an influential coronavirus model often cited by the White House is now forecasting that 134,000 people will die of Covid-19 in the United States — nearly double its previous prediction. That sharp increase is tied to relaxed social distancing and increased mobility in the US.

He added: "A human life is priceless. Period."

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo noted during his daily coronavirus press conference today that tonight New York City will begin to shut down the entire subway system for several hours overnight to disinfect trains.

More context: Last week, Gov. Cuomo announced that the city would shut down its entire subway system from 1 to 5 a.m. each night to clean the trains. The plan goes into effect on May 6.

WATCH:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the number of deaths across the state was up slightly yesterday, with 230 new deaths reported.

On Sunday, 226 people died from coronavirus in the state.

"This is always the worst number when we're going through the facts of the day. And it is not good news," Cuomo said, calling the deaths "painful, painful" news.

Arizona is setting up plans to to ease its restrictions, allowing some retail stores to soon reopen for in-person business under social distancing guidelines. But Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego is urging residents to “practice common sense safety.”

While reiterating the safety precautions for the citizens of a key swing state in the election, Gallego encouraged people to “still stay home” if they can.

“We do know that as we reenter the economy, we will see more cases,” she said. 

Responding to the news that President Trump will travel today to tour a Honeywell plant making N95 masks in Phoenix, she said, “I’m not sure that I would be traveling, but I do think it is important to celebrate the workers who are powering this economy.”

States may be reopening due to economic pressures but as residents receive conflicting messages from governments on going out versus staying in, the mayor said every individual knows best about their respective situation.

“I hope that people will err on the side of putting public health first but I understand that there’s enormous pressure on Americans right now.”

Former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama will do various online speeches over the next month or so for graduating seniors.

There had been an online push for former President Obama to do an online commencement.

The Obama's office said they will each speak at YouTube’s “Dear Class of 2020” event on June 6.

Former President Obama will give an address at the “Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020” event on May 16, which is XQ Institute, The LeBron James Family Foundation and The Entertainment Industry Foundation.

He'll also share a message at “Show Me Your Walk, HBCU Edition" on May 16, a virtual commencement for historically black colleges and universities.