Coronavirus pandemic in the US

People choosing to stay on unemployment instead of returning to work “is a real issue,” Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo said Thursday.

Raimondo stressed that she is grateful to Congress for expanding unemployment benefits and called it “the right thing to do,” but also said the program has had unintended consequences.

Rhode Island begins its phase one reopening this weekend.

One of New York’s largest hospital systems stopped recommending doctors use hydroxychloroquine, a medication for malaria, as a standard of care for patients admitted with Covid-19 in April, one of its top doctors told CNN.

Dr. Thomas McGinn, deputy physician-in-chief and senior vice president for Northwell Health, said the hospital system began recommending hydroxychloroquine as a standard of care toward the end of March for patients who had low levels of blood oxygen saturation and didn’t have heart or liver problems.

McGinn said his colleagues have experience prescribing hydroxychloroquine with other conditions and that, of at least 500 Covid-19 patients who were administered hydroxychloroquine in the Northwell Health System, his colleagues “saw no side effects.” Patients were closely monitored for possible side effects impacting the heart with electrocardiograms.

But after a study of the drug involving hundreds of patients at US Veterans Health Administration health centers showed that patients were no less likely to need mechanical ventilation and had higher death rates compared to those who did not take the drug, McGinn said his team of doctors and administrators decided to stop recommending the drug as a standard of care.

“When the VA trial came out and showed no benefit, we felt that undermined doing this at all. We quickly pivoted on that and decided to pull that recommendation,” McGinn said. “We prefer not to give a drug if there’s no benefit."

Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, operating 23 hospitals and nearly 800 outpatient facilities across the state, according to their website.

It is now easier to get critical supplies for coronavirus testing than it was last month, the Association of Public Health Laboratories said Thursday.

“The reality is that the supply chain does remain constrained, but is getting better every week,” APHL’s chief operating officer Scott Becker said during a media briefing Thursday.

This week, the federal government began regular shipments of swabs and viral transport media, which is the critical component necessary for collecting virus samples for testing, Becker said. Shortages of these supplies had been a “big challenge across the country.”

“There's also some high throughput tests that are being shipped out later this week by a company called Hologic and that tool will be very helpful to clinical and public health labs across the country, in terms of expanding the testing,” he added.

In a media briefing two weeks ago, APHL said public health labs were still reporting critical shortfalls in testing material, including swabs and the chemical reagents needed to perform Covid-19 tests.

There are 97 public health laboratories in all 50 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, Guam and the US Virgin Islands, and hundreds of private labs across the country.

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Movie theaters in Montana will be allowed to reopen on May 15, according to new guidance announced Thursday. 

Theaters will only be able to operate at 50% capacity with 6 feet of separation between families. They are also being told to “increase cleaning and sanitizing of frequently touched surfaces." Cleaning must be done at least once every two hours.

Museums will be also allowed to reopen on May 15 under the same restrictions, along with fitness centers and pools. Workers in gyms must wear a mask. Customers are encouraged to do the same, but it will not be mandatory.

There are 22 new deaths and 262 new cases in Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves announced today.

"It's clear the number of deaths continue to rise in our state," he said

The state has at total of 8,686 cases and 396 deaths from Covid-19. At least 1,037 of those cases and 169 of the deaths are attributed to the state's long-term care facilities, such as nursing homes.  

Reeves amended the safer-at-home order on Monday to allow outdoor gatherings for up to 20 people. Restaurants can offer indoor dining as long as they abide by the strict guidelines presented in the amended order. The safer-at-home order expires May 11.

Connecticut reported 789 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the state total to 31,784, Gov. Ned Lamont said today.

Though that number is still high, the governor noted that the state is seeing a decrease in the rate of positive cases.

There were 79 new deaths reported, bringing the state total to 2,797.

The state is continuing to see a downward trend in hospitalizations, Lamont said.

The governor discussed the progress made for the first phase of reopening on May 20 in his briefing.

The state’s previously announced Microsoft platform that was designed to facilitate contact tracing in the state is going live today, Lamont said, and 20 local health departments will begin a pilot tracing program next week.

Hospital capacity is at an adequate level, he said, and the personal protective equipment supply chain is stabilizing.

California's first case of coronavirus community spread started in a nail salon, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Thursday in his briefing.

Higher levels of protection, especially in places that already often use procedure masks and sanitation, will be required before reopening can happen.

According to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the United States, at least 75,054 people have died from coronavirus. 

The first known US coronavirus-related fatality was Feb. 6, which was 91 days ago.