Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Childhood vaccinations have plunged since the Covid-19 pandemic started hitting the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday.

The CDC reported a “notable decrease” in the number of vaccines ordered through a federal program that immunizes half of all kids in the US.

Unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children will be at risk of other infectious diseases besides coronavirus, the CDC cautioned.

“The decline began the week after the national emergency declaration; similar declines in orders for other vaccines were also observed,” the CDC’s Dr. Jeanne Santoli and colleagues reported.

The American Academy of Pediatrics sounded an alarm about the report.

“Immunizing infants, children and adolescents is important, and should not be delayed,” Dr. Sally Goza, president of the AAP, said in a statement.

“I’m also concerned that children who have missed vaccines have also missed other health care that occurs during those visits, including physical exams, developmental screenings, and other important care that should not be delayed," Goza said.

The group said pediatricians should be doing all they can to encourage parents to bring children in for vaccinations and other important visits, including separating sick children from well children and reaching out to remind families to make appointments.

Several facilities in New Jersey will now offer tests to asymptomatic people as part of the state’s efforts to increase testing, Governor Phil Murphy said today.

The facilities will prioritize health care workers and other frontline workers, as well as individuals who have come in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19.

Some context: Two coronavirus studies released April 24 — one involving almost 2,000 people from Florida and the other from a Washington state nursing home — came to the same conclusion: Many of the people who tested positive for the virus didn't know they had it because they showed no symptoms.

The findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that people who don't feel sick are contributing to the spread of the deadly virus that has swept the world.

There have been at least 1,268,520 cases of coronavirus in the US, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

At least 76,101 people have died.

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

Johns Hopkins has reported 11,497 new cases and 439 deaths on Friday.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany addressed reports that the administration will not implement 17-page draft recommendations for reopening America from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The guidance provided more detailed suggestions beyond the reopening guidelines the administration had put forth last month, including specific suggestions for schools and churches. President Trump in recent days has emphasized the need to quickly reopen the American economy despite public health officials' urgings for a more cautious approach. 

Asked if Trump sees the CDC guidelines as an obstacle to getting the country reopened, McEnany said during Friday’s press briefing, “I would ask you, what’s the definition of CDC guidelines? Is it something the CDC director has actually seen? I would endeavor to say yes. Is it something that a rogue CDC employee leaks to you guys? No.”

“Those aren’t CDC guidelines. Those are guidelines in draft form that a rogue employee has given you for whatever personal reason they decided to do that,” she added.

McEnany said guidelines are in the editing process.

“When we have those, you guys will be the first to know,” she said.

More than 80% of the 374 summonses issued between March 16 and May 5 by the New York Police Department for social distancing violations went to black and Hispanic men and women, the NYPD said in a press release Friday afternoon.

“Of the 374 summonses issued in regard to social distancing, the respondents for 193 of those summonses are Black and the respondents for 111 of those summonses are Hispanic,” the department said.

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Rhode Island is set to become the first state in the northeastern United States to lift the stay-at-home order starting Saturday, Gov. Gina Raimondo said Friday.

“We will be the first in the northeast to lift the stay-at-home order ahead of Massachusetts and Connecticut… We are in a better position, so we can lift our restrictions a little sooner,” the governor told reporters in Providence.

Social gatherings will be limited to up to five people and retail stores can start opening again Saturday, Raimondo said, adding that she is planning executive order later Friday that will lay out the rules around phase one opening.

There were 249 new Covid-19 cases as well as 11 new deaths, according to the governor.

Palm Beach County commissioners voted to reopen beaches to county residents only starting May 18.

The decision passed with a 4 to 3 vote during a special meeting Friday.

Until Friday, the counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach had been working on a coordinated effort to reopen beaches. This represents the first time one of those counties decided to reopen beaches on their own.

The meeting included a public comment period and a question and answer session with Florida Surgeon General Scott Rivkees.

Rivkees advised that Duval County reopened beaches about three weeks ago and did not see an increase in the number of cases.

He also recommended social distancing, only gatherings of 10 people or less, and that seniors refrain from going out in public.

Mount Sinai Health System and Sorrento Therapeutics said Friday they are working together to develop an antibody cocktail they hope will protect people from Covid-19, and they expect to begin human trials in the third quarter of 2020.

The team of scientists has screened about 15,000 people who may have recovered from Covid-19 infections and will look for the most potent antibodies in the plasma of these recovered patients, which can then be cloned to make more.

How it works: Antibodies are proteins the body makes to naturally fight off an infection. Antibody cocktails can be given to a patient to fight an infection or to protect from an infection.

Sorrento said in a statement that each dose of this therapy will likely deliver a cocktail of three antibodies that would recognize three unique regions of the spike protein, the part of the coronavirus that can infect cells.

The goal would be to use this treatment to protect health care workers from infection and in patients who are considered vulnerable to more severe forms of the disease, and in people who have been exposed to the novel coronavirus, according to Sorrento.

Unlike with a vaccine or when the body creates antibodies naturally, these monoclonal antibodies only provide protection for a short time, so a treatment may need to be given more than once.