Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds says she will follow a modified quarantine protocol for coronavirus out of concern that she may have been exposed to virus during her trip to the White House last week.

Reynolds said she was tested negative for coronavirus Monday morning and did not wear a mask as she walked to the podium for today’s briefing where she announced the quarantine efforts.

According to Reynolds, a member of Vice President Pence’s staff who has since tested positive for the virus was at the White House during Reynolds' trip to Washington, DC, last week. 

She said she did not have direct contact with the Pence staffer, but said she will follow a modified quarantine out of an abundance of caution.

The governor said she will maintain social distancing, wear a mask and have minimal interaction with state staff. Reynolds said she will also be tested daily for coronavirus and will submit to daily temperature checks.

A senior member of Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker has tested positive for Covid-19, prompting a temporary shutdown of his office, the governor said in a statement Monday. 

Approximately 20 employees still going into the James R. Thompson Center will now work from home, the statement said.

The governor and other staff members tested negative.

Though children don’t get severely ill from Covid-19 as frequently as adults, some still face serious complications, according to a study published on Monday.

The study included 48 children with coronavirus who were admitted to pediatric intensive care units. Among them, 23% had failure of two or more organ systems – the most common organ being the lungs – and 81% required some sort of respiratory support, such as a ventilator.

The study, published in the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics, included data from 46 pediatric ICUs in the US and Canada between March 14 and April 3.

The results come during increasing reports of a severe inflammatory condition in children possibly linked to Covid-19. No reference to the inflammatory condition was included in the study.

The findings: The median age of the children was 13 years old, and 83% had underlying medical conditions. Obesity was a notable pre-existing disease, particularly in older children, according to the study. The median length of stay in the pediatric ICU was five days. 

More than half of the children, 61%, received treatment, mainly with hydroxychloroquine.

For the 18 children who needed a ventilator, two died by the time of the report. The remaining 16 had a variety of outcomes: three still needed invasive ventilation, seven were taken off of their ventilators but remained hospitalized and six were discharged from the hospital.

The lower percentage of children who die on ventilators compared to adults reflect “the markedly decreased burden of disease” from Covid-19 in children, the study said. 

Though some children with Covid-19 do experience severe outcomes, the authors emphasized that pediatric ICU admissions are not common. Only 35% of the hospitals participating in the study reported admissions of children with Covid-19 infection. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state is currently investigating more than 90 cases of "Covid-related diseases" in young children.

Cuomo on Sunday said New York state was investigating 85 cases of a coronavirus-related illness that is afflicting children across the state.

So far, three young New Yorkers have died from an illness that may be related to Covid-19 include a teenager in Suffolk County, as well as a 7-year-old in Westchester County and a 5-year-old in New York City, according to the governor’s office.

More context: Last week, New York State Department of Health reported some children have developed an inflammatory syndrome possibly linked to the coronavirus. 

"Thankfully most children with COVID-19 only experience mild symptoms, but in some, a dangerous inflammatory syndrome can develop," New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said in a statement.

New York is investigating if the cases contradict the belief that children are less at risk for coronavirus and what other hospitals should look out for, Cuomo said.

WATCH:

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott announced today that the state plans to develop and release guidelines this week for a gradual reopening of retail stores starting on May 18.

He said the state will extend emergency orders on Friday that will include additional openings. 

Stores will need to meet or exceed all current safety requirements, employees will be required to wear facial coverings, and everyone must maintain a distance of six feet from each other.

Scott also said that businesses in the first phase of reopening will be subject to an occupancy limit of 25% of their maximum legal occupancy limit.

At present, there are three regions in New York state – Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, and Mohawk Valley — that meet the metrics required to reopen Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday morning. 

“Some regions are ready to go today, they just need to get some logistical pieces in order by the end of the week. Some places are very close … just one or two criteria that haven’t been met yet,” he said.

He reiterated that the reopening of businesses would be phased, starting with construction, manufacturing, retail (for curbside pickup), agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Here's a full look at how the phased reopening will work:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that as businesses are allowed to reopen in some parts of the state, they must take certain safety precautions.

"Businesses have to do their part also," he said.

He outlined some of the changes that may come:

WATCH:

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today that New York's number of new Covid-19 cases has declined to a rate of "about where we started this horrific situation."

"So we see all the arrows are pointed in the right direction. If you look at the number of new Covid cases per day, about 488. That is just about where we started this horrific situation," the governor said.

He said the May 10 numbers mirrored the number of cases on March 19, before New York "went into the abyss of the Covid virus." 

WATCH:

There were 161 people who died on Sunday across the state of New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

He added that the number is "better than it has been."

Of the 161 people who died, 112 were in hospitals and 49 were in nursing homes.

The total number of deaths on Sunday is down from the 207 people who died in the state on Saturday.