New York City reports more than 15,000 confirmed coronavirus deaths
From CNN's Rob Frehse
Caskets holding coronavirus victims are seen at the Gerard J. Neufeld funeral home in Queens, New York, on April 29. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
The New York City Health Department defines probable deaths as people who did not have a positive Covid-19 laboratory test, but their death certificate lists as the cause of death “COVID-19” or an equivalent.
The total number of confirmed coronavirus deaths and probable coronavirus deaths in New York City is at least 20,237.
There have been 184,319 coronavirus cases in the city and approximately 48,939 people have been hospitalized, according to the city.
6:20 p.m. ET, May 12, 2020
Pennsylvania governor "frustrated" with growing division over reopening
From CNN's Carma Hassan
Last month protesters gathered at the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg demanding that Gov. Tom Wolf reopen the state. Matt Slocum/AP
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf denied claims that he is infringing on people’s rights by not reopening the state as fast as others want.
“I'm not infringing on liberty. What I was trying to do was make it clear as I possibly can, and I’ll continue to do this, that we're all fighting a common enemy. And the enemy is not the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, it's not me, it's not Donald Trump, it's not the General Assembly. It's this virus,” Wolf said.
“We're all trying to do the best we can and admittedly, with information that is limited by the lack of experience, this is the first time we've ever faced a pandemic like this," he added.
Wolf said the state had nearly 4,000 deaths in two months and tens of thousands of cases coronavirus.
“That's huge…We have got to fight this to the end and make sure that we're doing everything we can to keep people safe,” the governor said.
When questioned whether he was concerned about the growing division in the state, Wolf said, “I'm frustrated.”
“What I'm trying to do is keep people safe and I think that should be something that everybody in Pennsylvania should rally around, including politicians. And to the extent that they don't, I think they're doing a disservice to the people they serve,” the governor said.
2:29 p.m. ET, May 12, 2020
Massachusetts governor authorizes $1 billion supplemental spending bill
From CNN's Alec Snyder
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker speaks to reporters during a press conference last month. Steven Senne/AP
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker filed a supplemental budget bill Tuesday to authorize $1 billion in spending to cover the costs incurred by the state during the pandemic, he said.
The money will be used to fund purchases of personal protective equipment, rate adjustments for essential human service providers, temporary field hospitals and shelters and the state's contact tracing program.
Baker said he anticipates the majority of the funding will be reimbursed by the federal government through reimbursement and other federal funding sources including the CARES Act.
2:23 p.m. ET, May 12, 2020
Up to 5,000 contact tracers needed in New Jersey, official says
From CNN's Julian Cummings
The state of New Jersey is planning to develop a community contact tracing core that could employ 1,000 to 5,000 people, New Jersey Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said at a news briefing Tuesday.
A contact tracing job could pay up to $25 an hour, according to Gov. Phil Murphy.
New Jersey is planning to work with higher education institutions and universities in the state to build out the contact tracing core.
“The goal is to recruit culturally competent and multi-lingual individuals from communities across the state,” Perisichilli said.
Murphy announced an executive order during the press conference that said the state of New Jersey will use the CommCare data collection platform owned by Dimagi to ensure state officials all work on the same platform for contact tracing.
“The combination of expanded testing and contact tracing increases our ability to identify new cases and take immediately health measures to interrupt the transmission of the virus," Perischilli added.
2:12 p.m. ET, May 12, 2020
More than 5,000 people have died from coronavirus in Massachusetts
From CNN’s Alec Snyder
Massachusetts crossed the 5,000 death threshold after reporting another 129 deaths for a new total of 5,108, according to Gov. Charlie Baker.
The governor said Massachusetts had 669 new positive cases yesterday — that is about 12% of the people who were tested yesterday.
2:12 p.m. ET, May 12, 2020
More than 81,000 people have died from coronavirus in the US
Hospital personnel move the bodies of deceased individuals to the overflow morgue trailer outside The Brooklyn Hospital Center on May 7. Bryan Thomas/Getty Images
There are at least 1,356,037 cases of coronavirus in the US, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
At least 81,571 Americans have died.
Johns Hopkins has reported8,649 new cases and 889 reported deaths on Tuesday.
The totals includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
2:03 p.m. ET, May 12, 2020
Gov. Cuomo says New York needs $61 billion in federal support
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today that New York needs about $61 billion in federal support or the state will have to reduce spending.
"We need $61 billion in federal support, or we will wind up aggravating the situation," he said.
Cuomo delivered these remarks after House Democrats introduced a new coronavirus relief bill this afternoon. The 1,815-page bill has a price tag expected to be more than $3 trillion –– an amount that would stand as the largest relief package in history.
2:01 p.m. ET, May 12, 2020
New York is investigating about 100 cases of possible Covid-19 related illness in children
From CNN's Laura Ly
State of New York
The New York State Department of Health is investigating about 100 cases of what may be a Covid-19 related illness in children with symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock like syndrome, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during an ongoing press conference Tuesday.
"This is truly a disturbing situation," Cuomo said.
About 29% of the cases are in children between the ages of 5 to 9, Cuomo said. Another 28% of cases are in children between 10 and 14 years old, according to state data.
Cuomo said the Department of Heath is telling hospitals to prioritize testing for children who are showing these symptoms.
2:24 p.m. ET, May 12, 2020
198 new Covid-19 deaths reported in New Jersey
From CNN's Julian Cummings
The exterior of University Hospital in Newark, New Jersey, on May 11. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said today that while trend lines in the state are in the right direction, the state is not out of the woods yet.
“The number of new cases continues in a positive trend,” he said.
Murphy also cited data showing that New Jersey leads the nation in new cases, hospitalizations, and deaths per 100,000 residents.
“We can make the argument that no state is as impacted as ours," he said.
Murphy said there are 898 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 140,743. He also reported 198 new deaths, bringing the total deaths in the state to 9,508.
This is the first time New Jersey has reported under 1,000 new cases in a single day since March 25.