Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Los Angeles County’s stay-home orders will with all certainty be extended for the next three months to reduce the spread of the coronavirus, L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer predicted Tuesday during a Board of Supervisors meeting, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Ferrer’s comments came as the county board debated whether to extend its temporary ban on evictions for one to three months and one day before the county reopens beaches to the public for physical activities.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom first issued a statewide stay-home order, including Los Angeles, effective on March 19, but on Friday allowed the loosening of some restrictions around businesses.

Local jurisdictions in the state, however, still retain the ability to enforce stricter health orders as needed to reduce coronavirus infections.

The United States posted a record $738 billion budget deficit in April, according to a Treasury Department report released Tuesday, as federal spending soared to address the coronavirus pandemic’s impact on the nation. 

Federal spending climbed to nearly $980 billion last month as the federal government began doling out funds from the $2 trillion relief package Congress passed at the end of March. Lawmakers then added to it last month with roughly $480 billion in new funding for small businesses, hospitals and other priorities.

Meanwhile, the federal government only took in less than $242 billion in revenue, a 55% decline from last April, reflecting the fact that the Internal Revenue Services pushed back the tax filing and payment deadline to July 15 to provide some relief to consumers and businesses.

The nation has racked up a $1.5 trillion deficit from the start of the fiscal year in October, according to the Treasury Department report. The federal budget deficit could hit $3.7 trillion this year, the Congressional Budget Office said last month.

CNN’s Katie Lobosco contributed to this report  

Asked why she wasn’t wearing a mask at the briefing podium, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany claimed that she was an “appropriate distance away” from others in the room.

“It’s because I’m distanced from you. You’d probably have a hard time hearing from me right now should I have a mask on and be muffled. I’m delivering information to the American people. I’m an appropriate distance away,” McEnany told reporters.

Pool reporters in the briefing room note that Principal Assistant Press Secretary Chad Gilmartin and White House Director of Strategic Communications Alyssa Farah were seated in masks with one vacant seat between them. 

Reporters in the briefing room seats were all wearing masks.

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Vice President Mike Pence made the decision to stay away from President Trump, after Katie Miller, the vice president's press secretary, tested positive for the coronavirus, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said today. 

CNN reported earlier on Tuesday that Pence is "maintaining distance [from Trump] for the immediate future" after consulting with the White House medical unit, a senior administration official said. 

Trump said yesterday that he has not seen Pence since Miller tested positive on Friday, a fact that was underscored by the vice president's absence from Trump's news conference Monday. 

Trump noted that he could speak with Pence by telephone. Pence was spotted arriving at the White House wearing a mask this morning.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham said Tuesday that House Democrats’ new coronavirus relief bill is “dead on arrival” in the Senate.

The 1,815 page bill announced today has a price tag expected to be more than $3 trillion — an amount that would stand as the largest relief package in history. 

New York City has at least 15,101 confirmed coronavirus deaths and approximately 5,136 probable coronavirus deaths as of May 10, according to the most recent data on the city website.

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.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf denied claims that he is infringing on people’s rights by not reopening the state as fast as others want.

“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.

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.

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.

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.