Coronavirus pandemic in the US

The US Department of Homeland Security and the FBI released a ���public service announcement” this morning warning that China is likely targeting the US response to the Covid-19 crisis, calling it a “significant threat.”

The joint warning from the FBI and DHS’s cyber arm, CISA, noted that “Healthcare, pharmaceutical and research sectors working on Covid-19 response should all be aware they are the prime targets of this activity and take the necessary steps to protect their systems.”

The agencies outlined recommendations for research organizations: 

The notification elevates the accusation by the US government that China is taking advantage of the pandemic to carry out significant cyber espionage on critical institutions fighting the virus. 

Some context: CNN has previously reported that the administration has pointed the finger at China for attempting to steal coronavirus research as officials are warning they have seen a growing wave of cyberattacks on US government agencies and medical institutions leading the pandemic response by nation states and criminal groups.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio reviewed the city’s three indicators for tracking Covid-19 progress, saying “overall trends” with regards to hospitalizations, ICU and positive test confirmation continue to be good — however the most recent results are “not what we’re looking for.”

Here's how the numbers for May 10 and May 11 compare...

“Let’s double down on the things that are working so we can have more of the good days and start to string them together and move towards the first steps in our restart,” de Blasio added.

There are no conversations inside the White House about altering the date of the November general election, a senior White House official tells CNN. The White House is aware that Kushner's answer to Time in an interview published yesterday could have been more clear, which is why he issued a second statement.

But this official said that the issue of changing the election date is simply not something being discussed because the Constitution explicitly gives Congress the power to establish election day. President Trump has also publicly said that he is in favor of keeping election day the same.

What this is all about: Asked in a video interview Tuesday for TIME 100 Talks whether there was any scenario in which the election could be postponed — including a potential coronavirus outbreak in the fall — Kushner said, "That's too far in the future to tell."

Later, Kushner released a statement attempting to walk back the comments: "I have not been involved in, nor am I aware of any discussions about trying to change the date of the presidential election," he said.

Remember: Even if Republicans in Congress were to favor a change, a Democrat-led House would need to agree as well. 

And in more than 13 states across across the country, the Republican National Committee and other Republican state officials are currently arguing that it is possible for Americans to vote safely in person right now and in November, despite the coronavirus. A push to change election day would also mean upending these legal arguments.

Former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was released from prison today following a request by his lawyers due to the coronavirus pandemic, his attorney Kevin Downing said.

Downing told CNN that Manafort is going to serve the rest of his term in home confinement after serving about a third of his sentence at a federal prison in Western Pennsylvania.

Manafort has been in jail since June 2018. He is serving a 7.5-year sentence for bank and tax fraud and foreign lobbying-related crimes.

Fear of coronavirus proliferating behind bars has consumed inmates across the country, and the Bureau of Prisons has moved almost 2,500 inmates with coronavirus risk to home confinement as of this week in an effort to stop the spread of the disease within its facilities.

The prison where Manafort was living currently has no confirmed cases.

Read more here.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is expanding the open streets initiative in the city to assist with social distancing, adding 12 more miles tomorrow for pedestrians to the already 9 miles allocated in the city.

Starting tomorrow, the city will open throughout the boroughs...

There will also be 9.2 miles of protected bike lanes opening throughout May, he said.

There are now 82 confirmed cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome in the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday. It has “gone up consistently in recent days” he said. 

De Blasio added 53 of the cases have either tested positive for Covid-19 or had Covid-19 antibodies.

There has been 1 death reported.

He said there are many unknowns still including “what makes kids susceptible,” and how long the illness takes to manifest in children.

Texas inmates have begun self-administering oral-fluid tests for Covid-19, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  

The department announced Tuesday that it launched 12 strike teams to prisons across the state. Nearly 1,500 tests were collected in the first few hours of testing, according to officials

The TDCJ says they expect the positive case rate to "increase dramatically" as a result of this expanded testing.  

By the numbers: There are at least 652 Texas Justice employees and 1,733 offenders who have tested positive for Covid-19. Thirty prisoners and seven staff members have died of the virus.  

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio thanked the House for the stimulus framework they put forward and called the plan the “game changer” the city needed.

He said there is no such thing as a “city who can stand up against a pandemic alone.”

The House plan allocates $17 billion for NYC over two years, as well as $34 billion for New York state.

“Finally we see the beginning of such a plan,” he said adding, “finally we see a step forward in Washington.”

De Blasio said Congress and the President have needed to “act at a level that actually fits this absolutely unprecedented moment in American history,” adding that the House plan, “actually lives up to the moment.”

In February, the US unemployment rate was near a 50-year low of 3.5%. In April, it skyrocketed to 14.7%, the highest level ever recorded since 1948 when the government began tracking the monthly data.

The road back to a healthier labor market will be painful, said Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell during a virtual event at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

It will be particularly painful because recently hired and lower-paid workers are the ones bearing the brunt of the pain, Powell said.

The unemployment rate will probably peak "over the course of the next month or so," he added, and it's reasonable to expect a decline in the unemployment rate after. This decline might even be sharp, but US unemployment will likely remain well above the lows seen at the start of the year.