Coronavirus pandemic in the US

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that both the city and state indicators could be met in the first half of June — meaning some restrictions could begin to lift then.

De Blasio alluded to a similar situation on CNN’s New Day.

The indicators have been moving “pretty damn well,” he said.

“We are getting in range now of hitting all our numbers in the first half of June,” he said, and if it’s “consistent, that’s when we take the first steps to open up more."

New York City's key tracking indicators – people admitted to hospitals for suspected Covid-19, people in ICUs for suspected Covid-19 and the percentage of people tested who are positive – are all down from data reported Monday to Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said. 

Particularly, ICU admissions are “markedly down” from 561 to 517, de Blasio said, adding it’s a “big movement" and “bigger than we have seen most days even when things go in the right direction.”

People admitted to hospitals is down to 59 from 78.

The percentage of people tested who are positive for Covid-19 citywide is down to 11% from 13%.

“Three for three, a perfect day New York City,” he said, adding stringing these good days together will help the city “take the next big step forward.”

One hour after unemployment data showed nearly 3 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits last week, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that was a promising sign and “better than expected.”

Altogether more than 36.5 million Americans have sought initial unemployment aid since mid-March.

Hassett suggested that moving forward, unemployment data will be a good indicator toward economic recovery. 

Speaking to reporters after the Fox Business Network appearance, Hassett reiterated that today’s report was “still a very tough number, but the number was better than we expected.”

He was asked whether he’d shared any insight with the President regarding schools reopening and the economy – and while he couldn’t recall whether he’d done so, he said it was important to the economy that schools reopen.

“I don’t recall if I’ve discussed it with the President, but there is empirical literature that suggests it has a big negative effect on the economy to not have the schools open. Because two-earner families tend to have childcare problems. And there tends to be, like, a lot of absenteeism and so on. So if you look at that literature, keeping schools open or closed, it’s a very big deal for the economy,” he said.

Hassett said his team is studying the possibility of funding for state and municipal governments in another stimulus package, but hasn’t reached a firm conclusion. He said they are talking to mayors about how they are spending the funding they’ve already gotten.

 And asked about rising grocery prices, he didn’t seemed to think it would be a long-term issue.

 “As the economy gets going… production will get going again and that problem will take care of itself,” he said.

“I expect that that’s going to work itself out over the next month or two,” he added. 

Even as coronavirus spreads across the US, states are reopening despite warnings from health experts and officials. Dr. Leana Wen, an ER physician and former Baltimore city health commissioner, says there’s no way to eliminate the virus at this point.

While there is high potential for a vaccine to be developed, the question is how long it would take how effective it would be, and how quickly the production can scale up for distribution, she says.

The current number of infections and deaths is already a “significant underestimate” because of lack of testing early on in the pandemic, she says.

“These cases were never reported and never counted as part of the official infection number. And also we also know that there are individuals would have died at home and may also have died during the peak of the flu season and were presumed to have the influenza rather than Covid-19.”

Accurate testing could help report the numbers to understand where the country stands, she adds.

Watch:

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said today there now 100 detected cases of Pediatric Multi-System Inflammatory Syndrome (PMIS) in New York City, with 55 of those who tested positive for Covid-19 or antibodies.

There has been one fatality, as CNN previously reported. 

He said it’s a “deep concern” and “we’re going to throw everything we got at it.”

The city plans to do weekly PMIS webinars with up to 700 pediatric providers – he added one will be happening tomorrow, Friday. The city will also do targeted daily outreach to 23 frontline pediatric ICU’s in NYC.

In the eyes of medical scientists “it came out of nowhere in this city,” the mayor said of the syndrome.

US stocks kicked off lower on Thursday, as markets across the board remain under pressure and investors worry about the future of the global economy.

In the United States, nearly 3 million more Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week, bringing the total of initial claims to 36.5 million since mid-March. Stocks have not been reacting much to labor market news over the past weeks, as much of the negative headlines have been priced in.

Here's how the markets opened:

Both the S&P and the Nasdaq are headed for a third day of losses.

Another United States Department of Agriculture food safety inspector has died after contracting Covid-19. 

The American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE) Union told CNN the food safety inspector was from Dodge City, Kansas, and died Wednesday.

The AFGE says there are now four confirmed food safety inspector deaths due to Covid-19: One each in New York, Illinois, Mississippi, and now Kansas.

Delta Air Lines says it will retire its Boeing 777 fleet, which includes 18 aircraft, as the effects of the pandemic continue to cause a financial crunch.

The 777s are wide-body aircraft that are often used for long-haul flights. The Boeing aircraft will be replaced by Airbus planes that the airline says are significantly more fuel efficient.

The retirement was already in the works, but will be accelerated, with the aircraft phased out by the end of the year.

Some shops and restaurants at Universal Orlando's CityWalk in Florida will reopen today, Universal Orlando announced.

The nightclubs at CityWalk, as well as Blue Man Group and Universal Cinemark, will stay closed.

Visitors will be required to wear masks and their temperatures will be taken when they arrive. Diners and shoppers are encouraged to wash their hands often and keep six feet apart from others.