Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Doctors in at least 18 states and Washington, DC, are investigating cases of a rare and puzzling condition in children that may be linked to Covid-19 infection, a CNN survey finds. 

These cases include more than 150 children in the United States, most of them in New York. 

CNN found potential cases being investigated in California, Delaware, lllinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Utah and Washington. The condition is not currently considered reportable in many states, but in some it is.

CNN has contacted departments of health, hospitals and state officials around the country. Some state health departments told CNN that they are awaiting an official case definition from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A spokesman for the Minnesota Department of Health said, “We are working with the [US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] on a case definition and are looking into possible cases but won’t have more until the CDC finalizes its definition.”

 A CDC spokesman previously told CNN that the agency was working on a definition and would issue a health Alert Network Notice about it to doctors across the country. The agency did not provide numbers of cases under investigation or states with such cases.

The condition, called multi-system inflammatory syndrome in children, appears to be a post-viral syndrome, said Dr. Jeffrey Burns, a critical care specialist at Boston Children’s Hospital who has been coordinating a global group of doctors who compare notes on the condition.

The New York Department of Health is investigating at least 103 cases of an inflammatory illness possibly related to Covid-19 in children, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on WAMC Radio Thursday.

That number is up from 102 cases reported Wednesday. 

CNN has previously reported that at least three children across New York have died of the virus.

New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea spoke about social distancing enforcement and police policy Thursday, saying, “Nothing has changed from when this pandemic has started,” during a live twitter Q&A with members of the NYPD Thursday. 

The NYPD has been accused of policing in an unequal manner.

“Remember how stressed people are. Everyone's lives have been turned upside down,” Shea said. 

 The commissioner asked for cops to redouble their efforts at de-escalation with the public.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam said today the commonwealth has enough personal protective equipment “not just for today, not just for tomorrow, but in the years to come” thanks to donations.

Northam said that when Virginia’s first reported case of the novel coronavirus on March 7, they learned they didn’t have enough PPE to protect everyone.

"There was not as much national guidance as we would have liked and literally, governors have been competing for PPE since the outbreak of this pandemic,” Northam said.

Northam said that in addition to asking for donations, they asked hospitals to stop performing elective surgeries which helped them accumulate the supplies they needed as they prepare to move into phase one of their reopening plan tomorrow. CNN previously reported that Virginia’s phase one plan means non-essential businesses and places of worship can increase to 50% capacity.

The donations came from their sister province in China as well as many American companies. Northam added that they also just received a shipment of 100,000 masks donated from Taiwan this week.

“So as you see, this is what makes Virginia great, this is a team effort,” the governor said.

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.

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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.