By Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Fernando Alfonso III and Zamira Rahim, CNN
From CNN's Amanda Watts
There are at least 1,711,313 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 101,129 people have died in the country from coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.
Johns Hopkins reported on Thursday 11,380 new cases and 687 reported deaths.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
From CNN’s Will Brown
Assisted living and intermediate care facilities for individuals with developmental disabilities in Ohio can allow outdoor visitation beginning June 8, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday.
DeWine clarified that this directive does not apply to nursing homes.
Eligible facilities will be required to follow minimum health guidelines like screening visitors for symptoms, wearing face coverings, and enforcing social distancing.
DeWine explained that the decision to allow outdoor visitors is based on the impact that a “prolonged loss of connection” can have on individuals.
From CNN’s Kay Jones
North Carolina had one of its highest days of reported deaths and hospitalizations since the Covid-19 crisis began, Gov. Roy Cooper said during a news conference Thursday afternoon.
The 33 new deaths bring the state’s total to 827 while there are 708 patients hospitalized across the state. The hospitalization rate has continued to rise throughout the week.
“We are concerned about the number of hospitalizations for Covid-19 continuing to go up,” Cooper said. “That’s why we are in phase two, right now, and not opening everything up. This is why we need to stay in phase two for a while to see how these numbers go.”
Some context: The number of confirmed cases are also going up as the state has increased testing, Cooper said. There are 25,412 confirmed cases in North Carolina.
The Department of Health and Human Services launched a radio and video campaign on Wednesday to share important messages across the state about the virus to populations that make up a “disproportionate number of our state’s lab confirmed cases and deaths compared with their percentage in the population."
The state senate wants to pass legislation to open bars and while he said there will be a time when they can reopen, now is not the time, Cooper said.
“We have to keep the health and safety of North Carolinians as our number one priority,” Cooper said.
From CNN's Maegan Vazquez
President Trump is “feeling perfect” after concluding his use of hydroxychloroquine as a prophylactic against coronavirus, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday.
McEnany said she asked Trump about how he’s feeling just prior to the White House press briefing. She said he told her "he’s ‘feeling perfect," "he’s feeling absolutely great after taking this regimen" and that he "would take it again."
McEnany went on to promote research suggesting there are benefits to using the drug to prevent the contraction of coronavirus.
“It’s important, of course, always, if taking hydroxychloroquine, get a prescription from your doctor. Doctors are the ones that need to be prescribing this,” she added, before claiming that there had been hyperbole regarding the drug’s safety.
Some context: The drug is only FDA-approved to treat or prevent malaria or to treat autoimmune conditions such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis. While so-called off label prescribing of the drug to treat other conditions is legal, it has not been found by the federal government to be safe or effective for any other uses.
And CNN previously reported this week that the World Health Organization temporarily halted studying hydroxychloroquine as a potential Covid-19 treatment on Monday due to safety concerns.
The decision came after a publication in the medical journal The Lancet on Friday suggested that seriously ill Covid-19 patients who were treated with hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine were more likely to die.
From CNN’s Rebekah Riess
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced today that the state will remain in Phase 1 of its reopening for a minimum of another week in order for the state to continue to collect more health data.
The governor said however, that the state’s trends are encouraging as more people are being tested and the percent of positive tests continues to trend downward.
The governor did announce, that as of tomorrow, all public beaches in Virginia will be allowed to reopen to recreational activities, with guidelines including social distancing, sanitation, and no large gatherings of more than 10 people, no tents, no alcohol, and no group sports.
Virginia is also revising orders today, to allow NASCAR and horse race tracks to run single day events under strict guidelines starting tomorrow. These events will not be open to the public, and no spectators will be allowed, the governor said.
From CNN's Rob Frehse
New York City has 16,673 confirmed and 4,742 probable coronavirus deaths as of May 28, 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 21,415.
More data: There have been 198,255 coronavirus cases and 51,449 people have been hospitalized due to the virus, according to the city.
The data is from the New York City Health Department and was updated on May 28, according to the website.
From CNN’s Kay Jones
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper told reporters on Thursday that the state is ready to hold the Republican National Convention in a safe way.
Conversations are ongoing with the RNC over how to safely host the event this August in Charlotte, Cooper said. The RNC was asked to submit plans but they have not received anything yet.
“We want to work with them and look forward to them submitting plans to us, “ Cooper said.
Some context: President Trump had threatened to pull the convention out of North Carolina earlier this week.
"They must be immediately given an answer by the Governor as to whether or not the space will be allowed to be fully occupied. If not, we will be reluctantly forced to find, with all of the jobs and economic development it brings, another Republican National Convention site," Trump tweeted.
From CNN’s Giulia McDonnell Nieto Del Rio
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh announced today that the 2020 Boston Marathon will be canceled.
The Boston Athletic Association has determined that the traditional one day running of the 124th Boston marathon will not be feasible this year, he said during a news conference.
“There’s no way to hold this usual race format without bringing large numbers of people into close proximity," Walsh said. "This kind of event would not be responsible or realistic on September 14 or anytime this year.”
Walsh called this a “difficult adjustment," but said that “meeting tough challenges is what the Boston Marathon is all about.”
From CNN's Nikki Carvajal
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said President Trump takes the number of US deaths from Covid-19 “very seriously” as she defended how long it took him to address the country hitting 100,000 deaths from the virus.
“The President recognized that landmark before we even hit it,” McEnany said during a press briefing Thursday. “After all, it was the impetus behind him lowering the flags to half-staff. He did that for several days.”
Pressed by CNN’s Jim Acosta about why it took Trump 13 hours to comment on the landmark number of deaths, McEnany said that Trump “takes it very seriously.”
She said the President has called it the “hardest part of his presidency,” and “something no one wanted to see happen.”
