Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Montgomery, Alabama, Mayor Steven Reed said the whole city only had two available ICU beds this morning amid the coronavirus pandemic.  

“We have not gotten out of this, and unfortunately, people believe that the pandemic is over, and they believe that we get chance to determine when things go back to normal, and we don't. So I'm certainly concerned about those who may be sick and those who may have some illnesses not being able to get the attention they may need,” he continued.

Reed said he understands that residents “have Covid fatigue” and are itching to return to living life how they did before the pandemic, but it’s not time to let up yet.

“We can't fast-forward to the end of this movie, and we're trying to do that right now in the way we're approaching this process, and I think that's why we're seeing the spikes — not only in Montgomery but also throughout Alabama. And that is problematic for our business owners, it's problematic for our schools, it's problematic for our hospitals, our first responders and our entire community,” he said. 

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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today he is signing an Executive Order that will authorize private businesses in the state to deny entry to people who do not wear a mask or a face covering.

He continued: "If you don't want to wear a mask, fine, you don't have the right to go into that store owner if that store does not want you to."

Cuomo noted that the state has delivered more than 8 million masks for New York City, many which went to public housing, food banks, churches and homeless shelters. He added that they are bringing in a million more masks today.

"The masks work. They work," the governor said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that 74 people died yesterday in the state from the coronavirus. He called this "relatively positive news" compared to the higher daily death toll number the state was previously seeing.

Cuomo said that hospitalizations, intubations, and new Covid-19 cases are also down in the state. "That is all very very good news," he said.

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Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said he was “very confident that a vaccine” for coronavirus “will be on line beginning sometime in the fall and we’ll have, the goal is to have upward of three hundred million doses by the first of January.”

Milley made the comments Thursday during an online town hall with US forces and Defense Department staff alongside Defense Secretary Mark Esper. 

Esper and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar are leading a task force unveiled earlier this month by President Trump called ‘Operation Warp Speed’ that is working to develop a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.

Nine businesses in Borough Park Brooklyn have been shut down in the last 48 hours, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said, adding it is “idiotic” to try to open a business that will be legally allowed to “open in as little as a week or two.”

Responding to a question from a reporter, de Blasio explained that those businesses were told they were not to be open and stopped operating. He added that the sheriff’s department has been working this. 

“If any of them are found in operation again that begins with a $1,000 daily fine," he said.

“If you don’t, you’re going to suffer this kind of consequence, it makes no sense," he added.

Earlier in response to a more general question about businesses deciding to reopen early, de Blasio said, “Businesses are not supposed to make up their own rules and jump the gun, it’s just, it’s really clear.”

Senator Tim Kaine announced in a statement Thursday that he and his wife have tested positive for coronavirus antibodies.

Some context: Earlier this week CNN's health team reported that antibody tests used to determine if people have been infected in the past with Covid-19 might be wrong up to half the time, according to new guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nissan can't guarantee long-term job security for its 10,000 workers in the US, now furloughed during the coronavirus lockdown, the automaker’s chief operating officer told CNN. However, he said, those workers are beginning to return to their factories.

Nissan said Thursday it will slash its overall production capacity by 20% after 2019 proved its worst year since 1999, including a big drop in sales in the United States.

Nissan's market share in Europe is now just 2.7%, Gupta told CNN, prompting the ailing Japanese firm to close its Barcelona plant, costing 3,000 jobs. 

There are no planned production line closures in the UK, he said.

“US, China, Japan are the top three markets for us in terms of market share. But Europe is very important for us because we are the ones who created the crossover SUV. We are going to focus that in Europe, focusing that in Sunderland. At the moment there is no line closures in Sunderland.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio outlined the first phase of reopening as it aligns with state guidelines, adding that based on metrics, this will happen either in the first or second week of June.

The mayor added that clothing stores, office supply stores and furniture stores are restricted to curbside pickup or in store pick up.

It's estimated a range of 200,000 to 400,000 workers will be returning to work. The estimate is based on analysis of April 2020 employment in affected industries. 

In a lot of other parts of the country “that would be their entire city,” de Blasio said.

The mayor said there are basic “common sense” rules for all sectors during reopening including social distancing, to keep occupancy to under 50%, personal protective equipment, regular cleaning of shared surfaces, health screenings for employees such as temperature checks or questionnaires, and communication with employees and patrons in the form of creating distance markers and signage.

The White House will forgo issuing economic projections that are traditionally released over the summer that would likely show the effects of the coronavirus downturn, according to two officials familiar with the matter.

The "mid-session review" usually comes over the summer after the winter release of the President's budget proposal. It includes updated projections on unemployment and growth.

The officials said the coronavirus had injected too much uncertainty into the economy to allow for accurate projections. Instead, the report will likely include a summary of the current economic conditions and information about relief legislation enacted by the Trump Administration.

The Washington Post first reported on the decision to forgo the traditional economic forecast this year.