By Fernando Alfonso III, Melissa Macaya and Zamira Rahim, CNN
New York state reported 67 new coronavirus-related deaths over the past 24 hours, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a news conference today.
Hospitalizations due to the virus are also down as are new Covid-19 cases, the governor said.
"The facts are good," Cuomo said.
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont announced new guidance on social gatherings, casinos and houses of worship on Friday, as coronavirus metrics “continue in the right direction."
As numbers still come in, Lamont said “we had probably one of our largest drops in hospitalizations we’ve seen in months. Seventy-one fewer hospitalizations. We’re 75% off our peak now.”
Going forward: Lamont said individuals may now have gatherings of up to 10 people inside their home and 25 people outside while maintaining social distancing.
“Just give you a sense, we’re easing the restrictions as long as people follow the protocols," he said.
Lamont said casinos can "really start opening tomorrow," but with some restrictions.
Here is some of the guidance:
Houses of worship will also be allowed to start reopening.
Here are the guidelines the governor is suggesting:
There have been at least 1,725,656 cases of coronavirus in the US, and approximately 101,706 people have died from the virus, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Johns Hopkins reported 3,903 new cases and 90 deaths on Friday.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
From CNN's Katelyn Polantz and Ariane de Vogue
Pentecostal and Baptist churches in California and Illinois were pushing for the US Supreme Court on Friday to stop their states' governors from limiting the number of people that can attend religious services as part of coronavirus social distancing measures, according to new filings sent to the court.
The churches are asking the court to stop the worship restrictions before this Sunday, the Christian holy day of Pentecost. The Supreme Court could act as soon as Friday.
How the churches got here: In recent days, both states have lifted social distancing measures that relaxed limitations on churches. But the churches say they still need the court’s intervention.
California recently loosened its restrictions to allow up to 100 people to meet for religious services.
“California is still violating plaintiffs’ fundamental constitutional rights, and millions of Americans across the county are still having their constitutional rights trampled upon,” the South Bay United Pentecostal Church wrote to the Supreme Court on Friday.
In Illinois, Gov. J.B. Pritzker lifted the state’s restrictions on religious worship on Thursday.
The state previously had prohibited more than 10 people from gathering for religious services. But Elim Romanian Pentecostal Church and Logos Baptist Ministries said they fear that if the state has another wave of Covid-19 cases this summer and fall, Pritzker could restrict their services again.
“What changed? The governor was summoned to the steps of this Court to give an account. But the governor’s sudden change has no permanency or force of law, and both his public statements and his new policy strongly signal an impending return to his old ways.
Absent a pronouncement from this Circuit Justice, or the Court, there can be no reasonable expectation that the Governor will not once again infringe Churches’ constitutional rights,” the churches in Illinois wrote.
The President's perspective: President Trump called on governors to reopen religious institutions for services last week after issuing guidance deeming places of worship "essential."
Trump even threatened to "override" governors if their states did not follow the new guidance from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention which released guidance for religious institutions on Friday.
Governors have gradually been reopening some businesses and other community gathering places in their states after months of lockdown and some plateaus of Covid-19 cases. The churches have claimed they shouldn’t be treated differently than retail business.
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city has measurements in place that could trigger a possible need to dial back the restart and reinstate restrictions.
“From a city perspective, we stay below those thresholds we keep going, if we start inching up toward those thresholds, were gonna talk about it, were gonna tell people about it, were gonna warn people, we’re going to take actions in the immediate term to ensure that we can help contain the situation," de Blasio said.
The test and trace initiative will be a positive X factor, he added.
“If our thresholds were exceeded the wrong way, that’s the situation where, unless there are other extenuating circumstances, we would have to take a step back to where we are right now," de Blasio said.
Here are the indicators the city will monitor:
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was pressed on whether he can narrow down the potential phase one start date as June commences next week.
“We are confident that we will be able to go to phase one in the first two weeks of June. This is going to be based, of course, on the tangible indicators and thresholds from the state and the city. So that’s what will lead the decision. We have to have that factual evidence," he said at a news conference on Friday.
“Im gonna only say it that way, I’m confident we'll be getting to phase one in the first two weeks of June. Im not gonna fine tune it any more than that because of all these conversations going on to determine the exact right date to start," he added.
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
The percentage of New York City residents who have tested positive for coronavirus is at 5%, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.
“Every day we’ve seen progress in recent weeks, today the lowest we’ve ever seen," de Blasio said. “Congratulations everyone, this is putting us well on the way to our goal of opening in the first half of June. Well done NYC.”
The mayor assessed the daily indicators by threshold and would like to see this number under a 15% threshold.
The daily number of people admitted to hospitals for suspected Covid-19, which the mayor would like to see under a 200 threshold, is at 61.
“A very good number,” de Blasio said.
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio delved into protections and initiatives for businesses, workers and consumers as the city begins planning for a phase one restart in either the first or second week of June.
De Blasio outlined what the city is doing to make sure businesses are ready to reopen. The mayor said face coverings for all employees and customers is absolutely necessary for every business to succeed and be safe.
The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, Small Business Services and Citywide Administrative Services will coordinate pickup and delivery of 2 million face coverings for businesses and workers with more to come.
“We want businesses to succeed, and having one less thing to worry about will make it a little easier," de Blasio said.
A strong restart, he added, is making sure businesses can come back “quickly” and “effectively.”
Business owners big and small need help “making sense of all this.”
The city is also working to make sure businesses have a supply of cleaning fluids at an affordable price.
Other reopening efforts: De Blasio reiterated that the city is training a group of small business compliance units to go out and work with businesses.
The city’s Department of Consumer and Worker Protection will also send teams out to talk directly to people working with unions, worker centers and immigrant rights organizations. They plan to listen to their needs and give out helpful information.
“Workers have every right to be safe when they return to work," de Blasio said.
A worker protection hotline will be launched next week, the mayor added.
De Blasio also said that starting next week, the city will have a testing initiative focused particularly on non-profit staff with an aim to reach nearly 31,0000 nonprofit human service provider staff beginning June 1.
These tests are voluntary and the city intends to provide up to 4,000 a day. Mobile testing sites will be launched mid-June.
From CNN’s Anneken Tappe
US stocks were mixed at the start of Friday’s session, with the Dow and the S&P 500 adding onto losses from the prior day.
Rising tensions between the United States and China are weighing on investor sentiment.
President Trump is expected to hold a news conference later today in response to China’s Hong Kong crackdown.
The Trump administration has also been critical of China’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak, which could come up again.
Here is where things stood at opening:
The Dow opened down 0.5%, or 134 points.
The S&P 500 kicked off 0.3% lower.
The Nasdaq Composite opened higher, climbing a modest 0.1%.