By Joshua Berlinger, Brett McKeehan, Jack Guy, Fernando Alfonso III and Amir Vera, CNN
From CNN's Sheena Jones
There are at least 10,356 confirmed cases of Covid-19 across New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a press conference Saturday.
At least 45,000 people have been tested for Covid-19, the governor said.
About 15% of those cases are being hospitalized.
"The more test you take, the more positives you find," Cuomo said.
New York state is sending 1 million N95 masks to New York City, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.
“It won’t get us through the crisis, but it will make a significant contribution to New York City’s mask issue,” Cuomo said.
Apparel companies are converting to mask manufacturers in New York and Cuomo said he is exploring the state of New York manufacturing masks.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo spoke today on what New York state is doing to respond to the growing coronavirus epidemic.
At the top of Cuomo's list is increasing hospital capacity, building beds and seeking out locations to help treat a growing number of infected.
"Every piston is firing. Everything that can be done is being done. New Yorkers are lucky we have a very experienced team that's doing this. This is not their first rodeo, they've been through a number of emergencies on a number of levels" Cuomo said Saturday during a press conference. "Increasing hospital capacity. We want to get the capacity of 50,000 up to a minimum of 75,000. We told the hospitals we're going to be ending elective surgeries. We're now working with hospitals to reconfigure the space in the hospital to get more beds and to find more staff to manage those beds. We're working on building new beds."
Cuomo said he will be looking at the Javits Center, SUNY Stony Brook and the Westchester County Center, among other places, as possible treatment locations.
From CNN's Wes Bruer, Evan Simko-Bednarski, Arman Azad and Matthew Hilk
Health officials in New York City and Los Angeles County are signaling a change in local strategy when it comes to coronavirus testing, recommending that doctors avoid testing patients except in cases where a test result would significantly change the course of treatment.
A news release from the Los Angeles Department of Public Health this week advised doctors not to test those experiencing only mild respiratory symptoms unless “a diagnostic result will change clinical management or inform public health response.”
The recommendation reflects a "shifting from a strategy of case containment to slowing disease transmission and averting excess morbidity and mortality," according to the statement.
The guidance said coronavirus testing at L.A. County public health labs will prioritized those with symptoms, health care workers, residents of long-term care facilities, paramedics and other high-risk situations. Others are encouraged to simply stay at home.
At about the same time, the New York City Department of Health directed all healthcare facilities to immediately stop testing non-hospitalized patients for Covid-19.
“At this point in the pandemic, demand for unnecessary testing is contributing to the rapidly diminishing supply of PPE and leading to a decreasing supply of swabs and viral transport media used to collect diagnostic specimens for Covid-19 testing,” a statement read. “Testing may play a more significant role after the pandemic has peaked.”
Some context: The strategy shift essentially codifies the reality health departments have been living with for weeks; a shortage of tests and protective equipment amid rising demand and case numbers.
It also puts into practice advice from many of America’s top medical experts, including CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta, that a positive test result is not required to treat the symptoms.
Naturally, limiting testing in America's two largest population centers would also likely lead to widespread under-counting of total cases.
From CNN's Simon Cullen
The United Kingdom government is urging shoppers to act responsibly amid panic buying sparked by the coronavirus outbreak.
At the daily press briefing held at Downing Street, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, George Eustice, appealed for shoppers to think of others.
“Buying more than you need means that others may be left without. And it is making life more difficult for those frontline workers… who are working so hard in such difficult circumstances,” Eustice said.
“There is more than enough food to go round,” Eustice said, adding that the supply chain is able to step up to meet demand.
Many supermarket shelves have been left empty in recent days.
National Medical Director of the National Health Service (NHS) Stephen Powis says the panic buying has left some health workers unable to get food at the end of a long work shift.
“Frankly, we should all be ashamed that that has to happen,” he said, referring to a critical care nurse who posted a tearful video on social media when she was unable to buy food.
“These are the very people that we will all need," Powis added.
From CNN's Betsy Klein
President Trump's Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, is closed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Mar-a-Lago members were informed late Friday night, a member said.
More context: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Friday ordered all beaches in Palm Beach County to close, although it was unclear if that applies to private beaches and whether there will be an update Saturday reflecting that information.
DeSantis issued an executive order on Friday directing all beaches, movie theaters, concert houses, auditoriums, playhouses, bowling alleys, arcades, gymnasiums and fitness studios to close in Palm Beach County and neighboring Broward County.
From CNN's Raja Razek in Atlanta
Egypt announced the closure of all mosques for two weeks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus, according to the Ministry of Endowment on Saturday.
The Ministry also decided to stop group prayers "based on the scientific opinion of the Egyptian Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization and other health organizations in various countries of the world that confirm the severe danger of gatherings in the transmission of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) and the threat this poses to the life of human beings."
From CNN's Scott Bronstein, Curt Devine and Drew Griffin
As the US has lagged behind other advanced nations in testing for the coronavirus, former government officials and public health experts point to a series of policy and procedural decisions that they say hindered the nation's response to the pandemic.
South Korea had run more than 300,000 tests as of Friday, and while there is no official count of tests done in the United States, Dr. Deborah Birx, part of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, implied about 170,000 people have been tested so far. The US population is more than six times that of South Korea.
For weeks public and private labs have raced to boost their testing capacity, but people across the country, even some with underlying health conditions, have told CNN this week that they have not been able to get tested.
Asked Friday whether the US can currently meet demand for tests, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, "We are not there yet."
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's first test didn't work
Some context: In January, shortly after Chinese authorities identified a novel coronavirus as the cause of cases of pneumonia in Wuhan, the World Health Organization published a protocol with instructions for any country to manufacture tests for the virus
Rather than using that protocol, the CDC developed its own test. A World Health Organization spokesperson said this week that the WHO didn't offer tests to the CDC because the US agency typically has the capacity to manufacture them itself.
From CNN's Simon Cullen in London
The number of coronavirus-related deaths in Portugal doubled to 12 in the past 24 hours, the country’s Directorate-General for Health announced Saturday.
There have also been a further 260 confirmed cases, taking the total to 1,280.
Portugal declared a state of emergency over coronavirus Wednesday, scheduled to last 15 days.
The decision gives the government more powers to restrict rights, access funds and set minimum public services, among others.
However Prime Minister Antonio Costa said "democracy won't be suspended."
The country was a dictatorship for decades before democracy was restored in 1974.