March 28 coronavirus news

By James Griffiths, Brett McKeehan, Veronica Rocha, Amy Woodyatt and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 3:33 p.m. ET, March 29, 2020

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1:46 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

Rhode Island governor confirms first coronavirus-related deaths, issues stay-at-home order

From CNN’s Mirna Alsharif

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo announced the state's first two coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday in a press conference.

"These were the first two deaths and will certainly not be the last two," Raimondo said at the press conference. "I will say that this is, for me and for all of us, a reminder of the stakes that we face."

The governor also issued a stay-at-home order state-wide on Saturday.

Raimondo's decision comes after she announced that only 50% of residents are complying to social distancing restrictions already in place. The governor said that half of the state’s population is gathering in parks, hosting and attending house parties and not complying to social distancing in grocery stores.

"I've said it last week, I'm going to say it again, knock it off. You're risking the lives of everyone in this state," warned Raimondo.

Raimondo also said that the state now has a total of 239 coronavirus cases, a 39 case increase from Friday.

1:39 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

Instacart shoppers plan strike over treatment during pandemic

From CNN's Sara O'Brien and Shannon Liao

An Instacart employee uses her cellphone to scan barcodes showing proof of purchase for the customer while picking up groceries from a supermarket in North Hollywood, California, on March 19. Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Some Instacart shoppers are planning to strike on Monday, accusing the company of not providing them enough protections during the coronavirus pandemic.

The strike is being called for by Instacart shoppers and a newly formed non-profit called Gig Workers Collective. It was first reported Friday by Vice.

"Instacart has still not provided essential protections to Shoppers on the front lines that could prevent them from becoming carriers, falling ill themselves, or worse," Instacart Shoppers and Gig Workers Collective wrote in a Medium blog post.

Some context: Instacart is one of several companies delivering essentials to households and now expanding rapidly at a time when much of the American economy is at risk of contracting.

Amazon and Walmart each recently announced they plan to hire at least 100,000 workers due to increased customer demand. Yet, there are concerns about whether companies are doing enough for workers, who are the backbone of the services they offer, during this unprecedented public health crisis.

1:49 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

Italy's coronavirus death toll passes 10,000

From CNN’s Valentina DiDonato in Rome

The number of people with coronavirus who have died in Italy has risen to 10,023, according to Italy's Civil Protection Agency.

This is an increase of 889 since the last figures were released on Friday.

There has been an increase of 3,651 cases of coronavirus in the past day, bringing the total of active cases to 70,065, the Civil Protection Agency said.

1:27 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

There are more than 7,000 people hospitalized for coronavirus across New York

There are now 7,328 people currently hospitalized across New York with Covid-19, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference Saturday.

More from the press conference: Cuomo has moved the state's presidential primary election to June 23 and extended the tax filing deadline in New York to July 15 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

There are now 52,318 people confirmed to have Covid-19 in New York, Cuomo said.

The state has tested a total of 155,934 people, he added. At least 728 people have died from coronavirus in New York.

There are at least 1,755 people in ICU in New York with Covid-19, he said.

1:09 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

Kansas governor issues stay-at-home order due to coronavirus

From CNN's Deanna Hackney

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly answers questions from reporters in Topeka, Kanas, on March 15. John Hanna/AP

Gov. Laura Kelly has issued a stay at home order for the state Kansas beginning March 30 at 12:01 p.m. in order to contain the spread of Covid-19.

At a press conference this afternoon, Kelly said the order would provide more consistency and stability across the state.

“As we speak, well over half of Kansas’ population falls under a local stay at home order of some kind. Even without the executive order I'm issuing today, Kansas’ most populous counties have already issued local state orders to their communities," Kelly said. “As governor, I left these decisions to local health departments for as long as possible. But the reality is that a patchwork approach is a recipe for confusion in our statewide fight to slow the spread of coronavirus that statewide uniformity will ensure. We're all playing by the same rules, and it would help prevent an influx of new cases for local health departments, many of which are already stretched to max.”

Kelly said the step is also being taken now to continue to slow the spread of Covid-19 in Kansas, as hospitals are preparing their facilities for the inevitable surge of patients, “But we're simply not ready for what we anticipate will be the peak of this pandemic.”

By the numbers: Kansas currently has 202 people who have tested positive for coronavirus; four people have died from it.

1:01 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

Cuomo says he did not speak to Trump about a quarantine for New York

Darren McGee/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo via AP

Following news that President Trump is mulling a short term quarantine for New York and surrounding areas, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he "didn't speak to him about any quarantine."

"I spoke to the president about the ship coming up and the four sites. I didn't speak to him about any quarantine," Cuomo said Saturday during a press conference. "No, I haven't had those conversations. I don't even know what that means."

Earlier today: Trump said he is thinking about a possible “short term, two week” quarantine for "New York, probably New Jersey and certain parts of Connecticut."

Speaking at the White House, Trump said "we might not have to do it, but there’s a possibility sometime today" he will enact a quarantine.

Trump said that this would be an “enforceable quarantine,” one that would restrict travel because New Yorkers have been traveling to Florida and “we don’t want that.”

Trump said he would rather not do it, “but we may need it."

4:00 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

Trump says a short-term quarantine on New York and surrounding areas may be enacted

From CNN's Jason Hoffman

President Trump said he is thinking about a possible “short term, two week” quarantine for "New York, probably New Jersey and certain parts of Connecticut."

Speaking at the White House, Trump said "we might not have to do it, but there’s a possibility sometime today" he will enact a quarantine.

Trump said that this would be an “enforceable quarantine,” one that would restrict travel because New Yorkers have been traveling to Florida and “we don’t want that.”

Trump said he would rather not do it, “but we may need it."

Later at Joint Base Andrews, Trump also said such an action was a possibility.

“We’re looking at it,” he said on a possible quarantine.

When asked about closing the New York City subway Trump said, "No we wouldn’t do that."

12:55 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

There are at least 111,115 coronavirus cases in the US

From CNN's Shawn Nottingham

There are at least 111,115 cases of the novel coronavirus in the United States, according to CNN Health’s tally of US cases that are detected and tested in the country through its public health systems,

So far, 1,842 people have died in total in the US from coronavirus.

The total includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other U.S. territories, as well as all repatriated cases.

12:56 p.m. ET, March 28, 2020

New York moves its presidential primary election to June 23

In light of the coronavirus spread, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has moved the state's presidential primary election to June 23.

The original date was April 28, Cuomo said.

"I don't think it's wise to be bringing a lot of people to one location to vote. A lot of people touching one doorknob, a lot of people touching one pen, whatever you call the new device on the ballots. So we are going to delay that and link it to an election that was previously scheduled on June 23rd. The June 23rd date is for state legislative races and congressional races. We'll move the presidential election to that date. Ironically, I had advocated that it be on that date all along anyway. So there's only one election and people only needed to come out once. Everybody wants to vote. Everybody wants to do their civic duty, but don't make me come out and vote, you know, 11 times. Put the elections together so I can go to the ballot once. And this will actually do that," Cuomo said Saturday during a press conference.