April 1 coronavirus news

More than 8,000 people in California have coronavirus, and 171 people have died as a result of the virus, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in a virtual press conference.

Today’s count adds 1,223 more Covid-19 patients to California’s tally – an increase of more than 17% from yesterday — for a total of 8,155 cases in the state.

The governor is keenly focused on how many coronavirus patients are hospitalized, especially in intensive care units.

There are 774 patients in ICU beds. That number has quadrupled in the past six days. Hospitalizations from the virus have tripled in that same time frame and currently stands at 1,855 people.

Los Angeles County has 513 new cases and 11 deaths, state Health Director Barbara Ferrer announced today. In a matter of 48-hours, more than 1,000 more coronavirus cases have been confirmed in L.A. County.

New York City hospitals still need 3.3 million N95 masks, 2.1 million surgical masks, 100,000 isolation gowns and 400 ventilators by this coming Sunday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference today.

He estimated that the city needs an additional 2,500 to 3,000 ventilators over the course of next week.

De Blasio has been warning for roughly the past week that Sunday, is a crucial day for New York, as he expects the demands to continue to increase in the following weeks.

Former NYPD commissioner James O’Neill has been appointed to oversee the supply and distribution of personal protective equipment and medical equipment within New York City hospitals as the demands continue to grow as a result of the coronavirus crisis, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in a press release on Wednesday.

In this role, O’Neill will “create, operationalize and manage a supply inspection regime within the hospitals to ensure the rapid turnaround of new supplies and verify each hospital is pushing needed equipment to frontline health care workers,” according to the mayor’s office.

Today represents the deadliest day to date by a CNN count of coronavirus deaths.

The current total of 4,669 deaths represents an increase of 835 cases. Yesterday was the previous high, with 830 deaths.

The UN climate change conference COP 26, which was planned for November in Glasgow, has been postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

A new date for the conference, hosted by the UK and other partners, has yet to be decided on and will be announced following discussions between the parties.

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont asked how the battle for personal protective equipment and ventilators is going with the national stockpile depleted. “It’s not going that well” Lamont said.

“We’re scrambling at this stuff” the governor said.

Lamont described the frustrating process that his state is going through.

“We’ve got it on the tarmac, then it's rerouted we have it ready for delivery and then it's put off for another week and it’s a bit of a mess out there, and you’re playing with people’s lives” Lamont said, echoing his previous sentiments on CNN’s Sit Room this week.

Henry Ford Health System said one of its six hospitals in Michigan has "reached capacity," after a photo of a doctor from the Macomb hospital with the caption “no more ICU beds,” circulated Twitter.

Covid-19 cases have flooded Michigan, specifically the Southeast region near Detroit.

A statement provided from Dr. Adnan Munkarah, EVP and Chief Clinical Officer, confirmed the issue to CNN:

The status of the other five hospitals was not readily available, but in its daily update, the hospital system said it had 360 intensive care units all together. As of 11 a.m. ET, the system had more than 680 hospitalized coronavirus patients. 

Massachusetts is reporting 1,118 new cases of Covid-19, for a total of 7,738, according to the state's Department of Public Health.

There have also been 33 new deaths in the state, bringing the death total to 122, according to the state’s website.

April and the second quarter of the year are not off to a great start: US stocks closed in the red today.

Investors continue to grapple with the fallout from the coronavirus outbreak ahead of more data on the US labor market on Thursday and Friday.

Remember: As stocks settle after the trading day, levels might still change slightly.