By Ben Westcott, Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Tara John, Meg Wagner and Mike Hayes, CNN
There have been at least 917 new coronavirus deaths reported in the US on Wednesday, according to a count by CNN Health.
This is the most reported deaths in the United States in a single day since the coronavirus outbreak.
There have been a total of 4,745 deaths reported in the US since the outbreak.
Hear more:
Wyoming remains the only state in the US without a death from coronavirus.
So far, there are 137 positive cases in the state, according to CNN's tally.
Adam Schlesinger, a prolific songwriter for film and television and co-founder of the band Fountains of Wayne, has died from complications of Covid-19. He was 52.
"As many of you are aware, Adam had been hospitalized with Covid-19 and although he had been making some small improvements over the last few days, Adam’s condition was critical and he was ultimately unable to recover from Covid-19 complications," read a statement from an attorney for Fountains of Wayne, provided to CNN.
Schlesinger wrote the title track for "That Thing You Do," the 1996 film directed by and starring Tom Hanks.
More recently, he wrote and produced music for the show "Crazy Ex-Girlfriend." He won multiple Emmy Awards, a Grammy and was an Oscar and Tony Award nominee. The Fountains of Wayne song "Stacy's Mom," a pop hit from 2003, was among the group's most popular songs.
From CNN's Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt
The Zaandam and Rotterdam cruise ships are expected to arrive and remain off the coast of Florida early Thursday while they wait for clearance from US authorities, according to a statement from Holland America.
The company made a plea to President Trump, Florida authorities and the public to be allowed to arrive to Florida.
“We appreciate the support of President Trump in resolving the humanitarian plight of our guests,” Holland America said in a statement. “Holland America Line calls for compassion and reason in the review and approval of our disembarkation plan by Florida officials.”
The cruise line called the status on the ships a “humanitarian situation.” Four people on the ship have died and at least eight people have tested positive for Covid-19.
Since March 22, 97 guests (83 on Zaandam and 14 on Rotterdam) and 136 crew on the Zaandam have exhibited flu-like symptoms, according to the statement.
About 45 guests have mild illness and are unfit to travel. These passengers would stay isolated on board until they recover, per the press release.
Holland America says less than 10 people need immediate critical care onshore and it has secured a local health system to treat them.
“This small number is the only group that will require any support from medical resources in Broward County and is necessary to prevent further harm to their health,” Holland America said in a statement
From CNN's Tara Subramaniam
When asked Wednesday evening during a coronavirus task force briefing why he didn't issue a universal stay-at-home order for the entirety of the country, President Trump implied that some states are basically fine when it comes to the disease.
"There are some states that don't have much of a problem,” he said. “There are some, well they don't have the problem, they don't have thousands of people that are positive or thousands of people that even think they might have it, or hundreds of people in some cases."
Facts First: The entire country has been impacted by the coronavirus. Americans have tested positive in every US state and all but one territory. As of the start of Wednesday's press briefing, all 50 states had at least 100 cases.
From CNN’s Lindsay Benson
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said that Georgia could "reach peak hospital capacity on April 23."
"As of this morning, we had 3,520 medical surgical beds, 450 beds and 1,006 ventilators available in our hospitals across the state. According to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, Georgia will reach peak hospital capacity on April 23," Kemp said during his Wednesday press conference.
Kemp added: "That's nearly three weeks from today. This model assumes that Georgians continue to abide by the state's orders and use social distancing methods through the end of May."
Grand Canyon National Park announced its closure “immediately” in a press release Wednesday evening.
The National Park Service said it is closing the park based on the recommendation of the chief health officer in Coconino County, Arizona.
The park had been operating with very limited services, but resisted a call from the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks and other groups to close entirely.
"The Department of the Interior and the National Park Service will continue to follow the guidance of state and local health officials in making determinations about our operations," Interior Secretary David Bernhardt said in a statement.
By CNN's Sarah Westwood
President Trump said learning about the “severity” of the novel coronavirus led to his recent shift in tone away from comparing the virus to the flu as he did in the early days of the pandemic.
“I think also, and looking at the way — the contagion — it is so contagious. Nobody’s ever seen anything like this, where large groups of people all of a sudden, just by being in the presence of somebody, have it,” Trump said at the coronavirus task force briefing Wednesday.
The President was asked about the unnamed friend whose struggle with the virus Trump has cited at least twice in previous briefings. Trump has said this friend slipped into a coma.
“Also the violence of it — if it hits the right person, and you know what those stats are, if it hits the right person that persons in deep trouble. And my friend was the right person,” Trump said.
The President stopped short of saying his friend’s condition was a turning point in his view of the virus, saying his view shifted due to the data he was presented.
“But it hit him very hard. He’s strong, very strong kind of a guy, but he’s older, he’s heavier and he’s sort of central casting for what we’re talking about,” Trump said.
Watch:
From CNN's Jason Hoffman
President Trump said he won't issue a national stay-at-home order because different states have different levels of coronavirus cases.
“States are different and I understand that the governor of Florida, great Gov. Ron DeSantis issued one today and that’s good, that’s great. But there are some states that are different. There are some states that don't have much of a problem,” Trump said Wednesday afternoon.
The President said there should be some sort of flexibility among the states depending on how bad individual states situations might be.
“You have to look — you have to give a little flexibility. If you have a state in the Midwest, or if Alaska for example doesn't have a problem, it's awfully tough to say close it down. We have to have a little bit of flexibility,” Trump said.
Some context: Surgeon General Jerome Adams said the 30 days to slow the spread guidelines should be viewed as a national stay-at-home order on Wednesday morning.
“My advice to America would be that these guidelines are a national stay-at-home order. There are guidelines that say, look, the more we social distance, the more we stay at home, the less spread of disease there will be,” Adams said.
Watch:
