By Ben Westcott, Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Rob Picheta, Meg Wagner and Mike Hayes, CNN
From CNN's Jason Hoffman and Betsy Klein
President Trump has approved a disaster declaration for Tennessee in response to coronavirus.
This is the 35th such declaration Trump has made in response to the coronavirus pandemic, including 30 states, the US Virgin islands, the Northern Mariana Islands, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta are hosting a two-hour special tonight on the coronavirus pandemic.
There is no audience tonight due to ongoing concerns around the coronavirus.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta will host a two-hour special tonight focusing on the coronavirus.
The town hall will begin at 8 p.m. ET.
From CNN’s Jason Farkas and Frank Pallotta
Facing a complete standstill across its entertainment empire due to the coronavirus crisis, the Walt Disney Company notified its employees that it would furlough employees "whose jobs aren't necessary at this time" starting on April 19.
Disney has been crippled by the coronavirus pandemic. Its theme parks around the world have shuttered, its cruise line is suspended and many of its biggest films of the year have been delayed. Live sporting events, the lifeblood of the Disney-owned ESPN, have also been suspended.
Shares of Disney have plummeted more than 30% year to date.
The impact is hitting Disney's theme park employees especially hard. All of Disney's 12 theme parks have been shuttered since March 12, after which the company committed to paying salaries through April 18.
In the statement, the company said there was "no clear indication of when we can restart our businesses," and that it was "forced to make the difficult decision to take the next step and furlough employees."
Among those impacted would be the Disney Parks' storied "Imagineers," the designers of the parks, rides and hotels.
The furloughed workers would remain employees of the company and keep their health benefits, while also being able to access federal and state aid like unemployment benefits.
From CNN's Shasta Darlington in Sao Paulo, Brazil and Tatiana Arias in Atlanta
For third day in a row, Brazil's health authorities reported a consecutive spike of more than 1,000 new novel coronavirus cases in a single day.
During a press conference on Thursday, 1,074 new cases were announced, bringing the country's total number of cases to 7,910 and 299 deaths.
Some context: On Wednesday, Brazil reported 1,119 new cases, and on Tuesday, 1,138 were announced.
From CNN's Jason Hoffman
Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator for the White House's coronavirus task force, said the task force is missing 50% of the testing data for coronavirus tests that have been conducted.
Birx said that part of the economic stimulus measure, that was signed into law, requires that all tests conducted get reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but said she has not received that data yet.
“Well I'm telling you, I'm still missing 50% of the data from reporting. I have 660 (thousand) tests reported in. We've done 1.3 million, so there is, and it could be those sites, so we do need to see, the bill said you need to report. We are still not receiving 100% of the tests," she said.
When pressed about the possibility that one in three tests had produced false negatives, Birx said, “I haven't seen that kind of anomaly.”
Birx added that “the number of positive tests is tracking very closely with a number of cases diagnosed.”
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From CNN's Andy Rose
An Oahu resident is the second person in Hawaii to die of coronavirus, according to the state's Department of Health.
The deaths come as the state has taken unprecedented steps to avoid spread of the virus, including asking tourists to stay away for 30 days, with everyone entering the state or traveling between islands required to self-quarantine for 14 days.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell did not provide details Thursday on the person who died, but did say the local government is now asking all residents to wear masks when they go out in public.
The mayor says people should not buy surgical-quality masks, but instead should use simple or homemade masks so that there will not be a run on supplies that are critical to healthcare workers.
From CNN's Cheri Mossburg
With more than 1,000 cases added in one day, there are now 9,191 people in California with coronavirus and 203 have died as a result of Covid-19, according to a release from the California Department of Public Health.
Nearly 2,000 people in California are hospitalized, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Of those, 816 people are in intensive care units. Despite the 5.4% increase in the past day, Newsom says those numbers are well within California’s current capacity to treat.
More than 92,400 people in California have been tested, but results for at least 59,500 are still pending, the state health department says.
Cases in Los Angeles alone have climbed to over 4,000.
There are 4,045 people who have been infected with coronavirus in Los Angeles County and a total of 78 deaths, according to Health Director Barbara Ferrer.
Roughly two-thirds of those hospitalized with coronavirus have been otherwise healthy individuals with no underlying health conditions. Ferrer emphasized that they are seeing people suffering very serious illness due to the coronavirus.
Announcing 534 new cases on Thursday, Ferrer points out that more than 1,000 cases have come in just the past two days.
From CNN's Kevin Liptak and Jim Acosta
President Trump tonight was asked whether Americans should wear masks to protect themselves from the coronavirus and again suggested scarves, saying "If people wanted to wear them they can. In many ways, the scarf is better. It's thicker."
Trump also said a new guideline on masks is coming.
"I think they're going to be coming out with regulations on that. And if people want to abide by them, frankly, I don't think they'll be mandatory. Because some people don't want to do that. But If people want to — as an example on the masks — if people wanted to wear them they can," Trump said.
Two people familiar told CNN that upon recommendation from the Coronavirus Task Force, the President was expected to more forcefully encourage all Americans to wear face coverings outside their house.
Some more background: The administration was working Thursday to complete the recommendations, which would advise Americans to use a face covering when leaving their homes.
However, Trump said Thursday night, "A recommendation is coming out. We'll see what that recommendation is but I will say this: They can pretty much decide for themselves right now.
CNN reported on Wednesday that most members the task force have come to agree that Americans should begin wearing face coverings in public and could issue formal guidance on the matter soon.
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