April 2 coronavirus news

The state of Louisiana has reported 2,726 new Covid-19 cases today and an additional 37 deaths.

There are 1,639 patients hospitalized and 507 patients on ventilators, according to the Department of Health.

Orleans Parish, which includes New Orleans, still has the most cases in the state with 3,148 cases and 125 deaths. Jefferson Parish had 2,178 cases and 73 deaths.

In a radio interview this morning, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said there would be a huge spike in numbers today due to more test results coming back.

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said today that based on projections, they estimate the state could see between 47,000 to 172,00 cases of coronavirus during the course of the pandemic.

Baker said that’s approximately 0.7% to 2.5% of the total population of Massachusetts.

The modeling also indicated that hospitalizations would potentially peak between April 10 and April 20, Baker said.

The governor added that the model is based on Wuhan and Massachusetts has factors that could improve the projections, for example, they have less population density, less smokers, and they implemented social distancing measures.

Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt has issued a stay-at-home order for all 77 counties in the state until April 30, Stitt said in a series of tweets Wednesday night.  

All non-essential businesses will remain closed during this time; that includes, gyms, barbers, tattoo and massage parlors, Stitt said. 

Oklahoma has 3.943 million residents, according to the US Census Bureau. 

The state of New Jersey has 3,489 new positive cases of Covid-19, Gov. Phil Murphy announced in a press conference today.

To date, 25,590 people across the state have tested positive for Covid-19, Murphy said.  

There are 537 people who have died from the coronavirus in New Jersey. That number includes 182 additional deaths confirmed in the last 24 hours, the governor announced.  

Americans likely won't begin to see direct payments from the coronavirus stimulus bill until at least April 13 and it could take 20 weeks for all the checks to be mailed, Trump administration officials told lawmakers, according to a House Democratic memo obtained by CNN.

The timeline means tens of millions of Americans will have to wait to get badly needed assistance, despite repeated suggestions from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin that the money would go out as soon as April 6.

Mnuchin said this past Sunday after passage of the $2.2 trillion stimulus bill that payments would not go out until mid-April.

Some context: CNN reported in March that former IRS officials said the wait would likely be weeks or months.

Initially, the IRS will make about 60 million payments, likely in the week of April 13, for taxpayers who provided their direct deposit information through their 2018 or 2019 tax returns, the memo from the House Ways and Means Committee says.

Three weeks later, on the week of May 4, the IRS expects to start issuing paper checks to individuals whose bank information isn't already on file, a process that will take much longer.

According to the committee, the paper checks will be issued at a rate of about 5 million per week, and that it could take up to 20 weeks to issue all the checks. Individuals with the lowest income, based on adjusted gross income, will receive their checks first.

The United Kingdom will test 100,000 people per day for coronavirus by the end of this month, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced Thursday.

The UK has not currently been able to reach its current target of 25,000 tests per day.

Hancock set out the government’s order of priority for testing people for coronavirus: Patients first, expanding to NHS staff and their families, critical key workers thirdly and “over time we will expand to community."

The global death toll from coronavirus climbed past 50,000 on Thursday.

So far, at least 50,230 have now died from the virus worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the creation of a new bipartisan House select committee on the coronavirus crisis that will exercise oversight of the federal response to the pandemic and be chaired by Majority Whip Jim Clyburn.

The speaker told reporters Thursday on a conference call that the committee's immediate focus will be on "the here and now," not the Trump administration's initial response to the pandemic, though she said there will come a time when such a review will be appropriate.

She said the committee will "have an expert staff and the committee will be empowered to examine all aspects of the federal response to coronavirus and to ensure that the taxpayers dollars are being wisely and efficiently spent to save lives, deliver relief, and benefit our economy."

Pelosi said the committee will be able to exercise oversight and would have the authority to issue subpoenas.

"It's no use having a committee unless you have subpoena power," Pelosi said.

"We would hope there would be cooperation," she added. "We want to make sure there are not exploiters out there."

Chicago Police Officer Marco Di Franco, a 21-year veteran of the department, died after testing positive for Covid-19 last week, Interim Police Superintendent Charlie Beck said Thursday at a briefing with officials. 

He worked in the narcotics section and was "held in high esteem" by his commander, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said. 

Di Franco, 50, was hospitalized over the weekend and died with "family by his side," city officials said. He had been using a "one person" patrol vehicle and it is not clear how he contracted the virus, Beck said. 

Lightfoot "implores the small segment" who has not "gotten the message" to stay home and save lives to honor Di Franco's life and service.

He is survived by his wife and two children, ages 7 and 10, as well as his brother who worked in the same department. His family is currently quarantined, city officials say.