April 5 coronavirus news

Despite many states implementing stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines, churches across the US are still holding service on Palm Sunday, which marks Jesus' monumental arrival in Jerusalem.

"We don’t get our rights to worship freely from the government we get those from God," said the Rev. Tony Spell with the Life Tabernacle Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. More than 1,200 people attended his church Sunday.

The Rev. Alvin Gwynn Sr. of Friendship Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland, said he had a steady stream of people walking through the church, processional style, careful not to have more than eight or nine.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson told reporters Sunday churches were allowed to stay open. Most churches are making services available online, he said.  

"Churches by and large do the right thing, they want to protect their parishioners," Hutchinson said. "There are a few that have a very small attendance and they socially distance, we don't recommend that but if it's within the guidelines then that's understandable."

Hutchinson did mention officials "had trouble with a church putting parishioners at risk. After the health department called them, "they took the right steps and are not meeting" with a large congregation, Hutchinson said.

African Americans account for 30% of the coronavirus cases in Illinois, according to Dr. Ngozi Ezike, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Ezike said the disparity in health care access is a long standing issue for the black community.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said the state is working to reopen hospitals in harder-hit communities with a large percentage of people of color.

"It's hard to make up for decades frankly, maybe centuries, of inequality" in access to health care, Pritzker said. "This virus doesn't discriminate."

The state reported 899 new coronavirus cases, including 31 deaths, Ezike said during a Sunday afternoon press conference.The total number of cases statewide is now 11,256 and the death count is 274, Ezike said.

 Ezike also reported that a second person involved in the outbreak at Stateville Prison has died. That person is one of 60 cases reported at the prison, Ezike said.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, is calling for the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to publish more data on coronavirus patients in the United States.

That information is needed to help doctors navigate the new virus, said Gottlieb in a series of tweets Sunday. He served as FDA commissioner from 2017 to 2019.

Gottlieb cited anecdotes on how many patients die after being put on ventilators – and suggested that more reliable information is needed.

"Doctors are being forced to let clinical experience guide care decisions in absence of systematic data," Gottlieb tweeted.

He added that such publications "won't matter much in May. They're needed tomorrow. Today. Urgently."

While the CDC has published some information on coronavirus patients to help guide health care workers, much of it is based on data from China. The agency has also released limited data on hospitalization and underlying conditions among patients in the US.

Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh announced Sunday new measures on social distancing to combat the spread of coronavirus.

These measures include:

"I cannot stress enough that the actions we take now through the next several weeks will help curb the spread of this virus, and save lives," Walsh said. "There is nothing that I won't do as Mayor of the City of Boston to protect our residents, and at this very critical time, we must do everything we can as Bostonians to protect one another. This is bigger than any one person -- this is about the greater good of our people. Stay safe, stay inside, and let's get through this together."

Queen Elizabeth II addressed the coronavirus pandemic and offered reassurance in a rare televised speech on Sunday.

She thanked caregivers and essential workers and delivered a message of hope and unity. The queen also talked about the difficulties of self-isolating, but pointed out that it is an opportunity to "slow down, pause, and reflect in prayer or meditation." The Queen rarely makes national addresses, typically speaking to the country only at Christmas time and when a new Parliament is installed.

She finished the speech saying that better days are ahead.

"We can take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return. We will be with our friends again. We will be with our families again. We will meet again," the Queen said.

Watch the full address:

Death Valley National Park, which runs through California and Nevada, has closed as of April 4 citing public health concerns aimed at limiting the spread of Covid-19.

All park facilities, restrooms, viewpoints, trails, roads, and campgrounds are closed until further notice, a notice on the National Park Service’s website said.

CA-190 and Daylight Pass are open to pass-through traffic, the website added. Additionally, all permits to the park are cancelled and no new permits are being issued to limit the spread of Covid-19.

An employee at a Prescott, Arizona, hospital was arrested after being accused of stealing $1,700 worth of protective equipment and cleaning supplies, Prescott Police said in a statement on Saturday.

Keith Brown, 49, was arrested and booked into the Yavapai County Jail on one count of felony theft and one count of fraud, police said.

Brown worked in the housekeeping department of the Yavapai Regional Medical Center West Campus, who contacted police on Friday regarding suspicions that Brown had been stealing supplies.

While being interviewed by police, Brown admitted to stealing gloves, hand sanitizer, surgical scrubs, wash cloths, paper towels, masks, bleach cleaner, toilet paper, and an automatic hand sanitizer over the last three weeks, Prescott Police said.

According to Prescott Police, Brown has also been terminated from his job at the Yavapai Regional Medical Center West Campus.

Police say they are working with the hospital to return the items as soon as they are deemed safe to use.

The president of the American Medical Association (AMA) said she agrees that this upcoming week could be potentially one of the worst of the coronavirus pandemic so far.

AMA President Dr. Patrice Harris stressed the importance of being prepared with personal protection equipment for healthcare workers and ventilators in hospitals.

Harris said it is also important for people to continue social distancing and only going out for essential needs.

"There are things about this epidemic, pandemic, that we cannot control, but there are some things that we can control, and that is the physical distancing," she said. "As this epidemic evolved I have always said that individual actions lead to collective impact."

Some context: The US surgeon general said this week is going to be the "hardest and saddest" for "most Americans' lives," describing the upcoming period of the pandemic in the United States as a "Pearl Harbor moment" and a "9/11 moment."

There have been 321,762 confirmed cases and 9,132 deaths due to the coronavirus in the US, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In a memo to Defense Department staff Sunday, Defense Secretary Mark Esper said all individuals operating on Defense Department property worldwide should "wear cloth face coverings when they cannot maintain six feet of social distance in public areas or work centers," effective immediately.

Esper said the directive would not apply to a service member’s personal residence on a military installation.