There are at least 130,689 coronavirus cases in New York
State of New York
At least 130,689 people across New York have tested positive for coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
At least 16,837 people are currently hospitalized.
Cuomo said there have been 4,758 deaths — that's up from 4,159 yesterday.
"Which is effectively flat for two days. While none of this is good news, the flattening, the possible flattening of the curve is better than the increases that we've seen," he added.
11:49 a.m. ET, April 6, 2020
Former US Federal Reserve chair warns unemployment rate may go to depression levels "for a time"
Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen Jessica McGowan/Getty Images/FILE
Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen believes that unemployment may go to depression levels “for a time.”
In an interview with CNBC on Monday, Yellen called the initial jobless claims “absolutely shocking” and said the unemployment rate is likely at 12% or 13% and moving higher.
“I think the toll is continuing to rise and how bad it gets, I think it really depends on how quickly people can get back to business,” Yellen said.
Yellen also said that the focus should be on testing and getting the pandemic under control.
Here's what Yellen said when she was asked about US employment:
"Well I think that unemployment rates for a time may go to depression levels, but this is very different from the Great Depression or the recession US economy that we experienced in 2009 and after. This is, we started with an economy that was in good shape, with a financial sector that was basically sound and this is a health crisis. It is having severe economic effects but if we are successful in supporting people’s incomes during this time that the government can be, I believe that we’ll be able to get back to a normally functioning economy in much shorter order that during the Great Depression, after the Great Depression or after the Great Recession."
11:51 a.m. ET, April 6, 2020
Italian football league recommends pay cuts for players and coaches
From CNN’s Aleks Klosok
Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images/FILE
Italy’s top flight football league, Serie A, recommended that the annual pay of players and coaching staff be cut by as much as a third due to the Coronavirus emergency in the country.
Following an emergency General Assembly meeting via video conference on Monday, the League along with 19 clubs unanimously voted to propose “a reduction of 1/3 in total gross annual earnings" if the season can't be resumed, the league said in a statement.
They also recommenced "a reduction of 1/6 in total gross annual earnings" if "the remaining matches of the 2019-20 season can be played in the coming months."
The statement went on to explain that each club would have to negotiate the cuts with its players and that such a proposal was “necessary to safeguard the future of the entire Italian football system.”
The 2019-20 Serie A season has been suspended indefinitely since March 9.
“The assembly confirmed the desire to play again and finish the season, but without running risks and only when health conditions and government decisions allow,” added Serie A.
11:42 a.m. ET, April 6, 2020
California is sending 500 ventilators to the national stockpile
Gov. Gavin Newsom Rich Pedroncelli/Pool/AP/FILE
Gov. Gavin Newsom today announced today that California would loan 500 state-owned ventilators to the Strategic National Stockpile inventory.
“We can’t turn our backs on Americans whose lives depend on having a ventilator now,” Newsom said in a press release.
Some context: By all accounts, the coronavirus peak has not hit California yet, but the state is lending ventilators while continuing to prepare for the onslaught of patients.
11:37 a.m. ET, April 6, 2020
Masters golf tournament postponed until November
From CNN's David Close
A view of the locked gates at the entrance of Magnolia Lane off Washington Road that leads to the clubhouse of Augusta National on March 30, in Augusta, Georgia. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
The famed Masters golf tournament has earmarked a November weekend to hold its 2020 championship.
The Masters was originally slated to tee off this week but was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Fred Ridley, the chair of Augusta National Golf Club, the home of the Masters, said in a statement, that the organizers had “identified November 9-15 as the intended dates to host the 2020 Masters.”
11:24 a.m. ET, April 6, 2020
US Open Championship golf tournament pushed to September
From CNN's David Close
The United States Golf Association has announced that the 120th US Open will now tee off in September rather than its original date in June.
One of the four annual men’s golf majors, the US Open will still be played at Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York. The new dates are September 17 through 20.
The USGA also announced that the 2020 US Senior Women’s Open has been canceled. The organization said the men’s 2020 US Senior Open has been postponed to a later date this year.
11:07 a.m. ET, April 6, 2020
Trump economic adviser says "the glitches will get worked" with coronavirus loans
From CNN’s Vivienne Salama
Economic adviser Larry Kudlow Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images/FILE
President Trump’s top economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Monday that loans under the program aimed at assisting small businesses impacted by coronavirus reached $38 billion, and he dismissed glitches that hindered the program’s rollout.
In an interview with CNBC, Kudlow said, "the glitches will get worked. It's a monumental undertaking."
A number of banks said they would not take part in the program during its launch on Friday because the government had failed to provide enough information in advance. Trump over the weekend described the rollout as “flawless.”
Kudlow says that the President “doesn't want the cure to be worse than the problem” and asserted that the coronavirus itself must be mitigated before any talk of reopening the economy can be considered.
“The health side has to come first,” Kudlow said. “The health side must continue to come first and the mitigation efforts, we believe, are working."
He said that the government’s priority remains “phase three” of an assistance program. He also said that the Federal Reserve is likely going to continue rolling out various initiatives aimed at easing the economic crisis, including “a main street lending facility.”
Kudlow added that he is interested in selling bonds "in order to raise money for the war effort, in this case the pandemic effort."
"Why not sell large bonds, why not go for it in a patriotic way, and an American safety way, and to bring the economy back whenever that can be possible,” he said.
10:59 a.m. ET, April 6, 2020
Michigan governor: "We are running dangerously low on PPE"
Pool
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer told reporters that the state is running dangerously low on personal protective equipment, also called PPE.
“We are running dangerously low on PPE,” Gov. Whitmer said at a press conference Monday morning. “At Beaumont Hospital we have less than 3 days until N95 masks run out. At Henry Ford Health System we have less than 4 days. And at the Detroit Medical Center, less than 10 days,” she said.
Gov. Whitmer said that there are less than three days left until face shields run out and less than 6 days until surgical gowns run out at all three of those health systems. She added that these data points do not include private donations that are going straight to hospitals.
“We are doing everything that we can at the state level to secure more personal protection equipment. Today we will begin distributing 1.2 million surgical masks that the state has procured on the open market,” Whitmer said.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency has sent 400 ventilators, 1.1 million surgical masks, 232,000 face shields and 2 million gloves. “FEMA will be shipping 1 million more N95 masks to Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties this week,” the governor said.
The state is working with the Army Corps of Engineers and the Michigan National Guard to get the TCF Convention Center in Detroit up and running to see patients by Friday.
The governor added that Ford and the United Autoworkers have donated thousands of face shields to Michigan hospitals and the state issued the purchase of 1 million face shields from Ford to be delivered over the next 3 weeks.
“We’re making some progress, and that is a good thing, but we need more PPE to continue fighting this virus,” Whitmer said.
10:56 a.m. ET, April 6, 2020
Golf’s oldest major tournament canceled due to coronavirus pandemic
From CNN’s Aleks Klosok
A sign near the first tee at the host venue for the 2020 Open Championship, seen on April 05, shows that the course is currently closed for all play under government instructions David Cannon/Getty Images
The 149th edition of The Open Championship, one of the four men's annual golf majors, has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Royal & Ancient, which plans and organizes the event, announced today.
It is the first time that golf’s original and oldest championship, first played in 1860, has been canceled since World War II.
The event was scheduled for July 16 through 19 at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England.
“We care deeply about this historic Championship and have made this decision with a heavy heart," Royal & Ancient Chief Executive Martin Slumbers said in a statement. “We appreciate that this will be disappointing for a great many people around the world but this pandemic is severely affecting the UK and we have to act responsibly. It is the right thing to do.”
“I can assure everyone that we have explored every option for playing The Open this year but it is not going to be possible,” he added.
Slumbers confirmed that The 149th Open will now be played at the historic Sandwich links in July 2021, with the Old Course at St Andrews now hosting The 150th Open in July 2022.
The championship is the first men's golf major of 2020 to be cancelled outright. In March, both The Masters and the PGA Championship were postponed with a new date for both events yet to be announced.
The US Open, though, is still set to be played from June 18 through June 21 at Winged Foot in New York.