Miami Beach requires workers and customers to wear face masks
From CNN's Sara Weisfeldt and Rosa Flores
A police patrol vehicle is parked in front of the City of Miami Beach’s municipal parking lot which houses a MedRite COVID-19 testing site on April 05, 2020 in Miami Beach, Florida. Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images
The City of Miami Beach issued an emergency order today requiring all grocery store, pharmacy and restaurant employees and customers to wear face coverings to cover their noses and mouths.
The mandate also applies to delivery service workers, according to a press release from the city.
"Acceptable coverings may include a face mask, homemade mask or other cloth covering, such as a scarf, bandana or handkerchief, and should complement — not substitute for — social distancing practices," the statement said
The statement also points out that medical and surgical face masks, such as N95 masks, should be reserved for healthcare workers and first responders.
9:34 a.m. ET, April 7, 2020
This nurse came out of retirement to help with coronavirus
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Juliana Morawski was an emergency room nurse for 30 years before retiring. But once the coronavirus outbreak broke out, she said she felt compelled to come out of retirement to assist in any way she could.
“We’re under threat, more than any other time I can remember in emergency medicine,” Morawski told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota. “I’ve never seen emergency departments or nursing or any of the services, actually, in general, under so much threat. And it's a family. So when family is threatened, you try to step up as much as you can.”
Morawski said most health care workers are simply doing their jobs, even though there’s a huge amount of stress in some areas, trying to treat as many patients as possible.
“Everybody lionizes the emergency responders and first responders as essential workers … but we're not martyrs. And I think it's very difficult for those of us who have worked this many years to actually … feel threat from our own environment also,” she said.
Morawski said that right now she’s answering phones for the Department of Health, but she’s eager to get into the ER once the coronavirus peak happens in the Chicago area.
“I want to be in the thick of it,” she said. She said she’s concerned about coronavirus, but isn’t letting that stop her. “I don’t want to have worry or fear rule my life, so I’m cautious but not worried,” she said.
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9:29 a.m. ET, April 7, 2020
Treasury Secretary expresses optimism about reopening the US economy
From CNN's Betsy Klein
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin appeared on Fox Business this morning, touting the small business loan program.
Mnuchin expressed some optimism regarding reopening the economy.
Asked whether he thinks the shutdown will last longer than eight weeks, he said this:
“I hope not. I hope we can get back to the point — I think everything I hear from the medical professionals in many places where we’re quite close to the worst point, they’re beginning to peak and I think then things are going to get better. And I know the President is very much looking at how we can reopen parts of the economy. There are parts of the country, like New York, where obviously this is very, very concerning, there’s other parts of the country where it’s not, and I know he is meeting with the task force and the medical professionals and getting posted on this every day.”
He reiterated that there is openness to seeking more funding for small businesses: “If we run out of money, we’ll go back for more,” he said, citing “extraordinary demand” for the program thus far.
Mnuchin said “we have been in discussions” regarding another stimulus package but the first priority is getting funds out from the last package.
“When we need to go back to Congress for more money, we’re prepared to do that,” he said.
Asked whether another bill should have a provision for bringing supply chains back to the US, he said he didn’t think that was necessary in another bill.
He declined to comment on dire economic warnings from former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen yesterday.
9:21 a.m. ET, April 7, 2020
How to help restaurants and their employees during the pandemic
From CNN's Mayra Cuevas, Chris Dawson, Jennifer Grubb and AJ Willingham
Queen's weekly meeting with UK prime minister won't go on with Johnson's deputy
From CNN's Luke McGee
Britain's Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab leaves from 10 Downing Street in central London, on Tuesday, April 7. Tolga Akmen/AFP/Getty Images
The UK official who is deputizing for Prime Minister Boris Johnson while he's hospitalized for coronavirus will not take over the duties of briefing the Queen, the Prime Minister's official spokesman has confirmed.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is deputizing for Johnson while he’s in hospital.
But the Prime Minister’s spokesperson said Raab won’t be asked to fill in for the prime minister's weekly meeting with the Queen during this time. Instead, the Palace is being regularly updated on Johnson’s condition.
“The Cabinet Secretary and the Prime Minister's principal private secretary will continue their contacts with the Royal Household on the Prime Minister's behalf,” the spokesperson said.
9:10 a.m. ET, April 7, 2020
US will have done 2 million tests by the end of the week, Surgeon General says
A medical worker conducts a test for COVID-19 at a drive-up testing station in the parking lot of UNLV Medicine on Monday, April 6, in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ethan Miller/Getty Images
US Surgeon General Jerome Adams said by the end of this week, the will have been two million coronavirus tests completed across the United States.
“We are going to be at two million tests this week and it's rapidly ramping up with the commercial industry coming on board. We’re also seeing more people doing antibody testing," Adams said on CBS today.
“I’ve talked with Admiral Giroir, I speak with him every day, he’s our testing czar every day. He assures me that by the end of this month we should be not only doing just diagnostic testing but also having good surveillance testing across the country,” Adams said on Tuesday.
“We are in fact doing surveillance testing in some parts of the country where they haven't seen a big increase in cases. We're not there yet. But we're moving in the right direction,” he added.
9:04 a.m. ET, April 7, 2020
Michigan’s 2 largest health care providers have about 2,200 staff members affected by coronavirus
From CNN’s Ryan Young and Jake Carpenter in Detroit
Healthcare workers screen a person seeking a coronavirus test at a COVID-19 drive-thru testing site at Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, Thursday, March 19. Paul Sancya/AP/FILE
Michigan’s largest health care system has about 1,500 staff members staying home because they have symptoms consistent with Covid-19.
“We are following CDC guidelines and asking staff to stay home when they are sick and/or have COVID-19 symptoms,” Media Relations Director Beaumont Health Mark Geary told CNN.
Meanwhile, Henry Ford Health System reports more than 700 staff members have tested positive for coronavirus, according to reporting from the Detroit Free Press.
Henry Ford’s Chief Clinical Officer Dr. Adnan Munkarah told the Detroit Free Press that 734 employees — 2.1% of the health system's workforce — tested positive for the novel coronavirus since they started tracking healthcare workers coronavirus status on March 12.
Beaumont Health has more than 38,000 employees listed working at their hospital system per their website and more than 30,000 employees are listed as working at Henry Ford Health System per the institution’s website.
9:12 a.m. ET, April 7, 2020
How to help seniors and people with disabilities during the pandemic
From CNN's Mayra Cuevas, Chris Dawson, Jennifer Grubb and AJ Willingham
A person from Queens Community House delivers a meal to an elderly client in the Elmhurst neighborhood of New York City, on April 1. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images
Here's how to help seniors and people with disabilities in your community during the coronavirus pandemic.
Deliver food: Help a senior citizen in your community by delivering a meal through Meals on Wheels.
Write a letter: Search for a senior center, memory care center or nursing home in your area and e-mail or call them to let them know you’d like to write some letters. They can let you know any specific requests, and where to send the finished product. (This works even better if several people participate.)
Check in: If you have elderly neighbors or friends, call them to see how they’re faring. Offer to do some non-contact chores, like putting the trash out, getting the mail or mowing the lawn.
Formula One places 50% of staff in temporary furlough while management and executives take voluntary pay cuts
From CNN’s Aleks Klosok in London
Formula One's Chief Executive Chase Carey speaks at a press conference in Melbourne, Australia, on March 13, after the F1 Grand Prix of Australia was cancelled. Clive Mason/Getty Images
Formula One has placed 50% of its staff into temporary furlough whilst the sport’s Chief Executive, Chase Carey, will take a significant voluntary salary cut as part of measures to reduce costs during the coronavirus crisis.
In addition, Formula One directors and executives have voluntarily agreed to take a 20% pay cut.
The furloughing of staff will be in place to the end of May.
Staff will use the UK Government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which pays those placed on temporary leave 80% of their wages, to a maximum of £2,500 a month, in a bid to help companies retain their workforce and prevent redundancies during the crisis.
F1 teams furloughing: Three F1 teams – McLaren, Williams and Racing Point – have already furloughed sections of their workforce, with the teams’ drivers also taking a pay cut.
Races cancelled and postponed: The current F1 season is yet to start, with two races cancelled – Australia and Monaco – and six more postponed – Bahrain, Vietnam, China, Netherlands, Spain and Azerbaijan – so far.
The season is now scheduled to begin with the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal on Sunday 14 June, however, organizers have said they will make a decision after the Easter weekend on whether to proceed with the race.
Formula One has said it hopes to resume racing in the European summer and is working on a reduced and rejigged calendar of 15 – 18 Grands Prix, with the anticipation that the season end date will extend beyond the original end date of Sunday 29 November.
The sport’s rules dictate a minimum of eight races must be held for a season to be defined as a World Championship.
