April 7 coronavirus news

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his team were asked today about the race breakdown of coronavirus victims in the state. The officials said that the hospitals don't report the race of patients to them so there has been a lag in getting that information.

The officials said that the state wants that information and is planning on getting it this week.

Some context: States and municipalities around the country have been reporting numbers that show that coronavirus is inflicting minority communities to a greater degree in some places.

For example, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said yesterday that 72% of all Chicago deaths related to Covid-19 have been black Chicagoans.  

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference today that the state needs federal assistance to restart the economy.

He said, "that is going to be a federal stimulus bill," adding, "there's no other way to do this."

Cuomo repeated his criticism of the stimulus bill that was recently passed by Congress, calling it "woefully inadequate" for New York.

He said that he will be sending the state's congressional delegation a letter today telling them "the past legislation did good for the nation...but it was not fair to New York." He added "that has to be remedied" in any legislation going forward.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the USNS Comfort docked in New York City will now treat patients with coronavirus. 

The ship was originally planned to treat non-coronavirus patients, to open up capacity at the city's on-shore hospitals.

He said President Trump “moved expeditiously” with the Department of Defense to make the switch.

“I want to thank the President for moving as quickly as he did,” Cuomo said. 

The ship, which is typically a 1,000-bed hospital, will now have 500 beds, since Covid-19 patients require more space for treatment and equipment, the governor explained. The Comfort, as well as the hospital set up at the Javits Center, are “a welcome overload relief to the hospital system, which is already extraordinarily stressed,” he said.

WATCH:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at least 5,489 people across the state have died from coronavirus — that's up from 4,758 yesterday

"That is the largest single day increase," he said.

There are 138,836 total cases in the state.

Cuomo broke down the number of deaths each day over the past few days:

WATCH:

The coronavirus pandemic is overwhelming, and one of the most excruciating parts for many people is the feeling of utter helplessness in the face of widespread suffering and hardship.

Here's how to help local homeless communities during the coronavirus pandemic.

And here's how to give to charities that support homeless communities:

CNN’s Impact Your World has compiled a list of donation opportunities and tips to help those affected by the crisis. You can read the full list here.

Economic difficulties due to the coronavirus pandemic are worsening, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a news conference this morning.

“When it comes to the economic battle, when it comes to battling to make sure that people have the food they need, that situation is not getting better, it's getting worse,” he said, citing job losses and reduced paychecks. 

He added:

Wisconsin is holding its primary as scheduled today despite public health concerns from the coronavirus pandemic. 

CNN's Omar Jimenez is at a polling site in Milwaukee. A line has formed as voters try to stay apart from each other.

Earlier today, Dr. Jerome Adams, the US Surgeon General, urged Wisconsin voters to maintain a safe six-foot distance from other voters and wear a face cloth or covering as they head to the polls.  

"If you're going to exercise your right to vote, do it as safely as possible," Adams told NBC's Savannah Guthrie. 

Some background: Every other state with an election scheduled for April postponed their contest or shifted it to by-mail voting only.

But Republicans in Wisconsin who have insisted on holding the election on schedule won two legal battles yesterday, as the state Supreme Court blocked Democratic Gov. Tony Evers' bid to delay it until June and the US Supreme Court reversed a lower court's ruling that gave voters six extra days to return their ballots by mail.

This week Vice President Mike Pence will hold four conference calls to brief House Democrats, House Republicans, Senate Democrats and Senate Republicans on coronavirus, according to spokesperson Katie Miller. 

The House calls are scheduled for tomorrow and the Senate calls will be on Thursday, according to a source involved with planning.

After their call with the Vice President, House Democrats will also have a call with former Health and Human Services secretary Sylvia Burwell.

At least 11,008 people have died due to coronavirus across the United States, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.

Johns Hopkins is reporting 368,449 cases in the United States.