April 8 coronavirus news

By Julia Hollingsworth, Ben Westcott, Adam Renton, Jack Guy, Fernando Alfonso III, Meg Wagner and Mike Hayes, CNN

Updated 9:35 p.m. ET, April 8, 2020
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9:37 p.m. ET, April 7, 2020

North Dakota launches app for virus contact-tracing

The state of North Dakota is launching a new app to help slow the spread of Covid-19.

The app -- dubbed Care19 -- will help identify individuals who might have had contact with people testing positive for the virus, Gov. Doug Burgum said at a news conference Tuesday.

Users of Care19 will remain anonymous while the app traces their movements throughout the day. If users are found to be positive, they can provide their information to the North Dakota Department of Health, which will help with contact tracing.

The app was designed by ProudCrowd, the designers of a popular Bison Tracker app in North Dakota.

North Dakota remains one of a handful of US states with no stay-at-home order during the pandemic.

The state has 237 confirmed coronavirus cases, including four deaths.

10:26 p.m. ET, April 7, 2020

China lifts 76-day lockdown on Wuhan as city reemerges from coronavirus crisis

From CNN's Nectar Gan in Hong Kong

A controller stands by as one of the first trains to leave the city after an outbound travel ban was lifted departs Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province, early on April 8.
A controller stands by as one of the first trains to leave the city after an outbound travel ban was lifted departs Hankou Railway Station in Wuhan, in China's central Hubei province, early on April 8. Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

China has ended its lockdown of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus crisis, as the city reemerges from a deadly outbreak that is now raging across the globe.

But even as Wuhan reopens its borders after 76 days, some restrictions within the city will remain in place, and officials warn that the threat of further infections remains far from over.

The metropolis of 11 million, where the coronavirus was first detected in December, had been sealed off from the outside world since January 23 in an unprecedented effort to contain the outbreak.

What this means for Wuhan: On Wednesday, healthy residents and visitors will finally be allowed to leave Wuhan, the capital of Hubei province, with trains and flights resumed and highway entrances reopened.

Wuhan's railway authority estimated more than 55,000 passengers will leave Wuhan by train Wednesday, with about 40% bound for the Pearl River Delta region, a major manufacturing hub in China, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

What this means for China: The easing of travel restrictions on Wuhan is the latest milestone in China's fight against Covid-19. The country reported nearly zero new local infections in recent weeks, leading to similar restrictive measures being lifted for other parts of Hubei province late last month.

Luo Ping, an epidemic control official in Wuhan, told CCTV Sunday that the lifting of the lockdown marks a "full restart" of the city's economic and social activities from their previous "suspension." But he warned the city faces an arduous task preventing imported cases and a recurrence of local infections.

"After work and production resumed, the movement of people increased and so did the risk of cross-infections from mass gatherings. Some residents have dropped their guard and don't wear masks when they go on the streets," he told the broadcaster.
"The reopening of Wuhan does not mean the all-clear, neither does it mean a relaxing of epidemic prevention and control measures (within the city)," he said.

Read the full story here:

9:39 p.m. ET, April 7, 2020

Chinese real estate tycoon under investigation after allegedly criticising Xi Jinping's coronavirus response

From CNN’s Steven Jiang in Beijing

Ren Zhiqiang, former chairman of Huayuan Property Company Limited, attends a book club at Huaxia College of Wuhan University Technology on September 20, 2015 in Wuhan, Hubei province of China. 
Ren Zhiqiang, former chairman of Huayuan Property Company Limited, attends a book club at Huaxia College of Wuhan University Technology on September 20, 2015 in Wuhan, Hubei province of China.  Visual China Group via Getty Images

In a brief statement released Tuesday, Beijing authorities said Ren Zhiqiang, a real estate tycoon with close ties to senior Chinese officials, has been placed under investigation for alleged "serious violations" of laws and Communist Party regulations.

The statement did not give other details.

Ren, 69, was born into a family of Communist ruling elite and is known for his outspoken style.

After allegedly penning a scathing article on President Xi Jinping's handling of the coronavirus crisis, he reportedly disappeared last month with rumors swirling about his detention by the authorities.

9:59 p.m. ET, April 7, 2020

New York City coronavirus victims who die at home will be counted in death toll, officials say

From CNN's Mark Morales

A medical worker in protective clothing walks past the bodies of deceased patients from a refrigerated overflow morgue outside the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday, April 3.
A medical worker in protective clothing walks past the bodies of deceased patients from a refrigerated overflow morgue outside the Wyckoff Heights Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, on Friday, April 3. Angus Mordant/Bloomberg via Getty Images

People who test positive for the coronavirus and die at home will be included in New York City’s case count, according to authorities.

“Every person with a lab confirmed Covid-19 diagnosis is counted in the number of fatalities, whether they passed away at home or in a hospital,” the deputy press secretary for the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, Stephanie Buhle, told CNN.
“The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME) and the NYC Health Department are working together to include into their reports deaths that may be linked to Covid but not lab confirmed that occur at home.”
“The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is sending us reports of “probable” Covid-19 cases,” Buhle said. “We’re working together to include these cases in future reports.”

New York city has reported a total of 3,544 deaths and a total of 74,601 coronavirus cases to date. New York state currently has 139,875 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 5,489 deaths.

8:58 p.m. ET, April 7, 2020

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson remains in intensive care

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Leon Neal/WPA Pool/Getty Images

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's condition is stable, and he is still in intensive care, a Downing Street spokesperson said Tuesday.

“He is in good spirits,” the spokesman added.

Johnson was taken to hospital on Sunday night. At the time, Downing Street said the decision was a precaution because he continued to suffer from a cough and a fever 10 days after testing positive for the coronavirus.

But his condition deteriorated yesterday, Downing Street said, and he was moved to the intensive care unit at St. Thomas' Hospital.

Johnson tested positive for Covid-19 nearly two weeks ago. 

8:55 p.m. ET, April 7, 2020

This New York county is running out of morgue space. It'll use a farm's refrigerator to store bodies.

From CNN’s Sonia Moghe

There have been so many coronavirus deaths in a short amount of time in Suffolk County, New York, that the county’s morgue and overflow morgues are nearing capacity.

Now, the Long Island county is planning to use a refrigerated building on a farm to help store bodies, a county spokesman confirmed to CNN.

“At the early stages of this crisis, we were having conversations about suggestions of using ice rinks and stores with refrigeration to store bodies,” Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said in a statement to CNN. “I made the decision that I was not going to tell families that we need to convert their children’s ice-skating rinks and turn them into morgues because that is not who we are.”

Bellone decided, instead, to use facilities on the Suffolk County Farm, which is run by the Cornell Cooperative Extension but owned by the county.

There is a building on site that has large, unused refrigeration system, Bellone’s spokesperson Jason Elan said.

The county’s morgue capabilities, which includes a refrigerated trailer from the state, are half full, Elan said, adding that another trailer is expected to arrive later on Tuesday. After those are filled, the farm’s refrigerator would be used.  

Bellone’s administration has also requested more body bags from the state.

“I’m having conversations I never imagined having in this position,” Bellone said.

8:54 p.m. ET, April 7, 2020

Trump says he's thinking of putting a hold on WHO funding

From CNN's Kevin Liptak 

Minutes after President Donald Trump said he's placing a "very powerful hold" on US funding to the World Health Organization for what he says is a "China-centric" stance, he appeared to back off the statement.

"I'm not saying I'm going to do it, but we are going to look at it," Trump said after being pressed on his statement.

Speaking Tuesday at his daily coronavirus briefing, Trump said the organization "receives vast amounts of money from the United States" that he wants to re-examine.

Trump said certain WHO programs were worthwhile but that overall they'd made mistakes -- in particular, he said, opposition to his decision to shut down travel from China.

"We have to look into that, so we're going to look into it," Trump said.

8:54 p.m. ET, April 7, 2020

US marks record for most new coronavirus deaths reported in a single day

The United States' coronavirus death toll reached 12,722 on Tuesday evening, with an increase of 1,736 deaths during the day. That number marks the most deaths recorded in a single day so far.

According to data supplied by Johns Hopkins University, the previous record for the most new US coronavirus deaths added in a single day was 1,344. That was reached on April 4.