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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1:17 a.m. ET, April 8, 2020

Covid-19 death rate rises in US counties with high air pollution, study says

From CNN's Sandee LaMotte

You are more likely to die from Covid-19 if you live in a county in the United States with higher levels of long-term air pollution, according to new research released Tuesday by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

"We found that an increase of only 1 gram per cubic meter in fine particulate matter in the air was associated with a 15% increase in the Covid-19 death rate," said lead author Francesca Dominici, co-director of the Harvard Data Science Initiative.

The study defined high pollution levels as fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) levels above 13 micrograms per cubic meter of air, much higher than the US mean of 8.4.

"The results suggest that long-term exposure to air pollution increases vulnerability to experiencing the most severe Covid-19 outcomes," Dominici said.

While the study was focussed on the US, it could have implications for other countries, too. India, for instance has 21 of the world's 30 cities with the worst air pollution.

American Lung Association President and CEO Harold Wimmer said that the study's findings illustrate that "far too many Americans are facing multiple threats to their lung health at once, and when taken together, these different threats to lung health impacts can amplify each other."

"We cannot afford to delay cleanup of dangerous air pollution," he said. "In fact, it is more important than ever."

Read the full story here:

Living in these areas of the US raises your risk of death from coronavirus, study says

1:03 a.m. ET, April 8, 2020

A Navy hospital ship in New York City will take in more patients on ventilators overnight

The USNS Comfort passes the Statue of Liberty as it enters New York Harbor during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in New York City on March 30. Mike Segar/Reuters

The Navy hospital ship docked at a New York City pier is preparing to take in more critical patients overnight, according to its medical commanding officer.

“We have, I believe, around 10 ICU-level vented patients headed our way … from one of the local hospitals," Captain Patrick Amersbach of the United States Naval Ship (USNS) Comfort told CNN’s Don Lemon late Tuesday night.

Amersbach did not say whether those patients have coronavirus infections.

The Comfort originally was only going to accept non-Covid-19 patients, but that restriction was rescinded Monday night.

A crew member who has not been in contact with patients tested positive for Covid-19, but this will not affect the ability for the Comfort to receive patients, Amersbach said.

As a precaution, he says, the medical treatment areas of the Comfort are being isolated from the rest of the ship, and some crew members will be lodging in local hotel rooms instead of staying aboard throughout the day.

Read more here:

Crewmember aboard Navy ship dispatched to NYC tests positive for coronavirus

12:51 a.m. ET, April 8, 2020

South Korea has reported 53 new cases, raising the national tally to 10,384

From CNN's Yoonjung Seo in Seoul

South Korea reported 53 new cases of coronavirus from Tuesday, bringing the national total to 10,384, the country's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced on Wednesday.

Those numbers follow two consecutive days where the number of cases dropped below 50.

The national death toll is now 200.

So far, South Korea has tested over 450,000 people.

12:38 a.m. ET, April 8, 2020

Trump says the US is "way under" any of the models -- and he wants to keep it that way

From CNN's Nikki Carvajal and Maegan Vazquez

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters following a meeting of the coronavirus task force in the Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on April 7, in Washington. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

As the United States hit another record for most deaths from coronavirus in a single day, President Donald Trump said the country was "way under" any coronavirus models.

“We’re way under any of the polls or any of the models as they call them,” Trump said in an interview with Fox Tuesday night. “We are way under, and we hope to keep it that way, in terms of death.”

The US has recorded at least 398,809 coronavirus cases, including 12,895 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. Some 30,613 new cases and 1,909 deaths were reported on Tuesday.

The President, who seemed to be taking what could turn out to be a premature victory lap, said that New York “is getting ready, if not already, getting ready to peak.”

Trump also said that he would love to start the economy back up “with a big bang,” opening the entire country to business all at once. But he said the administration is also considering opening up in sections.

“I think we really have a chance to open big and catch where we were,” Trump said, going on to tout the economy’s success before the virus hit.

Ventilators and hospital beds: President Trump also said his administration was right about its estimates for hospital beds and ventilators needed to treat coronavirus patients.

“I think we’re reaching a level where it’s going to start coming down, where it’s going to start sloping down. The good thing is that the number of beds needed -- I think we were right about that. I was right. My group was right,” Trump said. “They’re not needing nearly as many beds as they thought. They’re not needing as many ventilators as they thought.
“Everyone is in great shape from the standpoint of ventilators.”

Over the weekend, the President cautioned that there could be a shortage of ventilators available to Americans.

“I mean, it could be you have shortages, and it could also be that you have some that have way overestimated the number of ventilators they need," Trump said at the time.

On Tuesday morning, Surgeon General Jerome Adams appeared on the NBC Today show warning that the federal stockpiles of medical supplies are inadequate for dealing with this type of epidemic alone.

12:28 a.m. ET, April 8, 2020

How China is using color-coded QR codes to control the spread of coronavirus

From CNN's Nectar Gan in Hong Kong

A passenger shows a green QR code on his phone to a security guard to indicate his health status at Wenzhou railway station in China on February 28. Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images

In China, authorities are using technology to track who is likely to be healthy -- and who poses a risk.

Residents are each assigned a color-coded QR code on their phones -- and that color correlates to what they're able to do. In Wuhan, even now the lockdown is lifted, residents still need to produce a green QR code to leave their compounds. For those returning to work, they also need to produce a letter from their employer.

To get into places such as restaurants, people need to show that QR code -- and only people with a green code will gain entry.

But if your code is yellow or red, it means you've been flagged for some reason. If, for instance, you had been on a plane with a person infected with coronavirus, you would be flagged and your code might change color.

Those with a yellow or red code might be asked to self-isolate -- or even have to go into state quarantine.

The whole thing relies on big data, and means local governments have a database of people's travel history, their health history, and whether they've been in close contact with anyone who has coronavirus.

There's another potential problem -- different provinces have their own health QR codes, and sometimes they have issues recognizing codes from another region.

Watch how the codes work here:

12:20 a.m. ET, April 8, 2020

New York City reports a record 800-plus coronavirus deaths in one day

A record high of more than 800 fatalities were reported in just one day on Tuesday in New York City, according to city health officials.

The national daily total of 1,909 new deaths was also a record high, according to Johns Hopkins University. It is unclear whether the New York City figure was used in compiling the US total.

Still, the distressing numbers came as some officials expressed hope that some areas of the country were reaching the peak of the curves of cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Earlier, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo had said the numbers of hospitalizations in his state was reaching a plateau but residents still needed to be disciplined.

"We have to be smart. We have to be safe. ... We do that by staying at home," he told reporters.

US coronavirus cases are nearing 400,000 and the death toll has reached at least 12,895. However, health officials say parts of the country that leaned in heavily to social distancing measures may be seeing a slowdown in the growth of cases.

Read more here:

While US nears 11,000 deaths, White House remains optimistic about early effects of social distancing measures

12:10 a.m. ET, April 8, 2020

There are at least 398,809 coronavirus cases in the United States, including 12,895 deaths

There are at least 398,809 cases of coronavirus in the United States, including at least 12,895 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally.

On Tuesday, 30,613 new cases and 1,909 deaths were reported, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins. According to the university, this is a record for the most new US coronavirus deaths added in a single day.

The total includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as all repatriated cases. Wyoming is the only state not reporting a death from coronavirus.

Check out CNN’s map, which refreshes every 10 minutes.

Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US

11:50 p.m. ET, April 7, 2020

Chinese health experts are urging caution as Wuhan comes out of a two-month lockdown

From CNN's Nectar Gan in Hong Kong

After more than two months, Wuhan is finally reopening its borders. But while easing of restrictions in the city where the pandemic began can be seen as a positive sign, Chinese health experts have also urged the public to continue to practice caution.

Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told the state-run Health Times on Thursday that the epidemic in China was far from over.

"China is not near the end, but has entered a new stage. With the global epidemic raging, China has not reached the end," he said.

With global infections continuing to surge, a growing number of cases have been imported to China -- many of them Chinese students and workers eager to return home.

As of Tuesday, 698 imported coronavirus cases have been reported by Chinese authorities.

Concerns grow over asymptomatic carriers: In China, only patients showing symptoms and positive results in nucleic tests are included in the official tally of confirmed cases. Asymptomatic patients who have tested positive are monitored and placed under quarantine until they develop symptoms or turn negative in later tests.

Amid mounting public concerns, China started to announce a separate daily number of asymptomatic carriers last week. Since then, dozens of new asymptomatic carriers have been found in Wuhan every day, with 673 currently under medical observation.

"Although for now, it seems that the infectiousness of asymptomatic cases are relatively low, they are still infectious and we should be vigilant," Yang Jiong, a respiratory expert at the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, told the Health Times on Monday.

Read the full story here:

China lifts lockdown on Wuhan as city reemerges from coronavirus crisis

11:41 p.m. ET, April 7, 2020

US state of Georgia secures 200,000 doses of malaria drug touted by Trump as possible coronavirus therapy

Pharmaceutical company Amneal has donated 200,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine to the Georgia Department of Public Health, US Representative from Georgia Doug Collins said.

"Proud to have worked with Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to help secure 200,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine for (the Georgia Department of Public Health)," he tweeted.

"This medication could potentially save thousands of lives across our state. Thank you, Amneal, for this incredible donation!"

President Donald Trump has promoted the use of hydroxychloroquine --usually used to treat malaria -- in the fight against coronavirus, even though it has not been proven safe for that purpose.

Read more about Hydroxychloroquine and Covid-19 here: