By Jessie Yeung, Jenni Marsh, Rob Picheta, Meg Wagner and Mike Hayes, CNN
From CNN's Elizabeth Joseph
Reopening the economy too soon could lead to a second wave of coronavirus, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
The US should look at other countries that have gone through the "reopening process" and learn when thinking about a potential "second wave" of coronavirus, he said.
"When you take just a cursory review, you see caution signs," Cuomo said, referencing China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Italy.
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said while New York is flattening the coronavirus curve overall, the current trajectory depends on people keeping social distancing guidelines.
“There is no natural trajectory. The trajectory is the trajectory that we create by our actions. The natural trajectory would see that line continue to go up,” he said in his daily news briefing.
Cuomo stressed that “we have to stay the course” to keep slowing the spread of coronavirus.
“What we do today will determine the infection rate two or three days from now,” he said.
Cuomo said that the unprecedented nature of the coronavirus made projection models difficult to determine, and in turn, hard to put policies in place based on those models.
“None of these projections were in any way comforting to us. The actual curve is much, much lower than any of them projected,” he said.
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New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said reopening for business in the state is "going to be a gradual phased process, and it's going to be reliant on testing."
"First of all, the key to reopening is going to be testing. I've said that from day one. It's not going to be a light switch where you flip this economy like you flip a light switch," Cuomo said.
He added that means testing in the state "on a scale that we have not done before," which includes ramping up more testing for antibodies.
At least 777 people across New York died from coronavirus yesterday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. That's down from 799 the day before.
In total, 7,844 people have died from coronavirus in the state, the governor said.
While the state continues to lose a "tremendous number of lives," Cuomo said he's "cautiously optimistic" that the infection rate is slowing.
Cuomo said the change in ICU admissions is "a negative number" today — the first time since the coronavirus pandemic started.
"That means there are fewer people in the intensive care units statewide than there were," he explained.
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Vermont Gov. Phil Scott announced today he is extending the state's emergency declaration and all corresponding directives until May 15.
"We are making big sacrifices to save lives, but we cannot let our foot off the gas just yet. We will continue to watch the trends, and as soon as the data shows a downward trend, we can open the spigot, a quarter turn at a time, to get folks back to work in a way that’s responsible and safe," Scott said in a Facebook post.
From CNN's Katelyn Polantz
The US Department of Health and Human Services is planning on buying $2 billion worth of ventilators for its strategic national stockpile and will distribute the needed medical equipment to states, a department spokesperson said on Friday.
The ventilator deals are meant "to ensure we never have a shortage of ventilators," the spokesperson said.
The pledge comes on the heels of HHS announcing contracts this week with GM and Philips. Those two agreements promise 73,000 ventilators to the federal agency's stockpile this year, for a total price of about $1.14 billion.
HHS said this week it's planning on awarding more contracts like the GM and Philips deals for more ventilators. The HHS office that runs the stockpile has also encouraged state governments to use and to try to tap into their own supplies of ventilators.
"We have been pleased to see states like Oregon, California and Washington step up to do this," the HHS spokesperson said. "Ordering and supplying brand new ventilators takes time; states and hospitals should do what they can today to get resources where they are needed most."
Marcus Hicks, New Jersey’s Department Of Corrections commissioner, said there are 129 staff members who are infected with coronavirus, and 20 inmates have tested positive.
One inmate has died from the virus.
There are 400 inmates on medical quarantine who are not symptomatic, Hicks said. More than 1,000 employees are also in quarantine status, he added.
Moments ago, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced he is signing an executive order allowing the possible release of some low-risk, vulnerable inmates in the prison system in the wake of the pandemic.
Hicks stressed that no inmate convicted of a serious crime would be considered. He said he does not have an exact number on how many individuals this may impact.
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced he is signing an executive order allowing the possible release of some low-risk, vulnerable inmates in the prison system in the wake of the pandemic.
Under this order, low-risk inmates whose age or health status puts them at risk, who have been denied parole within the last year or whose sentences are set to expire in the next three months “may be” – and he stresses “may be” – placed on temporary home confinement or granted parole if already eligible, through an expedited process, Murphy said.
No one convicted of a serious crime, such as murder or sex assault, will be eligible for consideration, he said.
A “robust” process will help determine whether an individual is eligible and each will have an individualized release plan addressing housing and medical services.
“No one who cannot meet these standards will be released,” he said. All under home confinement will be subject to Department of Corrections supervision, he said.
“We have dual or twin responsibilities here. Protecting those who work in our prisons, and those who are incarcerated,” he added.
Social distancing is “extremely hard to accomplish in a prison setting” Murphy added and “allowing some of our most vulnerable individuals who do not pose a public safety threat to temporarily leave prison will protect both their health and the health and safety of the men and women working in our correctional facilities”
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine praised residents of his state for following steps to help slow the spread of coronavirus, but warned that it’s not yet time to get back to normal.
“Ohioans have done a great job. They've changed the future, but we've got to keep doing it. We're doing well but we can't let this monster up,” he said in an interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto.
“We've got this monster down a little bit, but you're still seeing a significant number of Ohioans who are dying every day and going into the hospital, so we’re not through this yet.”
The Republican governor said that while institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic, Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati have increased testing, the state needs to ramp up its capabilities to truly get a handle on the virus.
“Part of the plan we are now in the process of putting together will certainly involve robust testing. It's going to be absolutely necessary to be able to get people back to work,” he said.
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