April 29 coronavirus news

By Helen Regan, Adam Renton and Emma Reynolds, CNN

Updated 9:09 p.m. ET, April 29, 2020
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6:21 a.m. ET, April 29, 2020

Newport Beach votes to keep beaches open with additional enforcement

From CNN's Madeline Holcombe and Sarah Moon

People are seen gathering on the Corona del Mar State Beach in Newport Beach, California on April 25.
People are seen gathering on the Corona del Mar State Beach in Newport Beach, California on April 25. Michael Heiman/Getty Images

The Southern California city of Newport Beach voted on Tuesday in a City Council meeting to keep its beaches open. But additional reinforcements will enforce social distancing to protect against the coronavirus pandemic.

An ordinance was proposed to close the city's beaches for the next three weekends to avoid the overcrowding seen this past weekend, but council members did not end up voting directly on the agenda items during the meeting. Instead, Councilman Kevin Muldoon made an alternate motion to deny the item, which passed on a 5-2 vote, according to the city's public information manager.

Increased police and lifeguard presence will actively enforce social distancing.

The majority of the city's council members expressed a strong desire to keep most public beaches, parks and open spaces accessible for the mental health and physical well-being of residents, according to a statement. 

The vote comes as many states prepare to begin loosening restrictions and phase out stay-at-home orders. California has begun allowing scheduled surgeries, but does not have an end date for its orders.

Read the full story here.

6:14 a.m. ET, April 29, 2020

Volkswagen takes $3 billion coronavirus hit but still expects to make profit this year

By CNN Business's Hanna Ziady

An employee works on a production line after Volkswagen's Wolfsburg Plant reopened on April 27, in Wolfsburg, Germany.
An employee works on a production line after Volkswagen's Wolfsburg Plant reopened on April 27, in Wolfsburg, Germany. Swen Pförtner/Pool/Getty Images

Volkswagen still expects to post an operating profit this year despite the "unprecedented crisis" triggered by the coronavirus pandemic, which slammed sales and earnings in the first quarter. 

The world's largest carmaker said Wednesday that first-quarter operating profit plummeted to €904 million ($978 million) from €3.9 billion ($3.3 billion) a year ago, as vehicle sales fell. It warned that profit for the full year would be considerably below 2019, but still positive.

Volkswagen, which also owns the Audi, Porsche and Seat brands, said group vehicle sales fell 25% to 1.9 million. Deliveries to customers were down 23% at 2 million.

"The global Covid-19 pandemic substantially impacted our business in the first quarter. We've taken numerous countermeasures to cut costs and ensure liquidity and we continue to be robustly positioned financially," Volkswagen's chief financial officer Frank Witter said in a statement. "The Volkswagen Group is steering through this unprecedented crisis with focus and determination," he added.

Carmakers have had to contend with a slump in demand for vehicles and huge disruption to their operations, as measures to curb the coronavirus pandemic shut down factories and keep customers at home. Ford on Tuesday posted a $1.9 billion loss for the first quarter, warning that this would balloon to $5 billion in the current quarter.

Read the full story here.

5:58 a.m. ET, April 29, 2020

Life after lockdown as countries start to ease their coronavirus restrictions

Surfers wait for officials to open Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on April 28, as coronavirus pandemic restrictions are eased.
Surfers wait for officials to open Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on April 28, as coronavirus pandemic restrictions are eased. Rick Rycroft/AP

Around the world, some governments are beginning to slowly relax their social distancing restrictions.

Most countries have taken measures to protect against the spread of Covid-19 — enforcing stay-at-home orders, closing nonessential businesses and advising people to wear protective gear and keep a safe distance from one another.

Many of those guidelines still apply. But beaches are beginning to reopen. Some students are returning to classrooms. Stores are opening their doors for the first time in several weeks.

It remains to be seen whether these relaxations might lead to an increase in cases. But life is far from returning to normal.

See a selection of the best pictures here.

5:45 a.m. ET, April 29, 2020

Pence flouts Mayo Clinic policy on masks -- which is to wear one

From CNN's Kevin Liptak

Vice President Mike Pence, center, visits Dennis Nelson, a patient who survived the coronavirus and was going to donate blood, during a tour of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, on Tuesday, April 28.
Vice President Mike Pence, center, visits Dennis Nelson, a patient who survived the coronavirus and was going to donate blood, during a tour of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, on Tuesday, April 28. Jim Mone/AP

When Vice President Mike Pence walked into the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday, he wasn't wearing a face mask.

Everyone else in the building was, according to reporters who were traveling with him. After all, it has been the policy at the renowned Rochester, Minnesota, facility since April 13. They even say they'll provide one.

Pence was told of the new rules before he visited, the clinic said on Twitter, a post that was subsequently deleted. "Mayo Clinic had informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival today," it had written.

But as he visited a blood and plasma donation center inside the building, Pence was bare-faced.

Others in the room -- including Dr. Stephen Hahn, the Food and Drug Administration head -- wore coverings.

Pence did avoid shaking hands; he elbow-bumped instead with doctors and officials.

Read the full story here.

5:45 a.m. ET, April 29, 2020

France will be divided into red or green zones as coronavirus lockdown is eased

From CNN's Eva Tapiero in Paris 

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe speaks during a debate on the French government's plan to exit from the lockdown situation at the French National Assembly in Paris on April 28.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe speaks during a debate on the French government's plan to exit from the lockdown situation at the French National Assembly in Paris on April 28. David Niviere/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

France is to be divided into red or green zones as the nation's lockdown is eased, Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said Wednesday as he presented plans for the next phase of coronavirus measures. 

All departments -- which are administrative regions in France -- will be given designations of red or green, depending on three criteria:

  • Number of new cases over a period of seven days
  • Regional intensive care units capacity 
  • Efficiency in local testing and tracing 

A red department means “lockdown relaxation will take a more strict form,” Philippe said at France's National Assembly.

“The Director General of Health will present the map every evening with the results, department by department,” said Philippe.

France has recorded more than 169,000 cases and almost 24,000 deaths, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

5:21 a.m. ET, April 29, 2020

South Africa's painful past HIV failures is helping the country to fight Covid-19

From CNN's David McKenzie and Brent Swails

When US President Donald Trump mused recently about injecting household disinfectants as treatment for Covid-19 in the White House briefing room, South Africans were reminded of their own dark past.

Two decades ago, the country's health minister announced that beetroot or garlic could treat HIV/AIDS.

South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki at the time falsely claimed that HIV treatments could be poisonous, so he kept proven, life-saving antiretrovirals (ARVs) from those in need.

In all, South Africa's official AIDS denials and misinformation cost the lives of more than 300,000 people, according to several studies.

"We can't have a large number of people dying," Dr. Yogan Pillay, a senior official at the Department of Health, said. "We came from a period where we had large numbers of South Africans dying from HIV. We can't repeat that now and we shouldn't."

It is the memory of that past failure, South African health officials say, that is driving their fight against this new virus and it is the considerable resources they have since built up against HIV, that could provide their best weapon in fighting Covid-19.

Read the full story:

5:22 a.m. ET, April 29, 2020

Young activists are fighting for coronavirus hazard pay for their essential employee parents

From CNN's Madeline Holcombe

The next generation is stepping into the forefront of the fight to protect essential employees in the coronavirus pandemic.

College students Yolian Ogbu and Victory Nwabufo have teamed up with the National Children's Campaign to launch a movement demanding universal hazard pay and personal protective equipment for all coronavirus essential employees in the US. And it's all happening virtually under the hashtag #YourWorkersMyFamily.

The US Department of Labor defines hazard pay as "additional pay for performing hazardous duty or work" that is "not adequately alleviated by protective devices." New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proposed last week that hazard pay for frontline workers be included in a federal stimulus plan.

Ogbu and Nwabufo said their effort has garnered support from essential workers, their families, unions and organizations. It will take the form of online story sharing and digital strikes that tweet-bomb decision-makers calling for paid sick leave, hazard pay and PPE. The campaign will culminate on Friday, International Workers' Day, when many organizations are planning strikes of their own, they said.

Read the full story here.

5:19 a.m. ET, April 29, 2020

Couple married for 73 years died 6 hours apart -- both from coronavirus

From CNN's Christina Maxouris

Mary and Wilford Kepler died beside each other at a Wisconsin hospital after 73 years of marriage.
Mary and Wilford Kepler died beside each other at a Wisconsin hospital after 73 years of marriage. Courtesy Kepler Family

Mary Kepler and her husband, Wilford, died hours apart after a lifetime together. 

The pair were in a Wisconsin hospital after contracting coronavirus, according to CNN affiliate WTMJ. Family members are unsure how the two were infected, the affiliate reported.

Because they both had the disease, they were able to stay together in their last moments -- something most coronavirus patients can't do with their loved ones. Family members across the nation have had to say their final goodbyes over FaceTime or in texts read as overwhelmed medical institutions have restricted visitors to help slow the virus's spread.

The couple, who had been together for 73 years, had beds next to each other and got to say "I love you" to each other one last time before they died Saturday, their granddaughter Natalie Lameka told the affiliate. 

"They had been holding hands and that was just heartbreaking to hear but also heartwarming to hear. And we were just so thankful they were together and were aware they were together," Lameka said.

The two were like the family's "glue that holds us together," their granddaughter said, and while losing them hurts, knowing they never had to part makes the pain a little easier. 

"It was definitely hard," she told the news station. "But it was bittersweet."

Mary Kepler died six hours after her husband, the affiliate reported.

Read the full story here.

4:59 a.m. ET, April 29, 2020

People with eating disorders have suffered all their lives. Now they're struggling even more

From CNN's Aleesha Khaliq

Cara Lisette.
Cara Lisette.

Cara Lisette has spent more than half her life battling anorexia. Now under the coronavirus lockdown, she says she is also fighting to find the few foods she considers "safe" to eat.

Her treatment program was closed down for 12 weeks after the UK government announced its lockdown. She says, without that help, "I'm just having to wing it at home by myself."

"I feel like I've had a big chunk of my treatment stolen from me," Lisette said.

The coronavirus pandemic has left Lisette and many others suffering with eating disorders facing new challenges and exacerbated pre-existing problems for others. 

Support groups estimate that some 1.25 million people in the UK are living with an eating disorder. In the US, that number could be as high as 30 million.

Eating disorder charities in the US and UK say they've seen significant increases in people contacting their services during the lockdowns.

"Everyone who is contacting us is talking about coronavirus and how that's impacting their eating disorders," says Tom Quinn, spokesperson for UK eating disorder charity Beat.

Read the full story: