May 2 coronavirus news

Pennsylvania's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources announced a phased reopening of state parks and forest facilities in line with social distancing guidelines set forth by Gov. Tom Wolf, according to a statement released on Saturday.

With the exception of one restroom in each day use area and marina, all state park and forest facilities outside of the counties will remain closed until changes are made consistent with Wolf’s guidelines for reopening, the statement reads.

The public can still access trails, lakes, rivers, streams, forests, roads and parking areas statewide for recreation. All playgrounds, nature play areas, interpretive centers, amphitheaters and group camping facilities statewide will remain closed indefinitely.

Beaches statewide will be closed until June 6.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has reported that 299 people in New York died due to coronavirus over the past day.

Cuomo added that nursing homes are where the "most vulnerable population is, and the highest number of the most vulnerable population."

Watch:

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that another stimulus package – called phase four – might not be necessary.

In a gaggle with reporters after his Fox appearance, Hassett seemed to imply that there would be some sort of additional stimulus package but that a potential phase four deal might be geared more toward "growth and taking off and recovering, rather than just building a bridge to recovery."

Some context: President Trump said earlier in the week that he would look at funding for states in a potential phase four stimulus package but that “we want to take a little bit of a pause” before passing such a package.

Trump said that Republicans are in a much better negotiating position on funding for states and if they agree to it, Republicans "have to get something for it."

Hassett said that aid to states "will be a political issue that will be worked out between Republicans and Democrats on the Hill" but that President Trump "is absolutely opposed to bailouts."

On opening up the economy, Hassett said that "probably by the end of May, almost every state will be mostly open economically" but added that economic numbers over the next few months will be "as bad as you've ever seen."

The French government will extend a state of emergency over coronavirus for around two months in a set of measures to be proposed to Parliament on Tuesday, Health Minister Olivier Véran said in a press conference today.

Following a cabinet meeting over the coronavirus crisis, Veran was joined by Interior Minister Christophe Castaner to propose a new legislation on Tuesday that will see the health emergency move forward through to July 24.

Véran said that lifting the emergency earlier would "waste" the "considerable efforts made by the French people."

Other proposed measures include limiting travel and introducing a quarantining process for people entering France from "abroad, Corsica and other overseas territory."

"The government’s objective is not to prevent the French people from traveling –– the government’s objective is to prevent the virus from traveling," Interior Minister Christophe Castaner said.

Castaner added there would be no border restrictions between French districts in the proposed measures.

Gov. Ralph Northam announced Saturday that the Commonwealth has received Federal Emergency Management Agency approval to receive three Battelle Critical Care Decontamination Systems.

The three systems can sterilize up to 240,000 units of personal protective equipment per day for reuse.

The three systems are being installed at the Marching Virginians Center on the Virginia Tech campus in Blacksburg, a warehouse site in the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, and the Vietnam Veterans Pavilion at the Chesterfield County Fairgrounds.

The system in Blacksburg will support Virginia and West Virginia and will be jointly operated by the Virginia Department of Emergency Management and the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management.

A system delivered to Washington, DC, last week is supporting Northern Virginia and Maryland health care systems, in addition to those in DC.

There are 98 people who may have died from Covid-19 at the Isabella Geriatric Center in New York City, according to a statement from the center.

This statement comes after New York Representative Adriano Espaillat accused nursing homes of not accurately reporting Covid-19 deaths to the Department of Health.

Espaillat wrote a letter addressed to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New York State Attorney General Letitia James calling for an investigation into nursing home facilities.

The 705-bed geriatric center said that as the virus hit its facility, they didn’t have access to testing to "quickly diagnose" residents and staff, according to a statement.

The center noted that they are getting more access to testing and that they have reported accurate data to the Department of Health.

There is enough testing capacity for Senators who are returning on Monday, President Trump said in a tweet this morning.

Trump added that there is testing capacity for the House and criticized House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for deciding not to delay the return of its members.

Some background: On a call with top Senate republican aides yesterday, the Capitol attending physician Dr. Brian Monahan said that testing capacity on the Hill is limited and can only be made available to those who are ill, according to a source familiar with the call.

However late last night, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar tweeted that he had received an "initial request and are sending 3 Abbott point of care testing machines and 1,000 tests for their use."

Read Trump's tweet:

Starting May 7, New York City residents will be able to obtain marriage licenses online, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Saturday on Twitter.

"An important new visitor is coming to New York City, and that visitor is Cupid," de Blasio said in a video where he answered questions sent in by New Yorkers.

The mayor said the service will be available online at nyc.gov/cupid.

This comes after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced a few weeks ago that he was signing an executive order that would allow couples to get marriage licenses remotely and allowing clerks to perform ceremonies over video.

See de Blasio's tweet:

Fargo, North Dakota, will reopen city facilities on Monday, including city hall.

This decision is part of "phase one" in reopening the economy, the city said in a news release.

City buildings will open safely, but said "these methods will be adjusted as needed to appropriately address and respond to the evolving Covid-19 pandemic," according to the release.

Several safety initiatives will be implemented, such as supplying personal protective equipment to employees, encouraging people to wear masks when they are not able to social distance and conducting business virtually or on the phone whenever possible, the release said.

The city said it will also "defer all fees related to late payments on city utilities" and "will refrain from utility shut-offs due to lack of payment through June 30, 2020," the release said.