May 4 coronavirus news

Some businesses will start to reopen in Spain on Monday as the country starts "Phase Zero" of loosening coronavirus restrictions.

Following eight weeks of strict confinement since a countrywide state of emergency was declared on March 14, the process of transition in Spain will be gradual. 

The four phases will be determined by a “series of indicators, such as the strategic capacities available in the health care system," officials say.

Some of these indicators include being able to test and identify sources of contagion and the ability to isolate and control those sources.

Spain's health ministry said another key to reopening the economy is the availability of hospital beds.

For every 10,000 residents, hospitals have to be able to add between 1.5 to 2 intensive care unit beds, and between 37 to 40 beds for severely ill patients, as outlined by the ministry.

Across Spain, masks will be mandatory on public transport as of Monday.

Here are some of the reopening guidelines for businesses:

Afghanistan released 98 Taliban prisoners from Pul-e-Charkhi prison in Kabul on Saturday evening as part of the government’s efforts to contain coronavirus, according to a statement from the National Directorate of Security.

The release is in line with a decree Afghan President Ashraf Ghani signed on March 11 to release Taliban prisoners as the peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban began.

The prisoners were released based on their health conditions, age, and length of remaining sentence.

So far, 650 Taliban prisoners have been released since March 10, and the government will release 850 more, the statement added.

US President Donald Trump said Sunday night that he was first briefed about the novel coronavirus on January 23 and indicated the US intelligence agencies would be issuing a statement in the coming days.

But while Trump claims he was told that "there could be a virus coming," that January 23 briefing came three days after the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the United States.

The President was also briefed by his Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar about the threat of the coronavirus during a January 18 phone call, according to multiple reports.

Trump also said that at the time the US intelligence community was not "competently run."

CNN and other news outlets have reported that the President's daily intelligence briefing included information about the coronavirus outbreak in China and its potential to spread to the United States as early as January 3.

It is not clear whether Trump -- who infrequently reads the President's Daily Brief compiled by intelligence officials -- read the information at the time or whether officials briefing the President in person raised the issue.

A total of 373 employees and contract workers at Triumph Foods, a pork processing plant in Buchanan County, Missouri, have tested positive for coronavirus despite showing no related symptoms, according to a news release from the Department of Health and Senior Services.

The department encouraged anyone experiencing symptoms to reach out to their health care provider, the release said.

The latest numbers come after the the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services announced Thursday more than 120 employees tested positive for Covid-19.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters Sunday that the state's Covid-19 cases were "at the worst" plateauing.

He commended Kentucky residents for sticking to the state's guidelines.

Saying that he took yesterday off in order to recharge, Beshear gave both Saturday and Sunday numbers for cases and deaths.

Saturday's report showed an additional 173 cases, with five deaths. Sunday's report showed 80 new cases and no deaths, but Beshear himself cast doubt on those numbers, saying there had been a lull in testing.

"This is why we average," he said. "No day right now just has 80."

He added that a report will come out tomorrow on cases in Green River State Prison.

"We believe they are going to be tough numbers to see," he said.

Beshear also responded to yesterday's protest over pandemic measures by calling it "reckless."

Beshear said more test kits will be arriving in the state in the coming week, and that over the course of the next few days he will be focusing on preparing businesses for phased reopenings.

France will not impose a 14-day quarantine on travelers from the Schengen area of the European Union or the UK, the Elysée Palace confirmed to CNN on Sunday.

This is regardless of the nationality of those traveling to France.

Sunday’s statement appears to be a direct contradiction of health minister Olivier Véran’s statement a day earlier of a proposed measure to quarantine all people entering France from “abroad, Corsica and other overseas territory.”

The French government will move to extend a state of emergency over coronavirus for around two months in a set of measures to be proposed to Parliament on Tuesday.

The Schengen area is a zone of 26 European countries that do not have internal borders and allow people to move between them freely, including countries such as Spain, France, Greece, Germany, Italy and Poland.

The Elysée Palace would not comment on whether travelers from the US would be subject to quarantine measures if entering France.

The President of Peru, Martín Vizcarra, approved a supreme decree to reactivate the country’s economy amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to a statement released by the Office of the Presidency Saturday. 

Vizcarra explained the decree has been analyzed by health experts and is based on studies. It will be carried out gradually and has four phases. Each phase will last approximately one month starting in May and ending in August.  

The Peruvian President also announced that because of coronavirus concerns, he has signed an early release pardon to non-violent prisoners that are pregnant and mothers who are in prison with their children.  

The US federal government will begin shipping "tens of thousands" of courses of remdesivir early this week and will decide where the medicine goes, according to Daniel O'Day, chairman and CEO of Gilead Sciences, the maker of the investigational drug.

In early results from a trial sponsored by the US National Institutes of Health, remdesivir was found to shorten the duration of illness in patients with severe Covid-19, but it had no statistically significant effect on whether patients died.

CNN has reached out to the US Department of Health and Human Services for comment on how the drug will be distributed.

More than 100,000 cases of Covid-19 how now been reported in Brazil, according to the latest figures released by the country's health ministry on Sunday.

The number of confirmed cases increased by 4,588 in a 24-hour period, bringing the total to at least 101,147.

Brazil has recorded more than 7,000 coronavirus-related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.