May 7 coronavirus news

Two customers shot two McDonald's employees in Oklahoma City on Wednesday after they were told to leave the store's dining area due to coronavirus restrictions, police said.

The suspects got angry and took out a gun when they were asked to leave, Oklahoma City Police Lt. Michelle Henderson said.

Two workers were shot and a third was injured, Henderson said, during "the melee that ensued." Police told CNN affiliate KOCO that one of the victims was shot in the leg while the other was shot in the shoulder. Both injuries are considered non life-threatening, the affiliate reported.

Police at the scene also said a female employee sustained cuts to her head, KOCO reported.

The two suspects then fled and were apprehended nearby, Henderson added.

The incident is one of several protests from residents across the country responding to restrictions in place to combat the virus. In Michigan, a Family Dollar store security guard was shot after telling a customer to wear a face mask -- a mandate in place by the state for all retail stores.

Blood thinning drugs could help save some patients who are the most severely affected by the novel coronavirus, doctors reported Wednesday.

The findings from a team at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York could help with a troubling problem that has shocked and horrified doctors treating coronavirus patients around the world -- blood clots throughout the body that complicate an already hard-to-treat disease.

The team now says it is running experiments to see which anticoagulants may work best, and at which doses.

The findings are not clear enough yet to make solid recommendations. The team noted that patients who were already severely ill were more likely to be given the blood thinners.

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States does not have certainty about the origin of the coronavirus pandemic, despite claiming over the weekend there was "enormous evidence" the virus originated in a Chinese lab.

Although he conceded he couldn't be certain, Pompeo continued to push his lab claim, countering the leading theory among intelligence experts and international analysts that the virus came into human contact at a wet market.

Assessments circulated among US intelligence-sharing allies have posited that it is "highly unlikely" the virus originated in a lab. The US intelligence community has said it is looking into both possibilities.

In an interview on Fox Business later Wednesday evening, Pompeo doubled down on his claim that he had "seen evidence that this likely came from the Wuhan Institute of Virology," but added that he'd be "happy to see evidence that disproves that."

The top US diplomat has maintained an aggressive line of attack on China's handling of the virus as the Trump administration looks to deflect blame for its response to the disease that has now killed more than 73,000 Americans and stalled the economy in the crucial months before the presidential election.

Pompeo also insisted there was no contradiction between his position and comments by other senior US officials who have cast doubt on his theory.

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A total of 24,252 new coronavirus cases and 2,367 deaths were reported in the United States on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

At least 1,228,603 cases have now been recorded in the US, including 73,431 fatalities, according to JHU's tally.

The totals includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.

CNN is tracking US coronavirus cases here:

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Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US

Another 1,523 cases of the novel coronavirus were diagnosed in Pakistan on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health -- the country's largest daily increase yet.

At least 24,073 cases of the virus have been confirmed in Pakistan, killing 564 people.

The spike in cases comes after Pakistan recorded its highest number of coronavirus deaths in a single day on Tuesday.

South Korea reported four new cases of the novel coronavirus today, including one new local infection -- the country's first since Saturday.

The other three cases were imported.

At least 10,810 cases of the novel coronavirus have been confirmed in South Korea, which at one time during the early stages of the pandemic had one of the largest outbreaks in the world.

But Seoul has brought the virus mostly under control and between Sunday and Tuesday there were no new local infections recorded.

One more Covid-19-related fatality was reported today, bringing the country's death toll to 256.

So far, 9,419 patients have recovered after being diagnosed with the coronavirus, meaning less than 13% of all cases are still active.

Editor's note: Catherine Pearlman is a clinical social worker, associate professor at Brandman University and the author of Ignore It!: How Selectively Looking the Other Way Can Decrease Behavioral Problems and Increase Parenting Satisfaction.

Go for a walk, visit any open establishment or public space, and you will note a disconcerting phenomenon: People without masks.

There is a pandemic. Tens of thousands of Americans are dead because of Covid-19, a disease that spreads in droplets that are expelled by infected humans, including as they talk or cough, and whether they show symptoms or not.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone wear a cloth face covering in public, especially where there is a high degree of community-based transmission (that is, when the source of infection is unknown). I live in California, where nearly 60,000 people have been infected. 

Across the country 1.2 million Americans have tested positive for Covid-19, with more than 73,000 lives lost -- and projections for the future (another peak in the fall?) are really grim.

Meanwhile, hospitals and their staff are pushed to the breaking point caring for the sick, with medical staff working weeks without days off to treat the afflicted, risking their own lives and those of their family. And yet, so many people refuse to take warnings seriously to protect themselves and others by wearing a mask in public.

It's hard to pinpoint how many of us are clueless and careless -- maybe half of those who go outside? A third? Some other fraction? -- but it's certainly way too many.

The lack of empathy is jarring. We need a shift.

Read the full opinion:

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Why you need to wear the damn mask

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern today outlined how coronavirus restrictions will ease when the country moves to a lower alert level.

The country is currently at level 3 of a four-point Covid-19 alert system, and Ardern described what life would look like under level 2.

She said that social distancing measures at level 2 had been designed to "get as many people back to work as possible and get the economy back up and running but in the safest way possible."

Borders would remain closed to everybody except New Zealand citizens. Meanwhile, citizens returning to the country would still need to isolate in hotels away from others.

Restrictions on mass gatherings would remain under the level 2 alert.

"A trip from Wellington to Napier to see your mum is fine, a trip from Wellington to Napier to go to a big conference with an open bar is not fine," Ardern advised. 

There would also be no stadium crowds, but "sport will be played," Ardern said.

Ardern said that staying 2 meters (6.5 ft) away from a stranger would be advised when level 2 comes into force, but those returning to work would be able to work at closer quarters because contact tracing would be easier. 

The prime minister did not say when level 2 would be announced. She ended her briefing by saying, "One thing to remember -- Covid is still with us."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel set out plans Wednesday for the gradual reopening of the country after weeks-long restrictions imposed to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Limits on social contact will remain in place until June 5, she said, but Germans can now meet with members of one other household as well as their own. People must still remain 1.5 meters apart and cover their mouths and noses in public.

Shops can reopen but with additional hygiene measures, Merkel said, speaking at a news conference following a video meeting with the prime ministers of Germany's 16 states.

Germany's top football league, the Bundesliga, can also resume play in the second half of May, Merkel said. She did not specify if this would be with spectators or behind closed doors.

It would be the first major European league to resume playing. Last week France canceled its season and declared Paris Saint-Germain the winner of Ligue 1.

Merkel said authorities would watch local regions to ensure any outbreak was stopped.

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Germany is gradually reopening under plan set out by Angela Merkel