May 9 coronavirus news

The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday issued an emergency use authorization for the first at-home Covid-19 test that uses saliva samples, the agency said in a news release.

Rutgers University's RUCDR Infinite Biologics lab received an amended emergency authorization late Thursday. With the test, people can collect their own saliva at home and send samples to a lab for results.

Testing for Covid-19 so far has usually involved nose or throat swab samples.

In April, Rutgers University announced the FDA authorized the saliva test that it developed with other groups for "emergency use" for diagnosing Covid-19.

Read the full story here.

The unemployment rate in Los Angeles rose from 4.7% in February to more than 24% in April according to city estimates, Mayor Eric Garcetti said in a press conference on Friday.

Los Angeles county has reported 30,296 coronavirus cases and 1,468 deaths. Garcetti said that this week’s data was “less deadly than last week.”

Testing in Los Angeles: Garcetti encouraged residents to get tested, as asymptomatic cases have been found. This is important for contact tracing and prevention of the disease, he added.

Los Angeles has capacity to test 20,000 people per day, and has met the basic minimum thresholds established by experts for acceptable levels of daily testing needed to consider steps to reopen, according to Garcetti.

Unemployment in the US: The US economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday — by far the most sudden and largest decline since the government began tracking the data in 1939.

Those losses follow steep cutbacks in March as well, when employers slashed 870,000 jobs. Those two months amount to layoffs so severe, they more than double the 8.7 million jobs lost during the financial crisis.

Read more about unemployment here.

Roy Horn, half of the popular Las Vegas animal and magic act Siegfried and Roy, died Friday of complications from the coronavirus, according to his publicist. He was 75 years old.

Roy Uwe Ludwig Horn and Siegfried Fischbacher began their upbeat performances in Europe, later becoming regulars in Las Vegas, where they would perform for four decades. 

Their revue ended after Horn was attacked on stage by a tiger named Mantecore in 2003, severing Horn’s spine. Horn was eventually able to walk again, but he and Siegfried would only perform together one more time -- for a benefit -- before retiring in 2010.

Queen Elizabeth II has likened the British public's response to the coronavirus pandemic with the efforts of its soldiers during World War II, in a televised speech delivered exactly 75 years after her father marked the end of fighting in Europe.

Speaking on the 75th anniversary of VE Day, the Queen remembered her own experiences at the end of fighting on the continent and praised the "strength and courage" of British and Allied troops who brought about Germany's surrender on May 8, 1945.

"Never give up, never despair — that was the message of VE Day," the monarch said. "I vividly remember the jubilant scenes my sister and I witnessed with our parents and Winston Churchill from the balcony of Buckingham Palace."

Acknowledging the impact on modern British life of the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced this year's public commemorations to be canceled, she also drew parallels between the UK's wartime generation and their modern compatriots.

"Today it may seem hard that we cannot mark this special anniversary as we would wish. Instead we remember from our homes and our doorsteps," she said at the conclusion of her speech. "But our streets are not empty; they are filled with the love and the care that we have for each other.

"When I look at our country today, and see what we are willing to do to protect and support one another, I say with pride that we are still a nation those brave soldiers, sailors and airmen would recognize and admire," the Queen added.

The speech marked the second time the 94-year-old monarch has addressed the country since the coronavirus outbreak began — usually a rare occurrence saved only for her annual Christmas Day message.

The European Union has acknowledged it allowed the Chinese government to censor an opinion piece published in the country, removing a reference to the origin of the coronavirus outbreak and its subsequent spread worldwide.

The piece was jointly authored by the EU’s ambassador Nicolas Chapuis along with the ambassadors to China for the EU’s 27 member states to mark 45 years of EU-China diplomatic relations.

In the original piece published on the EU delegation’s website, the ambassadors wrote that “the outbreak of the coronavirus in China, and its subsequent spread to the rest of the world over the past three months” had side-tracked pre-existing diplomatic plans.

But in the version that appears on the website of China Daily, a state-owned newspaper, the reference to the origin of coronavirus in China and its spread is removed.

While the EU Delegation to China said it “strongly regrets” the change, it also admitted that it ultimately agreed for the censored piece to be published because it still contained “key messages on a number of our priority areas.”

“The EU Delegation was informed by the media in question that the publication of the Op-Ed would only be allowed by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the condition that a part of a sentence related to the origins and spread of the coronavirus was removed,” the delegation said in a statement. “The EU Delegation to China made known its objections to the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs in no uncertain terms.”

“As the Op-Ed states, while the EU and China have differences, notably on human rights, our partnership has become mature enough to allow frank discussions on these issues. This is what makes this incident even more regrettable,” the Delegation’s statement adds. 

CNN has asked China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a response. 

A total of 823 inmates and 25 staff have tested positive for Covid-19 at the Lompoc Federal Correctional Complex in California's Santa Barbara County, according to data from the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) Friday.

The complex in Lompoc, California is comprised of two facilities: FCI Lompoc, a low-security correctional institution that houses 1,162 inmates, and USP Lompoc, a medium-security US penitentiary that houses 1,542 inmates.

At the FCI Lompoc facility, 792 of 1,162 inmates -- or approximately 68% of that facility's total inmate population -- have tested positive for the virus, according to the latest BOP data.

An additional 31 inmates have tested positive at the neighboring USP Lompoc facility. 

Two inmates have died at the complex due to coronavirus complications, the BOP reported in a press release.

BOP authorities have suspended all visitations to the complex until further notice. Inmate use of telephone and email stations at FCI Lompoc has been suspended through to May 18 to "ensure the safety of the inmates and staff while decreasing the spread of the COVID-19 virus," the BOP said. 

The background: Across federal and state prisons, thousands of inmates have tested positive for the virus -- many of whom showed no symptoms when they were infected. In Ohio, more than 20% of the people infected with coronavirus are prisoners. And in Colorado, the state's largest outbreak is in a correctional facility.

Read more about outbreaks in US prisons here.

China has reported 16 new coronavirus cases, according to a statement from the country's National Health Commission.

Among those are 15 asymptomatic cases, as well as one imported.

In total, 78,046 patients have recovered and been discharged from Chinese hospitals, the NHC said. There are 836 asymptomatic patients still under medical observation. 

The last time China reported a coronavirus-related death was on April 15.

According to Johns Hopkins University, China has reported a total of 83,976 coronavirus cases, including 4,637 deaths.

North Korea is stepping up its response to the "widespread malignant virus infection," carrying out "anti-epidemic activities" to stop coronavirus spreading, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). 

The country's Ministry of Public Health is attempting to develop a vaccine, and is stockpiling "materials necessary for emergency anti-epidemic work," KCNA reported. 

A special committee is also "intensifying the control and guidance on quarantine, lockdown, inspection and sterilization to thoroughly check the inroads of COVID-19," according to the KCNA wire, which was published on Saturday.  

North Korea has not reported any coronavirus cases to the World Health Organization.

Ivanka Trump's personal assistant has tested positive for coronavirus, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.

The assistant, who works in a personal capacity for US President Donald Trump’s daughter, has not been around Ivanka Trump in several weeks.

She has been teleworking for nearly two months and was tested out of caution, the source said.

She was not symptomatic. Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner both tested negative on Friday, the person familiar with the matter told CNN. 

White House cases: Donald Trump confirmed Friday that Vice President Mike Pence's press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive.

One of Donald Trump's personal valets tested positive on Thursday.

Read more here.