May 15 coronavirus news

By Jessie Yeung and Adam Renton, CNN

Updated 0055 GMT (0855 HKT) May 16, 2020
23 Posts
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2:17 a.m. ET, May 15, 2020

This 108-year-old New Jersey woman has recovered from Covid-19

From CNN's Amanda Jackson

Survivor. That's what Sylvia Goldsholl, 108, calls herself.

After living through both the 1918 flu pandemic and current coronavirus pandemic, the label is fitting.

Goldsholl, who lives at a nursing home in Allendale, New Jersey, has fully recovered from coronavirus after being diagnosed with it last month, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said at a news conference on Thursday.

That might make her the oldest person in the state to recover from the virus, according to CNN affiliate News 12 New Jersey.

"A tremendous life, a tremendous spirit, and a tremendous show of strength," the governor wrote in a tweet celebrating Goldsholl.

Goldsholl was seven years old when the 1918 flu -- which killed more than 50 million people globally -- hit.

"I survived everything because I was determined to survive," she told News 12 New Jersey in an interview conducted over video chat last week.

Read the full story:

2:05 a.m. ET, May 15, 2020

Typhoon evacuees in the Philippines told to practice social distancing

From CNN's Chermaine Lee and Sol Han

Residents brave rains and strong wind as they walk past uprooted trees along a highway in Can-avid town, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines on May 14, as Typhoon Vongfong makes landfall.
Residents brave rains and strong wind as they walk past uprooted trees along a highway in Can-avid town, Eastern Samar province, central Philippines on May 14, as Typhoon Vongfong makes landfall. Alren Beronio/AFP/Getty Images

People in the Philippines who have evacuated their homes to shelter from Typhoon Vongfong still need to follow social distancing in evacuation centers, according to an article in the state-run Philippine News Agency. 

Typhoon Vongfong, the first named storm of the 2020 season in the Western Pacific, made landfall in the Philippines around noon local time yesterday -- forcing the evacuation of tens of thousands of people in a country under coronavirus lockdown.

At least 200,000 people live in coastal areas near the affected area on the island of Samar in the Eastern Visayas region.

To make sure people can still adhere to social distancing, emergency evacuation centers are cutting their capacity by half. Families inside will need to huddle together to maintain safe distances from other households, and local officials will enforce these guidelines inside the centers, according to presidential spokesman Harry Roque.

The storm is now a minimal typhoon with winds of 120 kph (75 mph). It will move through the Luzon region over the next 24 to 48 hours.

The Philippines has officially recorded nearly 12,000 coronavirus cases, including at least 790 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

We have a live tracker of the typhoon's path here.

1:42 a.m. ET, May 15, 2020

Tens of thousands of Singapore's migrant workers are infected as the country opens back up

From CNN's Jessie Yeung and Isaac Yee

At the start of April, Singapore had about a thousand cases of the novel coronavirus.

Now, it has reported more than 26,000 -- and the vast majority are migrant workers, many from South Asian countries like Bangladesh and India, who were infected in crowded dormitories.

Making up a significant portion of the Singaporean workforce, 1.4 million migrant workers live in the city state, mostly employed in construction, manual labor and housekeeping. Of these, about 200,000 live in 43 dormitories, according to Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo.

Each dorm room houses about 10 to 20 residents. They share toilet and shower facilities, eat in common areas, and sleep just feet away from each other. It's nearly impossible to conduct social distancing -- the consequences of which became clear in April when Singapore began recording upwards of 1,000 new cases a day.

Authorities scrambled to respond, locking down the dorms and relocating infected residents.

But a month later, Singapore is still struggling to contain the dorm clusters, with more than 23,000 infected dormitory residents. As the rest of Singaporean society prepares to slowly resume normal life, migrant workers remain locked down in their cramped living quarters until June 1.

Read the full story:

1:29 a.m. ET, May 15, 2020

11 new asymptomatic cases reported in China come from Wuhan 

From journalist Chermaine Lee in Hong Kong and Steven Jiang in Beijing

A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman to be tested for Covid-19 in Wuhan, China on May 15.
A medical worker takes a swab sample from a woman to be tested for Covid-19 in Wuhan, China on May 15. Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images

Wuhan, ground zero for the coronavirus pandemic, reported 11 new asymptomatic cases today, according to the central Chinese city's Municipal Health Commission.

The cases were discovered in multiple districts across the city, a statement from the commission said.

An ambitious screening program that aims to test all 11 million of the city's residents is underway in an attempt to curb the spread of the virus from a recent cluster of local cases. 

The commission's statement said that on May 13, 67,026 people were tested in one day in Wuhan. 

Some 559 asymptomatic cases were under medical observation, as of May 13.

On Thursday, state-run news agency Xinhua reported that: "Wuhan has detected several to more than a dozen asymptomatic infections every day. Although these asymptomatic infections are all treated in isolation, they still cause concern in the society."

Wuhan has officially recorded 3,869 deaths from Covid-19 -- the majority of China's fatalities from the disease. The city has confirmed more than 50,000 coronavirus cases in total.

2:17 a.m. ET, May 15, 2020

India's PM Narendra Modi and Bill Gates discussed how to tackle the pandemic on a video conference

From CNN's Manveena Suri in New Delhi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a video conference with Bill Gates.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi holds a video conference with Bill Gates. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a video conference with philanthropist and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on Thursday to discuss the global coronavirus pandemic, officials said.

“We discussed issues ranging from India’s efforts to fight coronavirus, work of the (Gates Foundation) in battling Covid-19, role of technology, innovation and producing a vaccine to cure the pandemic,” Modi tweeted. 

In response, Gates thanked Modi for the “conversation and partnership.”

“Combating the pandemic requires global collaboration. India’s role is key as the world works to minimize social and economic impact, and pave the way to the vaccine, testing, and treatment access for all," he tweeted.

During the meeting, Modi also spoke about previous government initiatives like promoting cleanliness and hygiene, and drawing upon the ancient Indian healing system of Ayurveda to boost immunity, according to a news release on his website.

India has reported more than 82,000 cases of coronavirus and at least 2,649 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

1:00 a.m. ET, May 15, 2020

This is what international air travel looks like in the age of Covid-19

With international travel restrictions, health checks, government measures and more, air travel looks very different in the age of Covid-19.

CNN International Correspondent Will Ripley took a flight from Tokyo to Hong Kong this week. A journey that typically takes about five hours instead became a days-long exercise.

"This is one of three flights per week, they tell me, and it's flying with 109 passengers. The capacity is well over 400, so about a fourth of the capacity," said Ripley, once he got on the plane.

"It's easy to see why airlines are struggling so much right now. How do you sustain an airline, keep an airport open, when so few people are traveling?"

Ripley arrived in Hong Kong, where he received an electronic bracelet that will track his movements during the next 14 days to make sure he follows the mandatory quarantine (which everyone arriving at the airport must do, even if they test negative for Covid-19).

He and all other passengers were required to get tested -- but because it was late in the evening, the results wouldn't come in until the next day. So they were all taken to government-provided accommodation at a hotel and provided with a free meal.

Finally, 20 hours after he started his trip back to Hong Kong, Ripley got the news -- he tested negative. Now, it's time to go home, where he will stay quarantined for the next two weeks. He will have to monitor his health, and fill out a government-supplied daily log of his temperature and any potential symptoms.

12:43 a.m. ET, May 15, 2020

Trump's betting his 2016 instincts will get him through the pandemic -- and win him a second term

Analysis from CNN's Stephen Collinson

US President Donald Trump speaks in Allentown, Pennsylvania on May 14.
US President Donald Trump speaks in Allentown, Pennsylvania on May 14. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

With his crusade to open America, US President Donald Trump is betting for the second election in a row that he's got a better feel for the mood of the country than his opponents.

Trump's calculation to reject science and push to swiftly crank up an economy with the nation still ravaged by Covid-19 could kill many more than the 85,000 Americans who have already died.

That seems a price Trump is willing to pay as he appeals directly to the many millions of Americans who are also victims of the pandemic, but who have paid with their jobs, not their lives. That's a message that could resonate.

Tapping into economic pain: In states where the virus has not caused massive death tolls, it can seem remote. But economic blight is everywhere and may brew a political storm that could punish Democrats if Trump can paint them as stubborn enemies of a return to work or responsible for furloughs turning into long-term job losses.

In 2016, Trump confounded the political class by seizing on the "forgotten Americans" who had seen their jobs in industrial heartlands disappear to low-wage economies in Asia and were contemptuous of the promises of what they saw as politically correct, "globalist" politicians in both parties.

A familiar message: Four years later, the President, whose refusal to wear a face mask sends a message of defiance and outsider authenticity to his supporters, is again choosing a path that ignores the warnings of experts.

Trump has acknowledged that lives will be lost but says there is no alternative to reviving the economy on which so many lives rest -- and on which his reelection depends.

Read the full analysis:

12:30 a.m. ET, May 15, 2020

Life after lockdown in Vietnam: This is what it's like when an entire country reopens

From CNN's Katie Lockhart

As the faint smell of smoke rose up from the sidewalk and into my bedroom, I jumped up and stepped out onto the balcony to survey the Hanoi streets.

The owner of my building was burning joss paper (fake money) as an offering of good fortune to their ancestors.

After a week with no new Covid-19 cases, Vietnam's government had just eased its 22-day social distancing initiative, allowing some businesses to reopen on April 23.

What reopening looks like: Signs of life had already begun to emerge the day before. Honking from the streets grew louder as more people rode around on their motorbikes, while local shopkeepers swept the sidewalk in front of their store -- all good signs the city was poised to reopen as planned.

And now, domestic tourism is resuming too, as airlines increase flight schedules and hotels reopen throughout the country.

But this wasn't just luck -- the government took action. With just 288 cases and zero deaths, this Southeast Asian country acted faster than most nations, shutting its borders with China in late January and suspending visas to prevent foreigners from entering the country.

In comparison, Malaysia has recorded close to 7,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases, Thailand has reported just over 3,000 infections and Singapore has seen more than 26,000.

Read the full story:

3:19 a.m. ET, May 15, 2020

Japan reports nearly 100 new cases, as most of the country rebounds from state of emergency

A man wearing a face mask walks in the grounds of Osaka Castle on May 14, in Osaka, Japan.
A man wearing a face mask walks in the grounds of Osaka Castle on May 14, in Osaka, Japan. Carl Court/Getty Images

Japan recorded 99 new cases of the coronavirus and 23 related deaths on Thursday, as the government lifted the state of emergency across most of the country.

That raise the national total to 16,905 cases and 723 deaths. Of those, 712 cases and 13 deaths were from the Diamond Princess cruise ship that docked at Yokohama Bay under quarantine for two weeks in February.

Yesterday, Japan lifted its state of emergency for 39 of the country's 47 prefectures. It had been in place nationwide since April 16.

Tokyo, Osaka, and several other hard-hit prefectures will stay under the state of emergency, and the government will reassess the situation on May 21.

The nationwide state of emergency was set to continue through May 31, but Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said yesterday he could end the order before its expiration date because he felt confident in the country's containment efforts.

"Compared to other G7 nations, we could contain the infection cases and death per capita overwhelmingly,” Abe said.

This post was updated to show the new cases were recorded on Thursday.