May 27 coronavirus news

By Jessie Yeung, Steve George, Zamira Rahim and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN

Updated 9:52 p.m. ET, May 27, 2020

26 Posts

Sort by

7:56 a.m. ET, May 27, 2020

Daily deaths in US now more than 10% higher than in previous years

From CNN Health's Jacqueline Howard

The Statue of Liberty is seen behind refrigeration trucks that function as temporary morgues for coronavirus victims at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal in New York City on May 25. Noam Galai/Getty Images

The number of people dying each day in the United States since early April has been consistently more than 10% higher than in previous years, according to a new report from the Health Care Cost Institute in Washington.

The institute connects this rise in daily deaths to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Health Care Cost Institute, an independent nonprofit research organization, based its report on data from obituaries for all deaths due to any cause, not just Covid-19.

To better understand the number of daily deaths happening in the United States during the pandemic, researchers at the institute compared the daily count of deaths for each day this year with the average number of deaths on each day for the years 2014 through 2019. Those estimates for daily deaths are reported at the national and state level, and for New York City.

New York City, widely held as the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States, experienced more than double the typical daily deaths every day since the end of March," the Health Care Cost Institute noted on its website.

"By mid-April, we begin to observe a decline in daily deaths in some areas such as New York and New Jersey; daily deaths continued to rise in other states such as Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland," the Health Care Cost Institute said. "We will continue to monitor these trends and many others as the data is updated each week."

The institute's new data, updated weekly, aggregates information on daily deaths in the United States using obituaries from online newspapers, funeral homes, online memorials, direct submissions and other sources through a health data system called Datavant.

US health agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, tend to rely on death certificate data to track daily deaths..

Despite using a different primary source of death data, the Health Care Cost Institute said it fonds similar results to CDC estimates of excess deaths.

"We hope that this analysis serves as a research resource to those seeking to better understand the effect of COVID-19 on all-cause mortality," the institute said.

8:54 a.m. ET, May 27, 2020

Spain holds moment of silence for Covid-19 victims at start of 10 days of mourning

From CNN’s Al Goodman and Ingrid Formanek in Spain

A minute of silence is held to honor coronavirus victims during a plenary session in the Congress of Deputies in Madrid, Spain, on Wednesday, May 27. Eduardo Parra/Europa Press/Getty Images

Spain held a moment of silence at noon on Wednesday (6aET) to honor those who have died of coronavirus.

Live images broadcast on Spanish television channels showed businesses, markets, streets and the country's parliament at a standstill.

The silent tribute marked the start of 10 days of national mourning, during which flags will fly at half-staff on all government and public buildings.

At least 27,117 people have died of coronavirus in Spain since the pandemic began, according to the country's Health Ministry.

6:43 a.m. ET, May 27, 2020

Japan tests an app to let sports fans cheer from the safety of their sofas

From CNN's Jack Guy

With fans barred from stadiums due to coronavirus restrictions, sporting bodies around the world are grappling with how to create atmosphere at matches -- and the makers of a new app think they have the answer.

The "Remote Cheerer powered by Sound UD" system is made by Yamaha and broadcasts cheers, boos and chants from users' homes to the stadium via the internet, according to a press release.

Fans tap buttons on an app to make their feelings known through speakers placed around the stadium, replacing the usual crowd noise.

Users can choose which area of the stadium their noise is broadcast from, and there are separate zones for each team to make the atmosphere as realistic as possible.

Eurozone economy will shrink by 8-12% this year, European Central Bank says

From CNN's Eoin McSweeney

Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank (ECB), speaks to the media at the ECB headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany, in March. Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images

The eurozone economy will shrink by 8% to 12% in 2020 because of the coronavirus, European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde has said.

Lagarde said the economic impact of the virus would fall between the economic impact of the virus.

She said the bank’s “mild” scenario, which estimated negative growth of 5%, was "already outdated."

Lagarde added that she was not too concerned about rising debt levels, saying there would not be a new euro crisis. She highlighted the importance of liquidity and said what the debt is spent on is what will be important.

"The ECB's mission is to first of all be the custodian of this phenomenal asset that we have in common, the euro, our currency," Lagarde said at a European Parliament youth event.
"The mission of our founding members was price stability, that's our primary mission."

5:48 a.m. ET, May 27, 2020

Mothers more likely to have lost their job during UK lockdown, study finds

From CNN's Vasco Cotovio

Mothers in the UK are more likely than fathers to have quit or lost their job, or to have been furloughed, since the start of a government lockdown designed to stop the spread of coronavirus, a study from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found.

"Mothers are one-and-a-half times more likely than fathers to have either lost their job or quit since the lockdown began," the study states.
"In all, mothers who were in paid work in February are 9 percentage points less likely to be currently working for pay (either remotely or on-site) than fathers."

The IFS found that women were also more likely to have increased domestic responsibilities during the lockdown.

"Mothers are doing paid work during 2 fewer hours of the day than fathers, but they do childcare and housework during 2 more hours each," the report notes.
"Mothers combine paid work with other activities (almost always childcare) in 47% of their work hours, compared with 30% of fathers' work hours."

The data indicates that the difference between the work patterns of men and women in households with two opposite-gender parents, has grown since before the crisis.

According to the study, "in 2014/15, mothers were in paid work at 80% of the rate of fathers; now this is 70% of the fathers' rate. Mothers in paid work used to work an average of 73% of the hours that fathers worked; this has fallen to 68%."
"Mothers and fathers used to be interrupted during the same proportion of their work hours; now mothers are interrupted over 50% more often."

5:38 a.m. ET, May 27, 2020

Boris Johnson's popularity falls after controversy over chief aide's lockdown travel

From CNN's Richard Greene and Vasco Cotovio

Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street on May 20, in London. Leon Neal/Getty Images

Boris Johnson's popularity has fallen dramatically in the aftermath of a political scandal involving his chief aide Dominic Cummings, according to British political polls. The UK government's popularity has also fallen.

Cummings has been heavily criticized after British newspapers revealed that he travelled 260 miles across England with his family, to stay near his parents during the coronavirus lockdown.

He has refused to apologize or resign. Cummings said that his wife had fallen ill, that he was concerned that he too would become unwell, and that no one would be able to look after their young child.

Johnson has refused to sack his aide, but polls also show that a majority of the public believe Cummings should resign.

Two-thirds of British adults responding to a poll for the Daily Mail, published Wednesday, said Cummings should resign. Around the same number of adults believed the UK leader should fire his aide.

A poll by SavantaComRes, published Tuesday, also suggested Johnson’s personal popularity had fallen by 20 points in four days.

The opposition Labour Party appears to have benefited from the scandal. A poll for The Times out Wednesday showed the gap between Johnson’s Conservatives and Labour closing by nine points; while another by Survation showed it closing by five. Both polls still show the Conservatives as more popular than Labour.

Meanwhile, UK Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick said the government would not review fines imposed on people traveling during the lockdown for childcare purposes, during an interview with the BBC’s Breakfast show on Wednesday.

Health Secretary, Matt Hancock had suggested that was a possibility on Tuesday, in response to a question from a member of the public.

"No there isn’t going to be a formal review," Jenrick said, adding that it was "for the police to decide whether to impose fines under the law."
"They have the guidance that we've provided, and the national police chiefs have provided their own guidance which does give officers a degree of discretion to use their common sense again reflecting the fact that all of our circumstances are different," he said.
"Dominic Cummings didn’t break the guidelines; the police, as far as I'm aware, haven't chosen to impose a fine on him."

4:49 a.m. ET, May 27, 2020

New Zealand's hospitals are cleared of all coronavirus patients for first time in months

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern at a press conference on May 27, in Wellington, New Zealand. Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

New Zealand reached a milestone in its battle against coronavirus today; for the first time since the pandemic prompted a total lockdown, there are no patients in hospitals being treated for Covid-19.

"Currently, there is nobody in hospital with Covid-19 following the discharge of a person from Middlemore Hospital," said Dr. Ashley Bloomfield, the Director-General of Health, at a press conference today.
"We've had a number of people in hospital -- never a big number, but I think this is the first time in a couple of months we haven't had someone in hospital. That's another good position to be in."

There are still 21 active cases, but they are not hospitalized at this time, he said.

There were also no new deaths reported today, and no new cases for the fifth consecutive day, he said.

The country now has 1,504 cases and 21 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

The New Zealand timeline: Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern first announced on March 14 that incoming travelers would need to self isolate for two weeks. At the time, the country had six cases.

When, on March 19, Ardern banned foreigners from entering the country, there were 28 confirmed cases.

And on March 23, when Ardern announced that the country was going into full lockdown, there were 102 confirmed cases -- and no deaths.

The tough measures seem to have paid off: The country was able to ease restrictions starting May 14, reopening businesses and public spaces in gradual phases.

People are now able to go back to bars, exercise in parks, and return to school.

But Bloomfield warned residents today to continue taking precautions like social distancing when possible. The country remains in Alert Level 2, which indicates the disease is contained but there is still risk of community transmission.

4:36 a.m. ET, May 27, 2020

The US now has 1.68 million cases of Covid-19

The United States now has at least 1,681,418 cases of coronavirus and 98,929 related deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

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

New York remains the hardest hit state, with 363,836 cases and 29,302 deaths. New Jersey, Illinois, and California follow next.

Take a look at CNN's live tracker of US cases:

Tracking Covid-19 cases in the US

3:52 a.m. ET, May 27, 2020

Dominic Cummings, the British official who broke lockdown, "shouldn't resign," says minister

From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio in London

Dominic Cummings, Chief Advisor to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, in London on May 26. Leon Neal/Getty Images

The British Housing Secretary, Robert Jenrick, defended top government official Dominic Cummings on Wednesday, amid a national controversy over Cummings breaking lockdown.

Cummings, a top advisor to British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, traveled 260 miles across England in March while his wife was sick with coronavirus symptoms -- at a time when the public was being urged not to leave their homes.

“No, he shouldn’t (resign),” Jenrick said on the BBC’s Breakfast show. “He has given his explanation to the Prime Minister, who listened and concluded that he’d acted reasonably and legally.”

He added that it was time to "move on" to other matters that the nation needed to focus on.

“It’s important obviously that everybody sticks to the rules and acts within the guidelines and Dominic Cummings did do that,” he said. “People will disagree with the decisions that he made, many people do, but he did stick to the guidelines, it was within the law.”

When asked if he was one of those people who disagreed with Cummings’ decisions, Jenrick said he was “not going to judge how individuals have made those decisions.”

“The Prime Minister supports him, the Cabinet supports him, I think it’s now for him to go about his job and more importantly, for the rest of us to get on with ours,” he said.