June 11 coronavirus news

The number of coronavirus cases in Louisiana increased by more than 400 for the third straight day.

Louisiana Department of Health reported 44,472 total cases on Thursday with 2,874 total deaths, up 19 since Wednesday’s report.

At least 469,673 tests have been completed statewide. 

Gov. John Bel Edwards said on Wednesday that while the state is not seeing a spike in cases, there are three regions of concern. He said that cases are increasing in Monroe, Lake Charles and Alexandria due to community spread and congregate settings.

Edwards is slated to take part in a town hall with The Advocate later this afternoon to discuss the state’s response to the pandemic.

There are serious errors being made in the metrics that are being tracked in the United States when it comes to Covid-19, according to Dr. Tom Frieden, the former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and current president and CEO of Resolve to Save Lives.

These errors are undermining how quickly and how well the US can control Covid-19 and restore the economy, Frieden said during a webinar on Thursday.

Some of the areas that are being focused on which Frieden says are not as important as they are being made out to be include case counts — which he says are relatively meaningless in most of the country — as well as the total number of tests being conducted, and the test positivity rate.

Frieden and his colleagues believe that other metrics are more important when it comes to understanding and controlling Covid-19.

Dr. Cyrus Shahpar, Resolve to Save Lives’ director, listed some of the more important numbers to focus on to help governments and communities to form response plans for Covid-19.

These included unlinked infections, proportion of cases among quarantine contacts, number of health care worker infections, trends in excess mortality and demographic trends.

Unlinked infections, for example, are a good number to track because details about them can be used to improve contact tracing.

“If the metrics that matter are used by governments and communities, we will be better equipped to fight the virus [and] save more lives,” Shahpar said.

Nashville city officials announced today that they will be delaying the next phase of the city's reopening plan following an increase in new virus cases, according to a news release from the health department. 

"The level of cases in Southeast Nashville warrants further attention, and I have instructed the Metro Public Health Department to concentrate its efforts there. We will continue with Phase Two while carefully observing our public health data every day,” the mayor continued.

The latest numbers: Metro Public Health Department officials announced today a total number of 6,627 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Nashville/Davidson County, an increase of 56 in the past 24 hours. The confirmed cases range in age from 1 month to 100 years.

One additional death was reported in Davidson County, a 46-year old male with underlying health conditions.

At least 80 people have died after a confirmed case of Covid-19. At least 5,110 individuals have recovered from the virus.

Stephen Dickson, the administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said there will be a long path before the airline industry recovers.

Speaking in a virtual chat with the Air Traffic Control Association, the former Delta Air Lines executive said, "I think we're talking about years rather than months for a full recovery."

Dickson said the agency has been working on the recertification of the Boeing 737 MAX, but wouldn’t put a date on a potential certification flight or its return.

“We shouldn’t be talking about any timelines with the MAX. We continue to work very effectively even in this Covid environment with Boeing. … we continue to work through all of the issues. The next big milestone is a certification flight. We don’t have everything accomplished” to be ready for that, he said.

“It remains to be seen what date that will occur but we certainly have that as the next point in the process," Dickson said.

President Trump's economic adviser Larry Kudlow called today a “rough day” for markets when he appeared on Fox Business today — but he added that it isn’t the “last word" and downplayed the threat of a second wave of coronavirus. 

Kudlow was asked about market reaction to concerns about another spike of cases in the fall.  

Pressed on the fact that there have been 100,000 cases in the last week, he said he is “not a medical expert,” and suggested it was because “we are testing much more.” He also said hospitalizations have increased because elective surgeries have resumed. 

Kudlow said they are “looking at a lot of options” for additional stimulus funding, but he wouldn’t get into specifics. During a very brief gaggle with reporters, he suggested there’s consensus for a tourism stimulus in some form. 

“Could be a deduction, could be a credit, could be a refundable credit,” he said, adding, “There seems to be a very broad agreement with congressional members that would be a good thing to do.” 

During a panel discussion with other mayors across the country hosted by the Center for American Progress, Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego said that the city and state of Arizona is not recovering from Covid-19.

“We have had so many of the records you don't want to be hitting for Covid-19 from my perspective. We opened too much too early and so our hospitals are really struggling,” Gallego said.

She also said that the increase of positive cases is primarily due to the lifting of the stay-at-home order as well as challenges in long-term care facilities. Arizona lifted the stay-at-home order on May 15.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that five state regions would be moving to phase three of reopening tomorrow.

He warned that the “rules are clear” and businesses must abide by the guidelines, including indoor capacity limits.

Noting a rise in cases in some US states, Cuomo warned that even though New York's numbers "are good," precautions must continue.

The regions entering phase three include: Finger Lakes, North Country, Central New York, Mohawk Valley and Southern Tier.

Industries that are allowed to reopen in this phase under restrictions include:

Restaurants must limit indoor capacity to no more than 50% of maximum occupancy, exclusive of employees. All indoor and outdoor tables with seating for customers must be separated by a minimum of six feet in all directions, the guidance says.

“Please follow the guidelines and do what is permissible to do. People are very wary right now of businesses that are violating the rules,” Cuomo said.

Cuomo warned that businesses could lose their liquor license or right to operate if guidelines were not followed.

“Short-term gain isn’t worth long-term pain,” he added.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, requested a briefing next week from top administration public health officials, including Dr. Anthony Fauci and Dr. Deborah Birx, on recent coronavirus spikes in states around the country. 

Schumer's remarks come as Vice President Mike Pence is set to meet this afternoon with the task force for the second time this week. 

Some context: CNN reported last month that the task force has been sharply curtailed, meeting about once a week. While task force members have been on conference calls with governors weekly, there has not been a briefing from the task force since April 27.

CNN's Betsy Klein contributed to this report

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said 36 people died from coronavirus yesterday — which is "close to its lowest point," he said.

At least 53 people died from coronavirus on Tuesday and 46 died on Monday.