June 16 coronavirus news

Amtrak is warning of another round of job cuts as it pares back train service amid a stubbornly slow recovery and said it does not plan to ask Congress for enough money to preserve jobs. 

An executive at the rail network wrote to employees that it plans to run many of the long-distance routes less frequently, saving the rail network $150 million in costs. A copy of the message was obtained by CNN. 

Executive Vice President Roger Harris did not quantify the job losses, but said the company “will work quickly to determine what staffing reductions or furloughs will occur.” 

The passenger railroad service does not plan to ask Congress for additional funds to save those jobs, nor the 20% company-wide furloughs announced in May, spokesperson Kimberly Woods told CNN on Tuesday.  

Amtrak has requested more than $3.5 billion from Congress this year, including a special $1.47 billion request to help with coronavirus-related costs and losses. 

Woods said Amtrak is “in the planning phase” and has not determined if the long-distance job cuts will be in addition to the 20% reductions. 

In the memo, Harris wrote: “Congress is not going to support us indefinitely to run mostly empty trains. We need to demonstrate that we are using our resources efficiently and responsibly.”

Amtrak’s 15 long-distance routes stretch as long as the 2,400 mile California Zephyr line, running from Chicago to the San Francisco area. It used to run that route – and one other – daily, but plans to reduce service on most lines to three times weekly. 

“As the economy begins to reopen, demand remains down more than 70%,” Woods told CNN.  “We forecast a slow recovery and expect systemwide ridership in FY21 to be half of what it was in 2019.” 

Employee unions call for Congress' help: The Amtrak employee unions, however, are asking Congress to chip in to save those jobs. A coalition of 14 unions wrote to Congress on Friday requesting $350 million for Amtrak to prevent the layoffs.

They warned the rail line will “use the pandemic as an excuse to permanently and artificially cut its workforce, eliminate or reduce routes and on-board or other customer services, or replace furloughed Amtrak employees with outsourced contractors.”  

Amtrak recently turned 49 and said before the pandemic, it was on track for its first profitable year. 

Sao Paulo state health authorities reported 8,825 new cases of novel coronavirus on Tuesday — the highest number reported cases in a 24-hour period so far.

It brings the state's total number of coronavirus cases to 190,285.

Sao Paulo also recorded the highest number of daily fatalities with 365 in the past 24 hours, bringing the state's death toll to 11,132 as of Tuesday afternoon, according to health authorities.

Joao Gabbardo, an executive coordinator for the state's response task force, said during a news conference on Tuesday that the increase of deaths may have occurred due to the spread of the virus to municipalities in the interior of the state where no cases had been reported.

The record number of new cases and deaths come as several cities in Sao Paulo relaxed their social isolation measures last week.

The US government is exploring 14 Covid-19 vaccine candidates out of more than 100 currently in development worldwide, with plans to narrow the list to about seven before further testing, senior Trump administration officials said during a telephone briefing on Tuesday. 

Large-scale, randomized trials would then be conducted with the most promising candidates from those seven.

How they will decide on the seven is an ongoing discussion but the criteria will be those that are safest, most effective and technologies that lend themselves to faster manufacturing to scale.

More on the vaccine candidates: Some of the 14 vaccine candidate options are already in clinical trials with US government support. 

The senior administration officials did not specify which 14 candidates are being considered, but some vaccine candidates have been previously identified receiving government support.

In March, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced $456 million in funds for Johnson & Johnson’s candidate vaccine, with phase one clinical trials set to begin this summer.

The following month, HHS made around $483 million available to Moderna in support of its candidate vaccine, which began phase one trials on March 16 and received a fast-track designation from US Food and Drug Administration, which makes it eligible for “accelerated approval” and “priority review” and ensures frequent communication with the FDA throughout the approval process.

And in May, HHS announced more than a billion dollars in support of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate, being developed in conjunction with the University of Oxford, along with a pledge to eventually make 300 million doses available to the United States with the first ones being delivered as early as October. 

The senior administration officials cautioned that it is not 100% certain a viable vaccine will come from the 14 candidates, and there is a chance that if one is developed it could be better suited to certain demographics.

But the government is taking as many steps as possible to ensure a safe and effective vaccine by January, officials said.

If and when a vaccine is developed, officials said they do not expect to vaccinate all Americans initially and certain groups will be prioritized.

A top union official said Tuesday he believes because Transportation Security Administration officers are “not medical professionals,” they should not be responsible for conducting temperature screenings of travelers at airports.  

CNN reported in May that TSA officials were developing a plan to have checkpoint officers screen travelers for fevers, but thus far, that plan has not come into fruition. Airlines have urged the agency to handle that responsibility.  

Around 19,000 TSA employees are members of AFGE Council 100.  

Pennsylvania is reporting another 362 cases of coronavirus for a total of 79,483, according to a news release from the state's Department of Health. There have also been an additional 33 deaths attributed to the virus for a total of 6,276.

An additional 630 have positive serology tests, which the state considers as probable, but not confirmed cases.

New Jersey reported 51 new deaths on Tuesday, Gov. Phil Murphy announced in his daily presser.

The statewide death total in New Jersey is now 12,727. Nearly half of those deaths — 6,020 – have been in long-term care facilities. 

New Jersey reported 470 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to 167,426 cases, Murphy said. 

The governor said there are also positive indicators in the state as well. New cases continue to trend down, the governor said. New Jersey is currently ranked 32nd in the US in new Covid-19 cases reported per day. 

Philadelphia has not seen a spike in coronavirus cases since protests began in the city, the Department of Public Health said in a statement today.

The health department reported there was an increase in the number of people getting tested recently.

Here's a statement from a health department spokesperson:

The steroid dexamethasone can save one life for every eight patients treated for Covid-19, with the whole treatment only costing around $50 dollars, one of the leaders of the Oxford University study said Tuesday at the UK government briefing. 

“If we treat eight patients in intensive care with this drug, we’ll save one life. And the total cost of treating all eight patients is only about 40 [British] pounds – so this is really really remarkable and we’re extremely pleased with this result,” Hornby said, standing alongside British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Hornby said that when administered to ventilated Covid-19 patients over ten days, it reduces the risk of death by about 35%.

Describing dexamethasone as an “old drug – some people would say it’s a boring drug,” Hornby said the drug had different effects on different groups.

“In ventilated patients with Covid-19 the drug dexamethasone – so 10 days of treatment with that which is tablet or injection – it reduces risk of death by about 35%. In patients on the ward who require oxygen and have Covid, it reduces the risk of death by about 20%. That covers about 75% of patients in the hospital who would receive a mortality benefit from using this drug,” Hornby said standing alongside Johnson. 

Read more about the study and steroid dexamethasone:

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Steroid reduces risk of death in severe Covid-19 patients, trial suggests

Hilton Worldwide Holdings announced it is cutting 2,100 corporate employees, as the hospitality company deals with “unprecedented challenges for the travel and tourism industry.”

The company also said it is extending previously announced furloughs, reduced hours and corporate pay cuts for up to an additional 90 days. 

Nassetta said he’s devastated that in order to protect the business “we have been forced to take actions that directly impact our team members.” 

The hotel industry has taken a massive hit because of stay-at-home orders during the pandemic. 

Data from hospitality analytics company STR found that only 21.6% of hotel rooms in the US were occupied between March 29 and April 4. 

The data shows occupancy levels have improved since then, but that “year over year declines remain significant.”