April 14 coronavirus news

By Joshua Berlinger, Adam Renton, Rob Picheta and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 9:38 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020
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7:40 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

More people are leaving New York hospitals than arriving, doctor says

From CNN's Rob Frehse

The surgery chair of a New York City hospital says more patients are departing than arriving.

Dr. Craig Smith of the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center also said the number of patients in the Intensive Care Unit and on ventilators appears to be leveling off at two hospitals who are bearing the brunt of those cases.

Smith wrote these details in a daily note to faculty and staff.

“These trends support our pivot towards restoration of normal,” Smith wrote.

There are also less autopsies: Smith says autopsies have become uncommon in most settings, notes “phone consent is not considered acceptable”

“We have very little idea why Covid-19 is so lethal and resistant to treatment in certain patients,” Smith said. “Autopsy in Covid mortalities has a relatively high probability of contributing to the advancement of medical science."

He added: "Because phone consent is not considered acceptable—a significant hurdle when visitors are not allowed. We are pursuing solutions to that unintended consequence of an administrative policy that was less often objectionable pre-pandemic.”

7:37 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

Trump claims he doesn't "talk about China's transparency" after praising their efforts

From CNN's Betsy Klein

US President Donald Trump speaks during the daily briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force in the Rose Garden at the White House April 14 in Washington.
US President Donald Trump speaks during the daily briefing of the White House Coronavirus Task Force in the Rose Garden at the White House April 14 in Washington. Alex Wong/Getty Images

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins pressed President Trump on his previous praise for China’s transparency on coronavirus.

“China has been working very hard to contain the coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!” Trump tweeted on Jan. 24, as he and his administration downplayed the outbreak.

Days later, Trump announced he was banning foreign nationals who had traveled to China from entering the US.

“I don’t talk about China’s transparency,” Trump claimed in the Rose Garden Tuesday, citing his travel ban as evidence.

“I was the one person that wanted to do it. You know why? Because I don’t believe everything I hear,” Trump said of his travel ban decision.

7:13 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

US surpasses 600,000 coronavirus cases

According to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the United States, there are at least 602,989 cases of coronavirus in the United States.

On Tuesday, Johns Hopkins reported 20,382 new cases in the United States.

7:11 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

San Francisco Pride cancels 50th anniversary celebration due to coronavirus concerns

From CNN's Sarah Moon

San Francisco City Hall is lit up in rainbow colors following Gay Pride in San Francisco, California on Sunday, June, 26, 2016.
San Francisco City Hall is lit up in rainbow colors following Gay Pride in San Francisco, California on Sunday, June, 26, 2016. Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images

San Francisco Pride has decided to cancel its parade and celebration this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, the organization announced in a statement today.

“Uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic has intensified in recent weeks, and the organization has concluded that the risks to public health of a large-scale gathering such as Pride preclude this year’s production of the annual event,” the statement said.

The two day event in San Francisco, scheduled for June 27 and 28, would have marked San Francisco Pride’s 50th anniversary with over a million attendees, according to the statement.

“This was not a decision we arrived at lightly,” San Francisco Pride Executive Director Fred Lopez said.

Nonprofit event producers are working to determine alternate ways to celebrate the 50th anniversary through digital platforms.

SF Pride will join other Pride organizations in a worldwide “Virtual Global Pride” event on June 27.

7:10 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

Trump acknowledges governors will have the authority to open states when ready

From CNN's Kevin Liptak

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images
Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump says he'll soon reveal details and guidelines for reopening the country but appeared to acknowledge that individual state governors will ultimately determine when to reverse stay-at-home orders.

Only a day earlier, Trump insisted he had absolute authority to determine when states would be able to reopen their economies.

But his message Tuesday was different. He said governors would determine their own plans. And while he said he was authorizing them to do it, there wasn't any evidence they would require such sign-off.

Trump said he would be "authorizing each individual governor of each individual state to implement a reopening and a very powerful reopening plan of their state."

He said he would soon speak to all 50 governors about the plans, and indicated some states without major outbreaks could potentially open before May 1.

He said his administration would work to hold governors accountable for the plans.

But he said they'd be working closely with the states.

Watch:

6:27 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

Trump halts US funding to World Health Organization  

From CNN's Elise Hammond

U.S. President Donald Trump and World Health Organization (WHO) DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom
U.S. President Donald Trump and World Health Organization (WHO) DirectorGeneral Tedros Adhanom AFP and Bloomberg

President Trump announced Tuesday he is halting funding to the World Health Organization while a review is conducted.

Trump said at a news conference the review would cover the WHO’s “role in severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of coronavirus.”

The President said that while the US imposed travel restrictions on China during the early stages of the outbreak, WHO was "opposed to what we did," he said.

"Other nations and regions who followed WHO guidelines and kept their borders open to China, accelerated the pandemic around the world," Trump said.

Trump continued: "The decision of other major countries to keep travel open was one of the great tragedies and missed opportunities from the early days."

6:26 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

California reports most coronavirus cases in a single day

From CNN'S Cheri Mossburg

California said it has 1,544 new coronavirus cases – the highest number recorded in a single day since the beginning of the outbreak.

These additional cases bring the total in California to 23,338. More than 11% of those patients are health care workers, according to new data from California Department of Public Health.

At least 758 people have died in California due to coronavirus.

6:19 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

Dyson says new ventilator units are almost ready for mass production 

From CNN's Barbara Arvanitidis and Nada Bashir

Dyson is gearing up for full-scale production of ventilators to help with the coronavirus pandemic.

The company has confirmed that its production lines based at the Hullavington Airfield in England are now in the process of manufacturing ventilator units in preparation for final regulatory approval. 

“If this new ventilator passes MHRA tests, full scale production can begin,” Dyson said Tuesday, adding that the engineering firm is “ready to make 10,000 ventilators to support this NHS” in its fight against coronavirus. 

In a letter shared with CNN in March, James Dyson – the company’s billionaire founder – confirmed that the company had received an order from the UK government for 10,000 ventilators.

In a video shared by Dyson today, the company showcased its latest development, highlighting that engineering teams and manufacturers have been working “around the clock” to develop this new ventilator. 

“Dyson and TTP have worked together to develop an entirely new design of ventilator in record time for the clinical needs of COVID-19 patients,” Dyson said. 

The video continued: “The project has brought together engineers, scientists, medical device designers, clinical testing and high technology manufacturing knowledge, to achieve the NHS specification."

In March, a spokesperson for Dyson told CNN that they hoped to have the ventilators ready for mass production by early April 2020. 

6:17 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

New Orleans mayor urges big festivals to postpone until 2021

From CNN’s Kay Jones

New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said today that she doesn't believe the city's biggest events — French Quarter Festival, JazzFest and Essence Festival — should be held in 2020, but instead push to 2021.

All three events had been postponed in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cantrell said she's been in touch with event organizers but did not give any additional details on those conversations. 

As of mid-March, the French Quarter Festival and JazzFest posted on their social media that the events were postponed to the fall of 2020. Nothing new has been updated since then.