April 14 coronavirus news

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

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

66 Posts

Sort by

12:05 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

Shutdown is not sustainable for long, but reopening must be strategic, Gov. Cuomo says

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks to the press at the Javits Center in New York City on March 24. Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that while shuttered businesses and coronavirus restrictions are hampering the economy and way of life, such measures are necessary to prevent a flareup of new cases.

"People need to get back to work. The state needs an economy. We cannot sustain this for a prolonged period of time. Everybody agrees," Cuomo said.

"But everybody will also say how you reopen is everything, because of the first point, which is we are now keeping down that rate of infection. And if you start acting differently, you will see a corresponding increase in that rate of infection," he said.

Cuomo also responded to criticism that he is being "hyper-cautious."

"Oh really? Go look at other countries that went through exactly this, started to reopen and then they saw the infection rate go back up again. So let's at least learn from past mistakes," he said.

11:52 a.m. ET, April 14, 2020

Gov. Cuomo: Regional coalition is needed because coronavirus "doesn't understand state boundaries"

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he's working with governors from surrounding states on a plan to reopen the economy because "the virus doesn't understand state boundaries."

Cuomo yesterday announced that New York was working with six other northeastern states — New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Rhode Island and Massachusetts — on protocols for eventually reopening businesses.

"The virus doesn't understand state boundaries" Cuomo said today. "It defies all of our norms."

"We're all connected," he added.

11:46 a.m. ET, April 14, 2020

Gov. Cuomo says coronavirus case growth outside of NYC is flat

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the growth of coronavirus cases outside of New York City is essentially flat.

Hotspots in Long Island, Westchester County and Rockland County have been identified and tamped down by the state Department of Health using testing, isolation and tracing, according to Cuomo.

"Proportionately, upstate is very, very low to everything else in the state," he added.

12:16 p.m. ET, April 14, 2020

At least 10,834 people have died in New York from coronavirus

Medical personnel transport the body of a deceased patient from a refrigerated truck at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York, on April 8. Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

Another 778 people died across New York state from coronavirus yesterday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

That's up from 671 on Sunday.

At least 10,834 people in New York have died from coronavirus since the pandemic began.

11:46 a.m. ET, April 14, 2020

New York governor: "We think we are at the apex"

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the three-day average for coronavirus hospitalizations is down slightly, adding that officials believe the apex is here.

"We think we are at the apex, on the plateau," he said at a news conference.

However, while the rates are down, the volume of patients coming in daily is still high, Cuomo added.

"We still had 1,600 new people come in yesterday," he said. "The volume is still high."

Watch:

11:20 a.m. ET, April 14, 2020

New York City will buy 50,000 testing kits per week from this biotech firm

New York City will purchase 50,000 coronavirus testing kits per week from Aria Diagnostics, a biotech firm in Indiana, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced this morning.

"The No. 1 issue from day one has been testing. When we started fighting the coronavirus here in the city, I said we needed the federal help with testing — it never came. We have scoured the world looking for test kits on the open market. It's been extraordinarily frustrating," he said.

"I'm sure New Yorkers wouldn't have thought the cavalry would have come from Carmel, Indiana, but it has. It's going to be a big piece of the solution going forward," he added.

The test kit components include nasal swabs, viral transport medium (VTM), and tubes.

This follows a previously announced a donation of 50,000 testing kits for New York City by Aria Diagnostics.

11:14 a.m. ET, April 14, 2020

Italian police fined more than 42,000 people over Easter weekend for breaking restrictions

From CNN's Sharon Braithwaite

Police officers signal drivers to pull over at a road block in Rome on April 13. Andrew Medichini/AP

Italian police issued fines to more than 42,000 people during the Easter weekend for breaking coronavirus containment rules, the Italian Interior Ministry said today.

The crackdown occurred between Saturday and Monday.

On Monday alone, 16,545 containment fines were given. That's the highest daily number recorded by the Ministry since the lockdown was introduced in Italy in order to combat the coronavirus outbreak.

Italy was the first country outside of mainland China to implement strict restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus, even bringing in military personnel to help enforce those laws.

11:08 a.m. ET, April 14, 2020

New York City mayor says hospitalizations are down, but ICU admissions are up

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, center, speaks during a press conference at a temporary hospital located at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City on April 10. Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty Images

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that, as of Monday, hospitalizations for coronavirus are down, but both positive cases and ICU admissions are up.

Here's how he spelled it out in a news conference:

At least 326 people were admitted to hospitals on Monday for Covid-19, down from 383 the day before.
At least 850 people were in NYC Health + Hospitals ICU units for suspected Covid-19, up from 835 the day before. NYC Health + Hospitals is made up of 11 facilities and says it's the “largest public health care system in the United States."
Citywide, the percentage of people tested who are positive for Covid-19 59.6%, up from 58.1% the day before. At Public Health Lab, it's 84%, up 78.4% the day before.

10:52 a.m. ET, April 14, 2020

Trump says New York governor "seems to want Independence! That won't happen!"

From CNN's Nikki Carvajal

President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing about the novel coronavirus at the White House on April 13. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Trump has responded to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who told CNN this morning he would refuse and legally challenge a potential order from the President to reopen the state's economy if doing so would put its residents at risk of being exposed to Covid-19.

Trump tweeted that Cuomo has been “begging for everything,” and now “seems to want independence.”

“Cuomo’s been calling daily, even hourly, begging for everything, most of which should have been the state’s responsibility, such as new hospitals, beds, ventilators, etc.,” the President wrote. “I got it all done for him, and everyone else, and now he seems to want Independence! That won't happen!" Trump tweeted.

Some background: Trump told reporters yesterday that he had “total authority” to reopen state economies after coronavirus closures. Legal experts say that isn't supported by the Constitution.

Cuomo, whose state is currently seeing the effectiveness of its restrictions as the number of cases there begin to level off, said a "dictatorial" and "partisan" order from Trump to reopen New York's economy "would be the worst possible thing he could do at this moment."