April 16 coronavirus news

There are now at least 640,014 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US.

So far, 31,002 people have died due to the virus, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.

As states begin to include “probable deaths” in their counts, so will Johns Hopkins. In the upcoming days, these changes may show a surge of deaths in the US.

Johns Hopkins has reported 1,903 new cases and 158 reported deaths today.

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

The White House is calling on Congress to "IMMEDIATELY increase funding for the Paycheck Protection Program," according to a tweet sent Thursday morning following news that the $349 billion in emergency funding for small businesses had been depleted.

The tweet says a one page bill will get the job done and there should not be any “liberal pet projects.”

The tweet concludes by saying that “the Trump Administration is doing its part to get it to them. Why isn’t Congress?”

Some context: CNN has reported that the Small Business Association is out of money for the Paycheck Protection Program as of this morning.

Negotiations on Capitol Hill have yet to generate a path forward to replenish the money, as the US economy continues to stagger under the pressure of near-nationwide closures.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Democrats will reconvene Thursday to try and reach agreement on a package that will immediately increase funding for the program.

Read the tweet:

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said that while he will listen to the federal government’s guidance on reopening the economy, the decision will ultimately be up to individual states. 

“The feds can get the reagents, the feds can get the testing kits, the feds can tell us what type of antibody testing is approved so we can roll that out, and then at the end of the day, I think it's the governors who are going to get it done," Lamont said.

Lamond said Connecticut is still trying to obtain supplies such as reagents and masks from the federal government stockpile.

President Trump is expected to issue guidance today on reopening the country’s economy.

Lamont says they will weigh his guidelines, as well as ones from experts like Dr. Anthony Fauci, but in the end, governors will make their own decisions for their states. 

"I think a lot of my regional governors are out there on their own," Lamont said. "We can't simply wait for the federal government's guidance. But I'll listen when it comes."

Lamont said he won’t recommend opening businesses and schools before there is broad testing available.

“I think that would be really dangerous,” he said. 

Lamont also said he will be issuing guidelines in the coming days for wearing masks in the state to stop the spread of coronavirus. He said he wants people to wear masks whenever they aren't able to socially distance, including at the grocery store. 

Watch the interview:

The Small Business Association has officially run out of money for the Paycheck Protection Program, according to a message for lenders on the SBA's website posted Thursday morning. 

What it means: The Small Business Administration sent a notice to banks yesterday night making clear the allocated funds for the program were on the verge of being exhausted, according to a copy sent to CNN.

"Once the authorization limit is reached, SBA will not be able to accept any new applications for the Paycheck Protection Program," the update to lenders states.

Also of note: "SBA is unable to maintain a queue for PPP applications."

SBA also sent their own release Wednesday urging lawmakers to renew the funding.

“The high demand we have seen underscores the need for hardworking Americans to have access to relief as soon as possible. We want every eligible small business to participate and get the resources they need," the release said.

Some context: With the SBA program out of funds, negotiations on Capitol Hill have yet to generate a path forward to replenish the money –– all as the US economy continues to stagger under the pressure of near-nationwide closures.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Democrats will reconvene today to try and reach agreement on a package that will immediately increase funding for the program. 

Spain has doubled the number of daily coronavirus tests to 40,000, resulting in an increase of figures since the start of the pandemic, said Fernando Simón, the country’s director of health emergencies.

Even though the total overall number is up because of expanded testing, Simón said, the number of active cases is in decline, at less than 1%, Spain’s Health Ministry records show. 

He said this is due “in part to increased testing, including the rapid tests that look for antibodies, and for the even more reliable PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests, which look for the virus itself."

Simon called the testing an “enormous effort across the nation to locate the virus.” 

Minister of Health Salvador Illa has said he wants to increase testing numbers to 50,000 a day.

By the numbers: Spain continues to see a “progressive decline in the number of new hospitalized people and new intensive care admissions” Simon said, citing 1,003 new hospital admissions, “a 1.7% increase with respect to the previous day."

Simon said 79 new cases were admitted into intensive care units, ICUs, “a 1.4% increase with respect to the day before.”

When asked why the large increase of deaths and infections reported by Catalan regional health authorities late Wednesday were not included in the national count, Simon defended the Spanish Health Ministry’s figures, saying “we are counting all those infected who die and have a test in which coronavirus is detected."

Some context: The Spanish region of Catalonia may have twice the official number of deaths reported so far by the Spanish government, according to new data from the region’s department of health.

Spanish government health authorities have repeatedly said their counting methods are in line with international protocols, such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC).

The Portuguese government may ease lockdown measures as the number of people killed by the novel coronavirus in the country surpassed 600 on Thursday.

According to the Portuguese Health Directorate, 629 people have died since the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country; 30 of those deaths were reported in the past 24 hours. The number of confirmed cases also jumped to 18,841 with an increase of 750 new cases.

Despite the grim milestone, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has put forward a decree extending the state of emergency until May 2, which includes provisions paving the way for the country to ease the social distancing measures it has in place.

The gradual reopening of certain businesses and reinstatement of certain workers rights are included in the legislation.

The decree has been approved by the country’s government and sent to the Portuguese parliament where members of parliament will debate it today. They will vote on whether to approve the decree following the debate.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is calling on the federal government to "save" his city as coronavirus continues to spread.

He said the city, and others across the country, need to be able to do the basics before the economy will be able to successfully restart.

He said he supports House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's proposed bill for the next round of emergency funding. It includes $150 billion for state and local governments, $100 billion for hospitals and community health centers and more money for food stamp programs and small businesses.

"I would ask the President and Leader [Mitch] McConnell in particular, in the Senate, to remember the first thing you should be thinking about is the human cost," de Blasio said. "That should be the moral question. That should be the straightforward question."

Roughly 700 police officers have returned to service after undergoing rapid coronavirus testing, Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan told CNN today.

Additionally, at least 600 police officers had to be taken out of service for a 14 day quarantine after being exposed to coronavirus, Duggan said. 

Around 200 city workers tested positive for the coronavirus and 10 of them have died, according to Duggan. 

Duggan also addressed the death of bus driver Jason Hargrove, who died after complaining in a viral video that a passenger coughed on him. 

"He was everything good about public service," Duggan said of Hargrove. "Jason Hargrove's message should be heard by everybody in the country."

Duggan said that the state would have to issue a mandate regarding face coverings on public transport but that the city's bus system has already stopped taking fares, begun offering face masks to passengers, and has created more space between drivers and passengers.

Watch the interview on CNN:

The $349 billion emergency small business lending program will officially be tapped out Thursday morning.

Negotiations on Capitol Hill have yet to generate a path forward to replenish the money, all as the US economy continues to stagger under the pressure of near-nationwide closures.

As of 6:30 a.m. ET, $338 billion in loans have been approved, per an official with the Small Business Administration, and the $11 billion in funding authority remaining was expected to run out shortly.

Now what: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Democrats will reconvene Thursday to try and reach agreement on a package that will immediately increase funding for the program. But they aren't there yet and this is no longer a theoretical exercise.

The program had, and continues to have, glitches and difficulties. But it also rolled through $349 billion in less than two weeks. That's how urgent it is for small business owners. That's how desperate, how flat catastrophic, the economic situation is amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

The Senate meets for a pro forma session at 3 p.m. ET. A deal needs to be reached before then for the money to have any opportunity to be replenished this week. Democrats and the Treasury Department are expected to continue negotiations behind closed doors