April 16 coronavirus news

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease specialist, said just because the country may start using the phased plan to slowly reopen the economy, "it's not game over."

He said at the daily coronavirus briefing that there are checks built in to each phase to ensure safety above everything else — even if that means things don't go completely back to "normal."

Fauci said it is important to continue to take measures to prevent the spread of the virus until there is a vaccine.

"It may very well be that as we go the cycle around there will be this virus that wants to come back to us. I think we will be able to handle that," Fauci said.

Missouri’s stay-at-home order will be extended through May 3, according to an announcement Thursday from the governor’s office. 

Parson said he is cautiously optimistic that “Missouri is beginning to slow the course of the infection.”

He said the state's ability to reopen the economy after May 3 depends on how quickly they can expand testing and the supply of personal protective equipment for health care workers.

Today on a call with the nation's governors about reopening the economy after the coronavirus, several governors pressed President Trump over lack of testing. 

According a source familiar, the administration focused on the two main private sector firms, Quest and Labcorp, saying both of them still had capacity to conduct more tests.

But, as this source notes, this does not address one of the biggest problems many states face, not just a lack of tests, but lack of materials needed for the testing, such as swabs.

During the call, the White House insisted that they had shipments of the swabs getting ready to go out, which should make the testing easier. However, the source pointed out that the administration has been promising this for more than a month.

The other problem with private testing is that it still takes multiple days to get the results.

At one point, the administration also said that not all states were using their public state labs to their capacity.

During his announcement about new guidelines from the federal government, President Trump made a complete reversal in course from remarks earlier this week where he suggested he had “absolute authority” to reopen the country.

Trump suggested Thursday that governors will be empowered to make the decisions regarding stay-at-home orders and will be supported by the federal government.

“Governors will be empowered to tailor an approach that meets the diverse circumstances of their own states, every state is very different. They’re all beautiful, we love them all, but they’re very, very different. They need to remain closed, we will allow them to do that. And if they believe it is time to reopen, we will provide them the freedom and guidance to accomplish that task and very, very quickly, depending on what they want to do,” Trump said at the coronavirus task force press briefing.

He continued: “We are also encouraging states to work together to harmonize their regional efforts. We’ll have numerous cases where states have worked, and will be working, very, very closely together.”

CNN reported details of the proposal earlier Thursday. 

There has now been at least 658,263 cases of coronavirus in the US, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

At least 32,186 people in the country have died from coronavirus.

As states begin to include “probable deaths” in their counts, so will Johns Hopkins University. In the upcoming days, these changes may show as surges of deaths in the United States. 

Today, Johns Hopkins reported 20,152 new cases and 1,342 reported deaths. 

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

President Trump announced a proposed measure to reopen the economy in three phases at today's daily coronavirus briefing.

Earlier today Trump gave state governors the proposed plan.

CNN reported on the recommendations sent to governors earlier Thursday. 

The plan outlines the “proposed state or regional gating criteria” for each phase. It includes when to reopen restaurants, bars, gyms and public spaces and gives guidance for employers, as well as phasing in nonessential travel.

In the first phase of reopening, the document suggests schools that are currently closed should remain so. Large venues can operate under strict social distancing protocols. Gyms can open as long as they maintain social distancing guidelines, but bars should remain shuttered.

The President said that because states are all different, governors will make decisions based on individual needs.

"If they need to remain closed, we will allow them to do that. If they believe it is time to reopen, we will provide them the freedom and guidance to accomplish that task and very, very quickly depending on what they want to do," he said.

The phased plan also encourages employers to enact social distancing, temperature checks, testing and sanitation practices.

Watch:

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster has proposed the state legislature come back in late June, since coronavirus is expected to peak in mid-May.

By June, coronavirus will be on the downside of its’ peak and businesses should be opening around that time, McMaster said.

“We expect to be back in business by then. That way the government won’t shut down and no one needs to have any concerns about the government shutting down. We will not let the government shut down and it will continue into the next fiscal year,” he said.

McMaster said South Carolinians cannot let their guard down and asked that they continue to follow stay-at-home orders and social distancing protocols.

As part of his unveiling of new reopening guidelines, President Trump is expected to announce Thursday a new effort to bolster contact tracing in states, according to a person familiar with the plans.

The effort will include the hiring of hundreds of staffers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to perform tracing in states and helping states pay for new teams to contact people who have tested positive to see who they have interacted with.

The effort is meant to prevent new outbreaks in places as they begin to reopen. The new workers would supplement existing contact tracing efforts in state and local health departments.

Health experts, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, have cited contact tracing — along with testing and isolating cases — as essential to reopening efforts.

Earlier, CNN reported that teams from the CDC are being sent to the eight states — New Mexico, Wyoming, Idaho, Alaska, North Dakota, Kentucky, West Virginia and Ohio — to bolster contact tracing efforts in order to help contain Covid-19.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday a new program that will provide emergency monetary relief for up to 20,000 “immigrant workers and their families, who have largely been excluded from federal COVID-19 relief programs.”

New York City is partnering with the Open Society Foundations to establish the $20 million fund, according to a statement from de Blasio’s office.