Number of hospitalizations across New York continues to decline, governor says
State of New York
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced moments ago that hospitalizations across New York due to coronavirus have fallen.
"Net change in total hospitalizations is undeniably on the decline. The three-day average, which is more accurate than any one-day number, also says the same thing. That's not that telling to me because, as I said, the entire hospital is now basically an ICU ward," Cuomo said as a news conference Friday.
Cuomo also added that intubations are down and "that is very good news."
"Because intubations 80% of the time wind up in a person not recovering. So that's really good news," he said.
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11:26 a.m. ET, April 17, 2020
Florida ramps up coronavirus testing with "walk-up" sites
From CNN’s Rosa Flores Angela Barajas and Sara Weisfeldt
Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says his state is almost "neck and neck" with California in terms of Covid-19 testing.
At today's press conference in Fort Lauderdale, DeSantis announced the opening of two walk-up testing centers in Broward County.
The sites will be operated with the help of the National Guard, the Florida Department of Health and Broward Sheriff's Office and will only test those with symptoms. DeSantis said these testing sites will be help the underserved communities who might not have access to drive-thru locations.
DeSantis said that 43% of hospital beds are currently empty statewide. As of 8 p.m. ET Thursday, there were 774 Covid-19 patients in the ICU statewide, the lowest number since April 9, according to DeSantis.
11:38 a.m. ET, April 17, 2020
Roughly 40% of French aircraft carrier personnel have tested positive for coronavirus
From CNN's Pierre Bairin in Paris
Christophe Simon/AFP/Getty Images
Around 40% of personnel on board the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier and its support vessels tested positive for coronavirus, the central director of the French Health Service of Armed Forces said on Friday.
Dr. Maryline Gygax Genero, who testified before the French Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and the Armed Forces, said all 2,300 personnel were tested for the virus, and 940 were positive.
So far, 20 personnel have been hospitalized, eight are on oxygen therapy and one is in intensive care. The personnel who tested negative are all in quarantine in military facilities.
Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier returned to Toulon, France, on Sunday April 12, where a disinfection operation was carried out.
Christian Martinez, the national coordinator of the medical and psychological services for the military, said Thursday that more than 10 doctors have been mobilized to help treat patients, including general Navy doctors and specialists.
“Symptomatic people are being confined with closer surveillance than those who are not symptomatic,” Martinez said.
11:13 a.m. ET, April 17, 2020
There have been 33,318 coronavirus-related deaths in the US
From CNN's Amanda Watts
There are at least 672,246 cases of coronavirus in the US and roughly 33,318 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the country.
As states begin to include “probable deaths” in their counts, so will Johns Hopkins University. In the upcoming days, these changes may show a surge of deaths in the United States.
On Friday, Johns Hopkins reported 1,095 new cases and 50 reported deaths.
The totals includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as all repatriated cases.
10:53 a.m. ET, April 17, 2020
Mississippi governor extends shelter-in-place order
From CNN's Tina Burnside
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves discusses how the state is responding to COVID-19 during a news conference in Jackson, Mississippi, Monday, April 6. Rogelio V. Solis/AP
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced that he will be extending the state's shelter-in-place order an additional week to continue flattening the curve of coronavirus cases.
The state's current stay-at-home order was set to expire on Monday but will now go through April 27, Reeves said during a news conference Friday morning.
Reeves said he'd "hoped and prayed" that he would be able to lift the current order based on metrics issued by the White House on Thursday, but said the state wasn't there yet.
Reeves says they will take the next seven days to study the guidance and do what works best for resident of Mississippi.
Reeves said he will begin relaxing some of the restrictions on non-essential businesses by allowing them to offer services via drive-thru, curbside or delivery.
As of Friday morning, the state of Mississippi has recorded 3,624 coronavirus cases with 129 deaths, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.
10:55 a.m. ET, April 17, 2020
Former CDC director says we need to "box in" coronavirus in order to reopen America
From CNN's Amanda Watts
VitalStrategies.Org
Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said sheltering in place is “just a strategic retreat” but we are “not fighting the virus.”
Speaking on Friday during a Vital Strategies webinar, Frieden said we are currently “trapped in our home, wrapped in our fears, isolated in our hospitals.”
In order to reopen America, Frieden said we need to “box it in," utilizing a four-cornered approach of testing, isolating, quarantining and finding the virus.
“This is the essence of the box-in strategy — creating a closed loop. So that with each wave of infections, there are fewer and fewer secondary infections boxing the virus in, and opening more and more space in society are safe movement,” Frieden said.
10:41 a.m. ET, April 17, 2020
Without a coronavirus vaccine, US could face a "new normal," former CDC director says
From CNN's Health Jacqueline Howard and Gisela Crespo
Thibault Savary/AFP/Getty Images
Experts have estimated that a coronavirus vaccine could take 12 to 18 months before it is available for the public — and without a vaccine, people will still have to maintain some physical distancing measures to keep the virus from spreading, Dr. Tom Frieden, former director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said on MSNBC this morning.
"We don't know when a vaccine will come," Frieden told MSNBC Friday.
"Anyone who is not afraid of the devastation this virus causes is not taking it seriously enough and that can be a deadly error," Frieden added. "This is a highly infectious virus. It's spreading like a super SARS — all of the way SARS spread and more."
Due to this, Frieden said the United States could be facing a "new normal."
"What we're going to need to see is a gradual loosening of the faucet. A step wise return to not normal, but a new normal, where no one who is sick goes out, where we stop shaking hands for a while, where we cover our mouth and for a while wear face masks," Frieden said.
Frieden said that while individuals can do a lot to reduce the risk of transmission, people who are vulnerable "are going to have to shelter in place for longer. Maybe not that long, but longer."
On a public health level, Frieden emphasized that people need to get tested when they're at risk and isolate when they're infected. It is also important to track contacts to determine who may have been exposed and quarantine them, Frieden said.
"This is the way we can try to keep the virus at a simmer instead of boiling over," Frieden said.
10:38 a.m. ET, April 17, 2020
All New York City events in May will be canceled, mayor says
From CNN's Sheena Jones
NYC Media
All events in New York City will be canceled for the month of May, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a Friday morning news conference.
The mayor said his office will not issues any permits. Events like the Brooklyn half marathon will be canceled, de Blasio said.
The mayor said his office is currently talking to event planners for the month of June.
10:48 a.m. ET, April 17, 2020
Coronavirus drug trial investigator: Patients are improving though it's too early to draw conclusions
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Ulrich Perrey/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Some patients severely infected with Covid-19 are recovering quickly after taking an experimental drug called remdesivir, according to a report from STAT News, which obtained a video of a conversation about a clinical trial at the University of Chicago.
The drug, made by Gilead Sciences, was tested against Ebola with little success, but several studies in animals show it could both prevent and treat viruses related to Covid-19.
Gilead is expecting results from their own trial later this month.
“We had a lot of our patients improving and going home and I think that we're all really pleased to see that,” says infectious disease physician Dr. Leila Hojat, principal investigator on the Gilead study. “It is hard to know at this point if that's related to the study drug or not, but we're expecting results…a little bit later this month at least on the first several hundred patients that were studied.”
In an interview with CNN, Hojat explains that the drug works by preventing the virus from making copies of itself, which prevents the infection from progressing.
“Part of the benefit of this having gone through trials in Ebola is even though it wasn't able to show efficacy there, at least we got a lot of data in terms of its safety,” Hojat said, also noting that patients did not have any major side effects after taking the drug.
