Coronavirus live updates: White House issues reopening guidelines; some Florida beaches will open; China revises Wuhan death count
Stocks on Friday were rising on Wall Streets in an apparent approval of plans by President Donald Trump and some governors for a phased reopening of local economies, although a dramatic jump of 4,591 in the daily U.S. death toll underscored the relentless nature of the coronavirus pandemic.
The latest fatality figures for the U.S., as tallied by Johns Hopkins University, pushed the total death toll in the country to 33, 288.
Trump's "Opening Up America Again" guidelines include three phases but won't begin until states have had 14 consecutive days of decreases in COVID-19 cases and have testing and hospital capacity to deal with potential coronavirus spikes.
"Some states will open sooner than others," Trump said Thursday. "We are not opening all at once, but one careful step at a time."
There will be at least one significant reopening on Friday. In Jacksonville, Florida, city parks and beaches will open for "essential activities" including walking and biking for a couple of hours in the morning and evening.
Amid the sliver of upbeat news, China, which has been criticized for lack of transparency, added 1,290 deaths from the virus in Wuhan, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, bringing the city's total to 3,869. China blamed its initial undercount on its overwhelmed health system.
There are over 671,400 coronavirus cases in the U.S. and over 2.1 million worldwide early Friday, according to John Hopkins University data. COVID-19 has killed more than 33,200 Americans and 145,700 worldwide.
Jacksonville, Florida, Opens Beaches For Limited Morning And Evening Use
Beaches in Jacksonville, Florida, will open Friday for limited periods in the morning and evening for "essential activities," including walking and biking.
City parks will be open all day, but pavilion and picnic areas will remain closed.
The moves came after early discussions between Mayor Lenny Curry and Gov. Ron DeSantis on how to reopen the city. While it's too early to tell, Curry said data on confirmed coronavirus cases and hospitalizations suggest the city is successfully flattening the curve.
The beaches will be open from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. daily and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. Social guidelines will remain in force. City parks will be open for normal hours, however pavilions and picnic areas will remain closed.
“This can be the beginning of the pathway back to normal life,” Curry said. “Please respect and follow these limitations. Stay within the guidelines for your safety as well as for the safety of your neighbors.”
China Sharply Raises Virus Death Toll, Blames Stressed Hospitals For Errors
China, which has been under heavy criticism for lack of transparency over the coronavirus outbreak, sharply revised its official death toll Friday in the epicenter of Wuhan, adding more than a thousand virus-related fatalities.
China's official Xinhua news Agency reported that the undercount stemmed from several factors, including the deaths of people at home because overwhelmed hospitals had no room for them, mistaken reporting by medical staff focused on saving lives, and deaths at a few medical institutions that weren’t linked to the epidemic information network.
The latest figures raised China's overall death toll to 4,632 from a previously reported 3,342.
Chinese officials have denied covering up cases, saying their reports were accurate and timely. However, the U.N.’s World Health Organization has come under criticism for defending China’s handling of the outbreak and President Donald Trump has suspended funding to WHO over what he alleges is its pro-China bias.
Antivrial Drug Remdesivir Reportedly Showing Promise For Coronavirus Treatment
An antiviral drug called Remdesivir is causing "rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week" in patients at a Chicago hospital, medical site STAT reported.
Remdesivir is one of numerous drugs under development to treat or cure the coronavirus. Clinical trials are conducted to ensure safety and efficacy, and there's no guarantee the Chicago hospital's results will be replicated elsewhere.
Remdesivir, the result of more than a decade of Gilead Sciences research, has been tested for multiple potential applications in recent years. The company tested the drug as a treatment for Ebola in west Africa in 2014. It has also been tested as a treatment of SARS and for hepatitis C.
Wisconsin Governor Extends School Closing, Clamps Down On Business
While President Trump is pushing governors to begin reopening their states, Wisconsin's governor is clamping down, closing schools for the rest of the school year and ordering many businesses to stay shuttered until the end of May.
The new order issued by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday will keep hundreds of thousands of school children out of classrooms for nearly three months — some receiving no virtual instruction at all.
The move comes as business owners and Republicans called on Evers to roll back restrictions, not extend them. Republican lawmakers also threatened to fire the leader of the state's health agency from her job overseeing the state's response to the outbreak and signaled they would take the governor to court.
"Things won't get back to normal until there's a vaccine and treatment for this disease," Evers countered in a news conference, warning not to assume schools will open again in the fall unless cases are few and the number of tests available grows substantially.
Wall Street Rallies Over Plans For Phased Reopening Of State Economies
Stocks jumped at the opening of trading on Wall Street on Friday as investors rally around signs that more governments are planning phased re-openings of their economies.
The Dow soared 500 points in early trading and the S&P 500, which rose nearly 2%, could close out its first back-to-back weekly gain since the market began to sell off in February on worries about the virus.
European and Asian indexes also rallied after China reported economic data that, while bleak, was better than expected.
Ex-Trump Lawyer Michael Cohen To Get Early Prison Release Due To Coronavirus
Michael Cohen, the former personal attorney to President Donald Trump, is set for an early release from a New York federal prison due to concerns about the spread of the coronavirus, a person familiar with the matter said Thursday.
Cohen was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty to charges that included campaign-finance violations for paying hush money to women who claimed to have had sex with Trump and for lying to Congress.
Cohen was set to be released in 20121 but will serve out the remainder of his sentence at home following a 14-day quarantine period. Cohen has been serving his term at a facility in Otisville, New York, where 14 inmates and seven guards have been infected with the virus, said the person familiar with the matter but is not authorized to speak publicly.
Guam Governor Says She Knew Some USS Roosevelt Sailors Tested Positive
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said Friday she was aware that some of the sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt – including some shuttled to Guam hotels – had tested positive for COVID-19 after originally testing negative.
About 40 sailors who tested negative later had positive test results, according to a report Friday in the San Francisco Chronicle.Both the governor and Joint Region Marianas Commander Rear Adm. John Menoni have said only sailors who test negative and who are asymptomatic would be quarantined in hotels off base.
"It is also why a no-contact order with civilians was enforced," the governor said Friday night, adding that any sailor demonstrating symptoms is returned to the Naval Base.
The Navy reported some 655 of the crew are positive for COVID-19, as of Friday. The aircraft carrier pulled into Guam four weeks ago. Six sailors are being treated at the U.S. Naval Hospital Guam for symptoms and one sailor from the ship has died from COVID-19 related complications.
Capt. Brett Crozier, skipper of the aircraft carrier, was relieved of his command two weeks ago after sending an impassioned email to a number of Naval officials urging them to evacuate most of the 4,800 sailors because of an outbreak of the coronavirus. An attachment to the email was leaked to the press, leading to his dismissal.
Midwest Governors To Partner To Reopen Regional Economy
The governors of Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Indiana and Kentucky on Thursday announced that the states plan to coordinate efforts to reopen the Midwest economy.
In the statement, the governors said they’ll be considering four main factors before reopening: Sustained control of the rate of new infections and hospitalizations, enhanced ability to test and trace, sufficient health care capacity to handle resurgence and best practices for social distancing in the workplace.
Michigan and Illinois are among states reporting the most confirmed coronavirus cases.
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