Some Good News But Not All (NYTimes)
Coronavirus Live Updates: Over 600,000 Cases Worldwide as Hospital Ship Prepares to Head to New York
President Trump says he is weighing quarantines for hot spots like New York and other states. More than 17 now tally over 1,000 cases. Spain and Italy’s death tolls surged. The largest economic stimulus package in modern U.S. history is in effect.
RIGHT NOWThe U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ civil rights office told medical providers that they may not deny medical care to people on the basis of disability or age during the coronavirus emergency.
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Trump
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@realDonaldTrump
I am giving consideration to a QUARANTINE of developing “hot spots”, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. A decision will be made, one way or another, shortly.
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Mr. Trump’s public airing of his deliberations came one day after he signed a $2 trillion economic stimulus package and as cases in the tristate area continued to climb. New York reported 52,318 confirmed cases, as of Saturday morning, with 728 deaths statewide. In New Jersey, there were 8,825 cases and the death toll had risen to 108. Connecticut had nearly 1,300 cases, with 27 deaths.
THE LOST MONTH The lack of extensive screening for the coronavirus in the United States blinded the country to the pandemic’s growing reach.
Cases have also been growing elsewhere across the country, with at least 17 states reporting tallies of at least 1,000 cases. The national total stands above 104,000, and Mr. Trump has been under substantial pressure from state officials to do more to quell the crisis.
On Friday, after a survey of mayors in more than 200 American cities, large and small, reported a dire need for face masks, ventilators and other emergency equipment, Mr. Trump said the federal government would buy thousands of ventilators from a variety of makers. It appeared doubtful they could be produced in time to help American hospitals that are already overwhelmed.
The specter of a federal quarantine followed a wave of governors who, fearful about the virus spreading further through their states, ordered people who had traveled from New York to isolate themselves for two weeks after their arrivals.
Gov. Gina Raimondo of Rhode Island said Friday that state troopers would begin stopping drivers with New York license plates so that National Guard officials could collect contact information and inform anyone coming from the state that they were subject to a mandatory, 14-day quarantine.
Ms. Raimondo also said the National Guard would begin going door-to-door in coastal communities this weekend to find and tell recent arrivals from New York of the quarantine order.
The National Guard had already been deployed to bus stations, train stations and the airport to enforce Ms. Raimondo’s order, which also applies to anyone who has been to New York in the past 14 days.
“I know it’s unusual,” Ms. Raimondo said at a news conference on Friday. “I know it’s extreme, and I know some people disagree with it.”
“Right now we have a pinpointed risk,’’ she added. “That risk is called New York City.”
Texas, Florida, Maryland and South Carolina are among the other states that have ordered people arriving from New York to self-quarantine. In Texas, for instance, the authorities said Friday that Department of Public Safety agents would make surprise visits to see whether travelers were adhering to the state’s mandate, and they warned that violators could be fined $1,000 and jailed for 180 days.
Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut, where many wealthy New Yorkers own second homes, this week urged all travelers from New York City to self-quarantine for two weeks upon entering the state, but he stopped short of issuing an order requiring it.
New York City’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, has questioned the wisdom of such orders.
“I think there’s a little bit of a lack of recognition right now of just how much this disease has already spread around the country,” he said at a news briefing on Wednesday.
Coronavirus in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count
A detailed county map shows the extent of the coronavirus outbreak, with tables of the number of cases by state and county.
New York State’s primary is delayed, and New York City may fine those who break social-distancing rules.
Sunbathers in Domino Park, New York, on Friday. The mayor is threatening to fine residents who flout the social-distancing rules.
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| Mark Abramson for The New York Times |
Sunbathers in Domino Park, New York, on Friday. The mayor is threatening to fine residents who flout the social-distancing rules.Credit...Mark Abramson for The New York Times
New York will postpone its April 28 presidential primary until June 23, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Saturday, buying time for the state to administer an election as it struggles to respond to the growing coronavirus outbreak.
Ten other states, as well as Puerto Rico, have rescheduled presidential primaries as the campaign calendar has been upended by the outbreak, citing guidance from health officials who have urged people to avoid gathering spots, including polling places. A handful of other states have switched to voting entirely by mail and have extended deadlines for doing so.
And New York City officials are expected to decide this weekend whether to impose $500 fines on residents flouting social-distancing rules during the coronavirus outbreak by gathering in large groups at parks and ignoring police orders to disperse.
The vast majority of New Yorkers have been respecting the rules, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday, but officials had observed some violations
Mr. de Blasio also said that a few houses of worship were continuing to hold religious services and that they risked fines or having their buildings permanently closed if the police found congregations in them this weekend.
The mayor also said he was working with state officials to freeze rents this year for 2.3 million tenants in rent-stabilized apartments.
Officials said late Friday that the number of coronavirus cases in New York City had climbed above 26,000. The city’s death toll was 450.
At least 500 New York Police Department employees have tested positive, and more than 4,000 officers — about 11 percent of the uniformed work force — were out sick on Friday, officials said.
In a force of 36,000 officers, that translates to an infection rate of about one in every 80 officers, or about 1.2 percent.
Officials also reported the first death of an officer in the department: Detective Cedric Dixon, who worked in the 32nd Precinct, in Harlem, and had worked for the department for 23 years.”
In New Rochelle, N.Y., meanwhile, the state’s drastic measures to contain a cluster of coronavirus cases may be starting to work, according to the latest data for Westchester County.
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New: When they take the plasma of someone who has been infected but recovered has helped people in critical conditions help their inmune system fight back and recover. (The plasma has to be from someone in your state because states are not allowed to interchange anything.
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