New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that 783 people died in New York on Friday due to COVID-19. On Thursday, 777 people lost their lives to the virus. The day before that, the state reported 799 deaths.
The number of deaths is somewhat stabilizing, he said, but stabilizing at a "horrific rate."
Friday's fatalities raise the total death toll in New York from the coronavirus to 8,627. The state remains the U.S. epicenter of the global coronavirus outbreak.
Cuomo said, however, that the numbers of people being hospitalized and admitted to ICUs are on a downward slope. Intubations are also down.
"When does this nightmare end?"
"I'm sure everyone's living with the same question: Every time you wake up you say, 'When does this nightmare end?'" Cuomo said.
Cuomo reiterated that reopening the state economy was intrinsically tied to public health, and said he would not ease up on coronavirus restrictions until he was certain it would be safe to do so.
"In my opinion, you can't ask the people of this state and this country to choose between lives lost and dollars gained," Cuomo said. "No one is going to make that quid pro quo."
Cuomo said he would gather a team of the "best minds" to study the economies around the world that have already reopened, and determine whether there could be a "second wave" of the virus if the restrictions are eased too soon.
"The worst thing that can happen is that we make a misstep and we let emotions get ahead of logic and fact," Cuomo said.
On NYC school closures: "It is my legal authority in this situation"
Cuomo said New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's announcement earlier Saturday that city schools will be closed for the rest of the year was "the mayor's opinion." He said the "decision will be coordinated" between New York City and other metropolitan area county leaders.
"It makes no sense for one locality to take an action that's uncoordinated with others," Cuomo said.
He added that de Blasio does not have the authority to close city schools unilaterally.
"It is my legal authority in this situation," he said.
Cuomo: "I'm not running for anything"
Cuomo also said he was working to keep political considerations out of the coronavirus response. He alluded to the idea among some Democrats that he could join the presidential race, saying "I'm not running for anything."
"I'm governor of New York, thank you, and that's where I'm going to stay," Cuomo said. He added that he had a strong relationship with President Trump, saying the president has "really responded to New York's needs."
Cuomo also called on Congress to pass more federal stimulus legislation, but said it needed to do more to help New York, such as include a repeal of the cap on the state and local tax deduction. The limit on the deduction, commonly known as SALT, primarily affects people living in areas with high property values, such as New York and California.
The PM announced he tested positive for the novel coronavirus on March 27. He said he was experiencing "mild symptoms" and would continue leading the country -- while self-isolating in his apartment in Downing Street. But 10 days later, the Downing Street announced the 55-year-old was not getting better and was taken to St. Thomas' Hospital in London. He was moved to an intensive care unit (ICU) the next day after his condition deteriorated.
"From what I gather -- and I wasn't there -- no one asked a doctor to mask up and physically examine him the whole time -- more than 10 days," Max Johnson said about the time his brother spent in self-isolation.
In response to Max Johnson's comments, Downing Street described the Prime Minister's health as a "private matter" adding it would be "inaccurate" to suggest Boris Johnson hadn't been physically examined by a doctor before entering hospital.
The PM spent three nights in intensive care and received "standard oxygen treatment," according to his spokesman, but did not require mechanical or invasive ventilation.
In a statement to CNN, Max Johnson said that while he was grateful for the care his brother received from the National Health Service, he wasn't pleased with the events leading up to his hospitalization.
"He'd tested positive so there was no doubt what he was dealing with. The word 'shambles' comes to mind," Johnson said. "What's the point of bodyguards when you can't have a doctor? The Office of Prime Minister needs better protection."
Officials around the PM have expressed gratitude for all the care he's had from his National Health Service doctors.
Johnson was moved out of the ICU on Thursday night. On Friday, a spokesperson said the Prime Minister was "able to do short walks" in between periods of rest, and waved his thanks to staff.
He "is in extremely good spirits," the spokesperson added.
Max Johnson said he was "massively relieved" by his brother's recovery, adding he hoped the PM would take time off to fully recover.
The strength with which Covid-19 struck the Prime Minister surprised many in the UK. Johnson is known for his lively persona, so the idea of the PM being incapacitated shook the nation. Well-wishes poured in from across the political scene, with even some of Johnson's old foes expressing their hope he'd recover swiftly.
Meanwhile, those leading the country's coronavirus response team said Johnson's hospitalization was a reminder of just how indiscriminate the virus can be and urged Brits to resist the good weather over the Easter weekend and stay at home.
As of Saturday, 9,875 people have died the UK after testing positive for coronavirus, according to a tally by the Department of Health and Social Care. Nearly 79,000 people have have tested positive.
The Florida pastor who wound up in handcuffs after he defied a local stay-at-home coronavirus order by holding a church service for hundreds of worshippers will be celebrating Easter online with his flock this Sunday.
Rodney Howard-Browne, who in previous statements railed at “tyrannical government” and threatened to sue Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister for arresting him, made the announcement on The River at Tampa Bay Church’s Facebook page.
“Join us ONLINE ONLY at 9:30 AM on Sunday, April 12th, for our Resurrection Sunday service as we celebrate the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord & Savior, Jesus Christ,” the announcement read.
Rodney Howard-Browne, pastor of The River Church, in a March 30 booking photo.Hernando County Jail via AP file
Mathew Staver of the Liberty Counsel, the activist law firm that has been defending the pastor, said Howard-Browne decided not to open the church for Palm Sunday or Easter “because of the death threats he has received directly related to the lies of Sheriff Chad Chronister which he made during his press conference and media appearances.”
“He wants to have some separation of time before he opens the church,” Staver said. “He will do the Easter service online. Next week he will make a decision about the upcoming Sunday services.”
Chronister did not address Staver’s claims of having received death threat or allegations that he had lied.
“The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office will continue to focus on the 3 E’s to keep our community safe during this pandemic: encourage, educate and enforce,” Chronister said. “We are encouraging our citizens to follow CDC guidelines by maintaining social distancing and educating them on ways to keep themselves safe. With the exception of one arrest, HCSO has fortunately not had to result to enforcement.”
That one arrest was Howard-Browne. He was nabbed after a deputy reported March 29 that 500 people attending a Sunday service were unable to maintain the “social distancing guidelines” of keep six feet apart.
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Chronister said Howard-Browne could have livestreamed the service for his 4,000 or so followers. Instead, the pastor “put hundreds of people in his congregation at risk,” said the sheriff, who is a Republican.
Howard-Browne also faces another potential hurdle when he tries to reopen his megachurch --- he’s been dropped by his insurance company.
March 30, 202001:41
While Howard-Browne’s decision appeared to avert another possible church-versus-state duel in Hillsborough County, elsewhere in Florida local officials were trying to make sense of the conflicting signals coming from Gov. Ron DeSantis ahead of one of the holiest days in the Christian faith.
DeSantis, a Republican and staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, issued a stay-at-home order last week after being criticized for failing to clear the beaches and shut down the state faster. But DeSantis' order declined to bar churches from holding in-person church services by deeming them “essential.”
That opened the door for Howard-Browne to possibly reopen his church this Sunday because the governor’s order supercedes the stricter Hillsborough County order, under which the pastor was arrested for endangering the public.
Politico reported earlier this week that the governor’s general counsel, Joe Jacquot, may have “sown” more confusion by informing two mayors in Broward County that, contrary to what DeSantis said earlier, they might be able to restrict church services.
“The Governor’s Order does not affect whether a local authority may close a business (or in other words, decide if a business is nonessential,)” Jacquot wrote in an April 3 email to Mayor Michael Ryan of Sunrise and Mayor Daniel Stermer of Weston, both Democrats. “Local authorities can do so both on individuals and on businesses/organizations.”
In the same email, however, Jacquot wrote the governor’s order “only restricts individuals by limiting their movement, except when those individuals are participating in an essential service or activity.”
NBC News has reached out to the mayors to see if DeSantis has issued any clarification of this clarification. Stermer recently tested positive for the coronavirus and will remain in quarantine until April 14, The Miami Herald reported.
Asked the same question, DeSantis' spokeswoman Helen Aguirre Ferre appeared to buttress both Jacquot and the Hillsborough County sheriff who arrested Howard-Browne.
"Local governments have the authority to adopt requirements directly in relation to businesses, venues and the like that may be stricter the Governor’s Executive Order," Ferre wrote in an email.
Meanwhile, as one of the holiest days in the Christian faith looms, lawmakers in other states were grappling over whether churches should remain open on Easter while the coronavirus continues to kill Americans.
In Kansas, Gov. Laura Kelly has sued the Republican-controlled Legislative Coordinating Council which overturned her executive order which make it a crime to have more than 10 people at church services or funerals.
"We felt very strongly that the LCC really is not authorized to act in that capacity, as the total legislature," Kelly, a Democrat, said Friday. "That any recovation of an executive order would have to take place by the entire legislature acting, not a seven-member panel."
The Republicans on the council have insisted that while Kelly’s move may be “good public policy” it’s not constitutional, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
In Louisiana, Tony Spell, pastor of the Life Tabernacle Church, has defied authorities repeatedly by holding services that draw hundreds of people. While there was no immediate response from Spell to a call from an NBC reporter to see if he will hold an Easter Service, the notice on the church’s Facebook page said, “Opens tomorrow.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was well enough to watch 11 hours of “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy this week, but his father warned his coronavirus-stricken son is “not out of the woods” yet after a bout in hospital intensive care — and said his experience with COVID-19 has been a wake-up call for Brits.
“I do think about this whole event of Boris going into intensive care, and now … coming out, it has actually served an amazing purpose,” Stanley Johnson, 79, told BBC Radio following his son’s release from the ICU at St. Thomas hospital in London. “In a sense it’s got the whole country to realize this is a serious event. If it can hit the prime minister, for heaven’s sake, well it does come close to home.”
The elder Johnson said his son will practice caution when he returns to parliament.
“To use that American expression, he almost took one for the team. We have got to make sure we play the game properly now,” he said. “He has to take time. I cannot believe you can walk away from this and get straight back to Downing Street and pick up the reins without a period of readjustment.”
Johnson, 55, announced his COVID-19 diagnosis on March 27 and was admitted to St. Thomas hospital on Sunday with trouble breathing. Doctors transferred him to the ICU on Monday to be near a ventilator should he have needed one, according to officials.
Johson’s pregnant fiancee, Carrie Symonds, said she is also recovering from coronavirus symptoms.
Symonds reportedly sends Johnson daily love letters and scans of their unborn baby, according to the Sunday Times.
“It’s been a very, very worrying time for Carrie,” according to a UK Sun source. “She has been urging Boris to get well for their unborn child.”
Well-wishers have mailed thousands of cards to Johnson’s office, a source told the Sunday Times.
“There are boxes and boxes in his outer office,” the source said. “They are really lovely and come from people of all ages and all over the country. I think when he sees them he will be tremendously grateful for everyone’s kind wishes.”
By the end of the week, Johnson’s condition improved, and he was reportedly well enough to walk the hospital halls, do puzzles and watch movies, including the ’80s British comedy “Withnail and I” and the three “Lord of the Rings,” officials said, according to the Sunday Times.
Johnson’s father praised his son’s supporters for the “tremendous outpouring” of concern.
Stanley JohnsonWiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft Media via Getty Images
“I feel tremendously grateful obviously on behalf of the family, Boris’s family, my family, family members all over the place, and also, of course, amazingly thankful as well,” Stanley Johnson said.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Britain continues to climb. Friday saw the country’s steepest toll: 980, more fatalities than Italy, the hardest-hit European country, has seen in a single day.
Boris Johnson is continuing to make "very good progress" in hospital, where he is being treated for coronavirus, according to Downing Street.
The prime minister, 55, was taken to hospital on Sunday - 10 days after testing positive for the virus.
He had three nights in intensive care before returning to a ward on Thursday.
No 10 said he was receiving daily updates and pregnancy scans from his fiancee, Carrie Symonds, and had been passing the time with films and sudoku.
On Friday, No 10 said Mr Johnson had been able to take short walks in between periods of rest at St Thomas' Hospital in London, where he is being treated.
Ms Symonds, who is due to give birth in two months, has been self-isolating with coronavirus-like symptoms but has not been tested.
Downing Street said staff had uploaded films including British comedies Withnail & I and Love Actually to an iPad for the PM.
During the December general election, Mr Johnson scrawled campaign messaging on white placards while standing in a doorway, parodying a scene from the Richard Curtis film.
Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab is currently in charge of running the government, with aides reportedly expecting Mr Johnson to be out of action for as long as a month.
Mr Johnson's father, Stanley Johnson, has called for his son to "take time" to get better.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday: "He must rest up. I don't think you can say this is out of the woods now.
"He has to take time. I cannot believe you can walk away from this and get straight back to Downing Street and pick up the reins without a period of readjustment."
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain has not yet reached the COVID-19 peak which would allow for an easing of tight restrictions of movement, health minister Matt Hancock said on Saturday.
FILE PHOTO: A policeman wearing a mask talks to people on Primrose Hill as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, London, Britain, April 10, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah McKay
The death toll in British hospitals has reached almost 9,000, with 980 more deaths reported on Friday, a figure which exceeded the deadliest day so far in Italy, the country worst hit by the virus.
Among those who have been infected is Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is recovering in hospital after spending three nights in intensive care. His office said he was improving and was back on his feet although his recovery was still at an early stage.
Britain imposed a lockdown three weeks ago in a bid to curb the spread of the virus and the government has come under increasing pressure to detail how long the strict measures on movements would last, with people forced to stay at home and many businesses unable to operate.
Ministers have said Britain needed to pass the peak of the outbreak before changes could be made, and Hancock said although the number of hospital admissions had started to flatten out, there was not enough evidence yet to have confidence they were past the worst.
“Our judgment is we’re not there yet. We haven’t seen a flattening enough to be able to say that we’ve reached the peak,” he told BBC radio.
Some scientists have suggested the peak might still be some weeks off but Hancock said “nobody knows” when it would be.
“There’s all sorts of suggestions. Their job is to make their best estimate and advise us and we have a whole load of different pieces of advice from different scientists,” he said.
The death rate is also expected to increase over the next few days, health officials have cautioned, but they say they are hopeful that the lockdown will mean that the overall number of deaths will be below 20,000.
Initially Johnson took a more modest response to the outbreak than other European leaders but changed tack when projections suggested a quarter of a million people could die in the United Kingdom.
The government has come under fire for its initial response and a lack of preparedness, and there was criticism on Saturday from doctors and nurses who said they were having to treat patients without proper personal protective equipment (PPE) such as masks and gloves.
Among those to have died after testing positive for COVID-19 are 19 health care workers including 11 doctors.
The British Medical Association, which represents doctors, said medics were facing a “heart-breaking” decision over whether to treat patients without proper protection and so put themselves at risk.
“No doctor should ever have to be in harm’s way when they go to work, and in these unprecedented times, this has never been more important,” said Dr Chaand Nagpaul, the BMA council chair.
FILE PHOTO: Medical staff take a break in the grounds of St Thomas' Hospital as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, London, Britain, April 10, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville
The Royal College of Nursing said it was getting calls about shortages, saying some staff were “petrified”.
Hancock said 761 million PPE items had been delivered to the 1.4 million staff who worked for the National Health Service but there were issues in ensuring in reached the frontline.
“There’s clearly more to do to make sure every single person who needs it gets the PPE that they need,” he said.
Reporting by Michael Holden, Editing by William Maclean
The US has become the first country in the world to record more than 2,000 coronavirus deaths in a single day.
Figures from Johns Hopkins University show 2,108 people died in the past 24 hours while there are now more than half a million confirmed infections.
The US could soon surpass Italy as the country with the most coronavirus deaths worldwide.
But experts on the White House Covid-19 task force say the outbreak is starting to level off across the US.
Dr Deborah Birx said there were good signs the outbreak was stabilising, but cautioned: "As encouraging as they are, we have not reached the peak."
President Donald Trump also said he expects the US to see a lower death toll than the initial predictions of 100,000 fatalities, adding: "We're seeing clear signs that our aggressive strategy is saving countless lives".
Turkey ordered a 48-hour curfew in 31 cities - including Istanbul and Ankara - to start at midnight. The announcement, made just two hours before the curfew was due to start, sparked panic buying and crowds of shoppers
Italy has reported 18,849 deaths while globally more than 102,000 people have died with the virus.
Researchers had predicted the US death toll would hit its peak on Friday and then gradually start to decline, falling to around 970 people a day by 1 May - the day members of the Trump administration have floated as a possible date to start reopening the economy.
"I want to get it open as soon as possible," Mr Trump said at a Good Friday briefing at the White House. "I would say without question it's the biggest decision I've ever had to make."
However, no action would be taken until the government knew the "country [was] going to be healthy", he said. "We don't want to go back and start doing it over again."
A city upended
By Nada Tawfik, BBC News, New York
The coronavirus has changed everything about life, and now it's upending the rituals of death.
New Yorkers have been shocked by the grim scenes: ambulances constantly blaring down eerily deserted streets, body bags being forklifted into refrigerated trucks outside hospitals and now new trenches being dug on Hart's Island for possible mass burials.
The remote cemetery, accessible only by boat, is a place regarded historically with sorrow because of its mass graves with no tombstones, just unclaimed bodies. The city's morgues can only handle so much before temporary burials for Covid-19 victims, once an absolute worst-case scenario, become necessary.
Funeral directors talk openly about how scared and depressed the spiking death toll has left them. Even before this week's record number of deaths, some families have had to wait a week or more to bury and cremate their loved ones.
Why might the outbreak start levelling off soon?
Dr Anthony Fauci, US infectious diseases chief, concurred that the country was "starting to see the levelling off and coming down" of cases and deaths. But despite the "important advance", he added, mitigation efforts such as social distancing should not be pulled back yet.
Also at the briefing, Dr Birx noted that the rate of increase appeared to be stabilising in hard-hit regions like New York, New Jersey and the city of Chicago.
She added that the US mortality rate was "significantly less than many of the other countries, when you correct them for our population". But she emphasised the nation had yet to see the peak of the outbreak.
"We need to continue to do what we did yesterday, and the week before, and the week before that because that's what, in the end, is going to take us up across the peak and down the other side."
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On Friday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the latest data showed the state was successfully "flattening the curve", but also cautioned that it was too early to relax social distancing measures. "Even though it's a grind, even though it's difficult, we have to stay with it."
The danger appears to be highest for America's minority communities, which have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19.
Dr Jerome Adams, the US surgeon general, said the trend was "alarming, but not surprising" given that minorities in the US generally had more chronic health conditions such as asthma, hypertension and diabetes.
"As a matter of fact, I have been carrying an inhaler in my pocket for 40 years out of fear of having a fatal asthma attack," continued Dr Adams, who is African-American.
But he caused controversy by urging minorities to stop drinking, smoking and taking drugs to reduce their risk. He was particularly criticised for his use of colloquial language, when he told them to respect social distancing guidelines.
"Do it for your abuela. Do it for your granddaddy. Do it for your Big Mama. Do it for your Pop Pop," Dr Adams said. He later advised all Americans to avoid alcohol, tobacco and drugs.
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In Friday's briefing, Mr Trump also said he had seen the drone images of coffins being stacked in a mass grave on New York's Hart Island. Officials there say the island, which has been used to bury people with no next of kin for over 150 years, is now burying bodies at five times the normal rate.
Earlier in the day, Dr Fauci told CNN that officials are currently discussing whether to adopt immunity certificates for Americans who have safely survived the coronavirus and have antibodies in their blood to prove it.
The certificates might "have some merit under certain circumstances", he said, adding that antibody tests would be available next week.
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Meanwhile, in Washington lawmakers are considering a "Covid-19 heroes fund" to provide direct payments to workers on the front line of the pandemic.
The Democratic-led proposal calls for a $13 (£10) hourly rate, on top of the pay that workers already receive from their employers. Payment would be capped at $25,000. The money would go towards nurses, doctors, grocery store clerks, transit workers and other workers deemed essential.
