HuffPost reporters around the world are tracking the pandemic and the measures being taken to flatten the curve of transmission.
Read the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic below. (To see the latest updates, you may need to refresh the page. All times are Eastern. For earlier updates on the pandemic, go here.)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom Says Elective Surgeries Can Begin Again — 4/22/20, 3:45 p.m. ET
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) announced that scheduled surgeries can begin again after they were paused, as hospitals focused on treating patients with the coronavirus. California coordinated with Oregon and Washington state in its decision to allow elective surgeries to begin again.
Newsom said this would be a key step in reopening the state, and went on to explain that the state’s framework for handling the spread will include testing, developing treatments for the virus, and reopening businesses and schools. He clarified that the decision to eventually open businesses could be reversed if the virus starts to spread rapidly again.
— Sebastian Murdock
California Highway Patrol said it will not be issuing any more permits for demonstrations on state property after anti-stay-home protesters on Monday broke rules about gatherings in large groups, reported the Sacramento Bee.
Hundreds of mostly right-wing demonstrators protested at the state capitol in Sacramento on Monday against Gov. Gavin Newsom’s shelter-in-place order. While some were in cars, hundreds gathered in person without following public health safety guidelines of maintaining 6 feet of distance and wearing masks.
The anti-lockdown protest mirrored dozens of others across the country, many of which have been led or attended by white nationalists and other extremists.
Meanwhile coronavirus cases and deaths keep climbing across the country, with over 830,000 confirmed cases and more than 45,000 dead so far.
— Sarah Ruiz-Grossman
New York will coordinate a contact tracing system with New Jersey and Connecticut, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced at his daily press conference.
Public health experts have said widespread contact tracing, which involves locating and then testing people who have come into contact with an individual who tests positive for COVID-19, is a key condition for reopening businesses and lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions aimed at stemming the spread of the virus.
The coordinated effort will be funded in part by a $10 million donation from billionaire and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, in partnership with an institute at Johns Hopkins University, which Bloomberg has also funded.
— Marina Fang
Tyson Foods Closes Meat Processing Plant In Iowa Indefinitely After Outbreak ― 4/22/20, 9:45 a.m. ET
Tyson Foods announced it’s suspending operations indefinitely at its pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa, citing numerous employee absences due to the coronavirus.
The Waterloo facility is the company’s largest pork plant. All 2,800 of the plant’s workers will be asked to come in for COVID-19 testing later this week, reported The Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. The timeline for reopening of the plant depends on the results of the testing.
“The closure has significant ramifications beyond our company, since the plant is part of a larger supply chain that includes hundreds of independent farmers, truckers, distributors and customers, including grocers,” Steve Stouffer, group president of Tyson Fresh Meat, said in a statement. “It means the loss of a vital market outlet for farmers and further contributes to the disruption of the nation’s pork supply.”
Tyson Foods is the second largest chicken, beef and pork processor in the world. At least two employees at the company’s pork processing plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa, have died from COVID-19, and more than 200 workers have tested positive. The company resumed some operations at the plant on Tuesday.
― Hayley Miller
UK Parliament Holds First-Ever Virtual Prime Minister’s Questions — 4/22/20, 8:50 a.m. ET
Lawmakers in Britain have brushed aside hundreds of years of tradition by staging the first-ever virtual session of Prime Minister’s Questions. Under temporary measures drawn up by House of Commons authorities, members of Parliament were able to quiz the acting leader of the government on Wednesday through video chat.
The session took place in a sparsely populated Commons chamber, where tape was placed on the chamber floor to mark out where the small number of lawmakers who attended in person should walk. Cards showing green ticks and red crosses also denoted where MPs should sit in a bid to comply with social distancing rules of keeping a gap of 2 meters.
Under the temporary measures, Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab stood in for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and answered questions from new opposition leader Keir Starmer.
A number of screens have been placed around the Commons chamber to allow the speaker and MPs in Westminster to see their remote-working colleagues.
— James Martin
California Says It’s First State To Prioritize Testing For Some Asymptomatic People — 4/22/20 8:30 a.m. ET
California public health officials said local authorities should administer coronavirus tests to people working or living in “high risk settings,” including hospitals, prisons and homeless shelters, The Associated Press reported.
State officials said the new guidelines make California the first U.S. state to prioritize testing for people who don’t have symptoms.
Read more here.
— Hayley Miller
California IDs Coronavirus Deaths Weeks Earlier Than First Reported U.S. Case — 4/22/20, 6 a.m. ET
Santa Clara County in California said a medical examiner found that two people had died at home of COVID-19 on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, well before the first coronavirus-linked deaths were reported in Washington state around Feb. 26. The findings are significant because it means that the virus was spreading in the U.S. even longer than previously thought.
— Nick Visser
Children To Be Allowed Outside As Spain Eases Lockdown — 4/22/20, 5:45 a.m. ET
A controversial bar on children leaving the home will be eased in Spain as the government begins to relax its strict lockdown restrictions. Children up to 14 years of age will be given permission to go outside for walks from this Sunday, as long as they are accompanied by an adult, HuffPost Spain reports (in Spanish).
With the world’s second-highest number of infections ― more than 200,000 ― and Europe’s second-highest death toll ― 21,282 ― Spain has imposed one of the severest lockdowns. It has begun taking tentative easing steps, including allowing some workers to return from last week, but most restrictions remain in force.
On Tuesday night, the government bowed to public pressure and said children under 14 would be able to take short walks outside under supervision. The cabinet had initially said children would only be allowed to accompany parents to buy food or medicine, provoking criticism on social media and pot-banging protests on balconies.
— James Martin
Coronavirus Vaccine Trials To Begin In UK On Thursday — 4/22/20, 5:30 a.m. ET
U.K. trials of a coronavirus vaccine on people will begin Thursday, the government has announced.
Britain’s Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government-funded research at the University of Oxford had been accelerated due to the global pandemic. “In normal times, reaching this stage would take years and I’m very proud of the work taken so far,” Hancock said.
However, Britons have been warned that developing any treatment, including vaccines, will require lengthy testing periods on both animals and humans.
Professor Ravi Gupta, told HuffPost UK: “We need to prepare for a world where we don’t have a vaccine. To base public policy on the hope of a vaccine is a desperate measure. We should hope for a vaccine but we shouldn’t expect one in the next year and a half.
“Anyone who says we can is bonkers.”
Read more
— Rachel Wearmouth and Chris York
Missouri Becomes First U.S. State To Sue China For Lying, Not Doing Enough About COVID-19 — 4/22/20, 2:53 a.m. ET
Missouri is the first state to sue China for the country’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
State Attorney General Eric Schmitt filed the civil suit on Tuesday, alleging the Chinese government lied and didn’t do enough to prevent the spread of the virus during the early days of the crisis.
“The Chinese government lied to the world about the danger and contagious nature of COVID-19, silenced whistleblowers and did little to stop the spread of the disease,” Schmitt said in a statement. “They must be held accountable for their actions.”
Legal experts say efforts to hold China accountable for its coronavirus response in U.S. courts aren’t likely to be successful.
— Dominique Mosbergen
Nurses Read Names Of Health Care Workers Who’ve Died In Pandemic During White House Protest — 4/22/20, 2:20 a.m. ET
Nurses hailing from all over the U.S. held a protest in front of the White House on Monday to call out the unsafe conditions they and their colleagues have had to endure on the front-lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.
During the demonstration, which was organized by the National Nurses United union, nurses held photos and read the names of healthcare workers who’ve become infected or died from coronavirus.
“We are not heroes. We’re human beings and we are susceptible just like everyone else is. And if we are dying then we can’t take care of our patients,” said Britta Breenan, a National Nurses member and critical care nurse at Washington Hospital Center, CBS News reported. “We have had nurses from our hospital die from COVID-19. And they are not dignified deaths.”
— Dominique Mosbergen
CDC Director Warns Americans Of Potential Second Wave Of Coronavirus This Winter ― 4/21/20, 9:25 p.m. ET
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s director warned that a potential second wave of the novel coronavirus could be far more deadly than the current pandemic if it overlaps with the beginning of the winter flu season.
Government leaders at all levels must use the months ahead to prepare for such a health crisis even as some states are planning to resurrect their economies, CDC Director Robert Redfield told The Washington Post in an interview published Tuesday.
“There’s a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through,” Redfield told the Post. “And when I’ve said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don’t understand what I mean.”
The health official said the virus could be more harmful in a potential second wave because having concurrent outbreaks of the flu and COVID-19 would put immense pressure on the nation’s health care system. Both viruses can cause respiratory illness and would require similar protective gear and medical equipment.
Part of the preparation for a potential second wave of COVID-10 includes persuading Americans to get their flu shots in the coming summer months so that public health officials can minimize the number of people requiring hospitalization during two respiratory outbreaks. Redfield said that getting vaccinated for influenza “may allow there to be a hospital bed available for your mother or grandmother that may get coronavirus.”
― Sanjana Karanth
For earlier updates on the pandemic, go here.
Credit: Source link