Category Archives: New York

Coronavirus US live: Trump hails Senate return and says Pelosi ‘crazy’ for not reopening House – as it happened

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Here’s a look at today’s major news items ...

Donald Trump has appeared to confirm that Kim Jong Un is “alive and well” after weeks of speculation over the North Korean leader’s health.

“I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well!” Trump wrote, quote-tweeting North Korean state media photos of Kim attending a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Sunchon Phosphatic Fertilizer Factory.

I, for one, am glad to see he is back, and well! https://t.co/mIWVeRMnOJ

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Coronavirus US live: intelligence report concludes Covid-19 was not ‘manmade or genetically modified’

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House speaker Nancy Pelosi was careful not to criticize Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell for calling senators back to Washington starting next week.

Pelosi and majority leader Steny Hoyer originally said the House would also return next week, but they reversed that decision after a consultation with the Capitol’s attending physician.

The office of the director of national intelligence has released an unusual statement saying officials do not believe coronavirus was manmade, echoing many health experts.

“The Intelligence Community also concurs with the wide scientific consensus that the COVID-19 virus was not manmade or genetically modified,” the statement reads.

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Coronavirus: US reaches one million confirmed cases – live updates

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Mike Pence’s office has dubiously argued the vice president does not need to wear a mask because he is regularly tested for coronavirus.

The vice president faced questions about his lack of mask usage earlier this month after a photo circulated of a mask-less Pence greeting Colorado governor Jared Polis, who was wearing a mask in the picture.

Vice President Mike Pence was criticized for ignoring mask guidelines when visiting the Mayo Clinic facilities in Minnesota today.

Footage of Pence’s visit showed the vice president not covering his face as he met with the clinic’s employees and at least one patient.

PENCE flouts Mayo Clinic policy that everyone on campus wear a mask, even as he meets with staff and a patient. pic.twitter.com/kfo64KQDhU

Mayo Clinic had informed @VP of the masking policy prior to his arrival today.

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New York ER doctor who treated coronavirus patients dies by suicide

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Dr Lorna Breen worked at New York-Presbyterian Allen hospital and was ‘truly in the trenches’, her father said

A top emergency room doctor in New York who was working on the frontline trying to save coronavirus victims at the height of the pandemic and also suffered the disease herself has died.

Related: A whip-smart neurologist, a social worker who sang Broadway: US health workers who died from Covid-19

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Coronavirus US live: Andrew Cuomo slams Senate leader Mitch McConnell over ‘reckless’ state bankruptcy proposal

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Dr Deborah Birx reportedly had to convince Trump to come out against Georgia’s plan to start reopening non-essential businesses this Friday.

Trump said during yesterday’s press conference that he disagreed “strongly” with Georgia governor Brian Kemp’s reopening plan, which many public health experts have warned is dangerously hasty.

At a meeting before Wednesday’s briefing, task force members discussed the likelihood of being asked about [Kemp’s] controversial move to open up many businesses such as nail salons and bowling alleys, [a White House] source added. ...

During the meeting, Dr. Anthony Fauci and other task force members said if the scientists were not in agreement with Trump on the Georgia issue during the news conference it would pose a problem.

Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer said she would likely extend the state’s stay-at-home order while looking at allowing some activties with restrictions in place, emphasizing that the state’s reopening would take place in waves.

“It will permit some activity if our numbers continue to go down and our testing continues to go up,” the Democratic governor told MSNBC this morning. “But It’s too early to say precisely what each wave looks like and when it happens.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says reopening has to be "strategic and thoughtful": "I've heard governors across the country, on both sides of the aisle, say it's not going to be like flipping a light switch, we're not just going to go back to pre-Covid 19 posture" pic.twitter.com/6gGHbUkFPC

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Coronavirus US live: Trump says he’s signed order restricting immigration – as it happened

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America’s addiction to mass incarceration could almost double its number of deaths from coronavirus, with jails acting as incubators of the disease and spreading a further 100,000 fatalities across the US.

The startling warning comes from groundbreaking modeling by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and academic researchers, released on Wednesday.

Related: Mass incarceration could add 100,000 deaths to US coronavirus toll, study finds

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‘Our lives are expendable’: NYC subway workers speak out after dozens of Covid-19 deaths

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Transit workers in New York City are afraid to go back to work after 68 employees have died from coronavirus, and say authorities could have done more to protect them.

'They want to call us heroes now, but how can you call up heroes when you didn't give your heroes proper equipment to fight this,' said conductor Tramell Thompson. 

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Coronavirus US live: Cuomo says New York cases ‘coming down’ but warns against rush to reopen

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New York governor Andrew Cuomo said it would be a “major, major undertaking” to develop a plan on reopening the state’s schools.

Cuomo emphasized no school district was allowed to reopen at the moment, as the state has mandated schools to remain closed for now.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo said some hospitals in the state would send the results of its hydroxychloroquine trials to federal health officials today.

Cuomo declined to describe the results of the trials, focused on whether the anti-malaria drug can help treat coronavirus patients.

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Coronavirus US live: Cuomo says Trump should ‘go to work’ after president lashes out during briefing

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New York governor Andrew Cuomo reiterated that the federal government must be involved in expanding testing capacity, after Trump tweeted it was up to the states to make tests more widely available.

“If we don’t have federal help on testing, that’s a real problem,” Cuomo said.

Trump sent a series of tweets trying to deflect responsibility for the coronavirus crisis, suggesting states are the ones who need to expand testing capacity.

The States have to step up their TESTING!

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Michael Cohen to be released from prison over coronavirus fears – report

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Trump’s ex-fixer will remain under quarantine for 14 days before he is released to serve the rest of his sentence in home confinement

Donald Trump’s former lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen will reportedly be released from federal prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Cohen is currently locked up at FCI Otisville in New York after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress. Cohen began serving his sentence last May and was scheduled to be released from prison in November 2021.

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Coronavirus US live: Trump threatens to close Congress over ‘obstruction’

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Kari Paul here, logging out for the night. Below are some top stories to be aware of from the last few hours:

For those of us on the West Coast wondering “what’s next?” here is a pretty comprehensive look at what needs to be done to reopen California, written by two medical doctors.

In short, to reopen we will need much more access to testing so we can localize and isolate new cases of the virus, and restrictions on large gatherings will likely persist for awhile. In other words, we are all going to be working from home and washing our hands constantly for the foreseeable future.

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Trump spoiling for a fight over reopening economy, says Cuomo – video

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The New York governor has brushed off Donald Trump's claim that the president has the ultimate say on when and how to reopen the economy. Andrew Cuomo says Trump's assertion is inaccurate and unconstitutional, adding: 'There are many things you can debate in the constitution because they are ambiguous. This is not one of those things that is ambiguous.'

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Coronavirus US live: Andrew Cuomo details ‘horrific level of pain’ as deaths pass 10,000 in New York

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It’s been one month since Trump declared a national emergency over the coronavirus pandemic, and many of his key promises remain unfulfilled.

An in-depth NPR investigation found many of the pledges that Trump made in his March 13 Rose Garden speech have only been parially realized, while others have gone completely ignored.

NPR’s Investigations Team dug into each of the claims made from the podium that day. And rather than a sweeping national campaign of screening, drive-through sample collection and lab testing, it found a smattering of small pilot projects and aborted efforts.

In some cases, no action was taken at all.

Independent congressman Justin Amash pushed back against Trump’s claim that he has the authority to reopen the economy at the federal level, an assertion that is also challenged by constitutional experts.

President Trump is flat-out wrong. The president has no authority to “close down” or “open up” the states. He’s the one creating conflict and confusion. Put down the authoritarianism and read the Constitution. https://t.co/3AFqRx7YTX

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Cuomo undercuts De Blasio bid to keep New York schools shut until September

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  • New York City mayor announces schools closed until autumn
  • Shortly afterwards, governor insists decision to close is his

New York governor Andrew Cuomo and New York City mayor Bill de Blasio once again had differing opinions on who has authority to implement certain Covid-19 policies.

This time, it involved De Blasio’s announcement on Saturday morning that New York City’s school district, which oversees 1.1 million students, would shutter for the rest of the academic year to try to slow the spread of the coronavirus. De Blasio said his administration was forging a “comprehensive plan” to safely reopen schools in September and that “next year is going to have to be the greatest academic year New York public schools have ever had”.

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Coronavirus US live: Trump says he’s ‘not determined’ to open the country in May

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What does protest look like under a stay-at-home order?

This evening, activists are lighting a candle in solidarity with more than 90,000 people typically incarcerated in state prisons and jails in New York state, as coronavirus threatens to turn crowded, unsanitary prisons into death traps.

Lighting a candle for all incarcerated people tonight in solidarity with #FreeThemAll4PublicHealth pic.twitter.com/fzWJZ8O7Yj

It is inhumane to let people die in cages. That has always been true, and it is especially true now in the midst of a global pandemic.

6 y/o and I are joining the @FreeThemAll2020 campaign in calling on @NYGovCuomo to #FreeThemAll4PublicHealth. pic.twitter.com/vrAjImhUAe

#FreeThemAll4PublicHealth #FreeThemAll because people don't belong in cages pic.twitter.com/bWZGnmQQar

Advocates have been pleading for weeks that San Francisco move people out of homeless shelters and into hotel rooms, given that the conditions inside these facilities are often unsanitary and crowded, making it easy for a virus to quickly spread.

Now, there has been a major coronavirus outbreak inside a homeless shelter in San Francisco: nearly 70 residents at MSC South have tested positive, which is roughly half of all the people who were tested.

After 70 residents of a San Francisco homeless shelter test positive for Covid-19, advocates say others are trapped in lockdown in shelters with restrictions. "Telling them they cannot leave is not protecting them"-@Leahfsw. "People need to be moved to hotels, not just locked up" pic.twitter.com/YTfxVaMIGg

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Coronavirus: Cuomo says New York ‘flattening the curve’ – video

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The New York governor has said the state is seeing the effect of physical distancing and that the curve of coronavirus cases is starting to flatten, despite the largest single-day death toll increase on Tuesday. However, he emphasised that citizens need to continue to be vigilant

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Coronavirus US live: 400,000 cases confirmed in America as Cuomo says New York is flattening curve

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The White House is reportedly having discussions about reopening the economy next month, which could cause friction with health experts who have warned against lifting “stay at home” orders too quickly.

CNN reports:

Officials said the options being discussed on reopening the country vary widely in scope, from recommendations on benchmarks for when individual states can begin easing restrictions to a nationwide ‘big bang’ that Trump previewed Tuesday evening on Fox News. The officials said the conversations were still preliminary and would likely evolve over the course of the next weeks.

Still, some officials have even begun mulling the type of event Trump may want to mark the day when nationwide restrictions are lifted after he suggested a ‘big celebration’ when the crisis is over. ...

At some point, the president is going to have to look at Drs. Fauci and Birx and say, we're opening on May 1. Give me your best guidance on protocols, but we cannot deny our people their basic freedoms any longer.

Barack Obama called for a “robust system of testing and monitoring” to confront the coronavirus crisis.

Social distancing bends the curve and relieves some pressure on our heroic medical professionals. But in order to shift off current policies, the key will be a robust system of testing and monitoring – something we have yet to put in place nationwide. https://t.co/evkTSrzReB

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New York state suffers largest single-day increase in coronavirus deaths

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Governor reports 731 deaths on Monday as number killed in New York City eclipses death toll from 9/11

New York suffered the highest single-day increase in its death toll from coronavirus, governor Andrew Cuomo reported on Tuesday, even as those in the state were still under orders to stay at home.

The governor noted the three-day average of hospitalizations was down, indicating the state is “reaching a plateau in the total number of hospitalizations”.

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Andrew Cuomo thanks China for ventilators as New York prepares for coronavirus peak – video

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The New York governor said the Chinese government would facilitate a donation of 1,000 ventilators to arrive into JFK airport on Saturday. Cuomo said: ‘This is a big deal and it’s going to make a significant difference for us. We’re not at the apex so we’re still in the stage where we have the luxury – if you will – of gathering as much as we can.’


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