Domestic Updates – 4/23
- Trump stated that he informed Georgia Governor Kemp that he strongly disagreed with the governor’s decision to reopen and warned it was too soon. Gov. Kemp acknowledged Trump’s concern but showed no signs of reversing the decision
- Anthony Fauci, when asked about a second surge, was quoted saying, “We will have Coronavirus in the fall, I am convinced of that.”
- The CDC is testing for asymptomatic nursing home cases across Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Tennessee
- Through contact-tracing, experts believe that by March 1, as New York confirmed its first case, the number of cases may already have surpassed 10,000. They believe that cases in NY, WA, and CA could have been circling as early as January.
- The number of hospitalized patients in NYC has dropped 73% from the start of the month.
- Mike Bloomberg has pledged upward of $10M for the testing and tracing effort in NY, which will be coordinated with Johns Hopkins University.
- In NY, 438 more people died in the last 24 hours, a number which Gov. Cuomo said remained flat but troublingly high.
- Hospitals across NY are reporting that the virus appears to be causing sudden strokes in adults in their 30s and 40s who otherwise have mild or no symptoms
- There are 114 new Coronavirus cases linked to the JBS Beef plant in Cactus, Texas, and Tyson Foods is closing its largest pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa, as 2,800 workers have called out sick with 182 confirmed cases so far.
- Antibody testing survey done on supermarket customers across NY State showed that 13.9% of 3,000 people had antibodies of the virus.
- Siemens has developed an antibody test. The test takes 14 minutes, is more than 99% accurate, and will be available in late May. They plan to produce 25 million tests per month.
Global Updates – 4/23
- Doctors and scientists around the world are trying to discern if the medications that patients take for high blood pressure act as an accelerant for the virus, instead of their underlying hypertension condition
- China will donate $30M to the World Health Organization after Trump said the United States would be pulling funding
- Germany’s cases have been on a steady decline but Merkel warned the governors of the country’s states against reopening the economy too early
- Wearing a face mask is now mandatory on public transport and in stores in Germany. Romania has issued the same order
- Romania has issued near $100M in fines during the lockdown
- Human clinical trials of a vaccine began today at the University of Oxford
- The UN has said that developing nations will need $1T in debt canceled to fight the virus and avoid a debt crisis
- Italy’s number of recoveries overtook new infections for the first time today
- France will begin reopening schools starting May 11th but attendance will not be mandatory. Restaurants, bars, and cafes will be closed until at least mid-June
- Scotland published its framework on reopening, which included an assessment that gatherings in pubs or public events may remain banned until next year
- Cases in Mexico have passed 10,000 after the largest single-day spike was reported
- Singapore continues to see an increase in new infections as a total of 1,037 new cases were recorded. The vast majority of cases continue to be inmigrant dormitories.
Curating done by @jamieplancher on Instagram