Domestic Updates
- Thousands gathered outside the State Capitol in Lansing, MI to protest the stay-at-home order after Gov. Whitmer extended the restrictions.
- Gov. Newsom has ordered the closure of all beaches in Orange County after repeated reports of people ignoring social distancing rules. The Huntington Beach City Council is preparing to sue Newsom over his decision.
- The CDC announced a national research initiative to better understand how COVID-19 is evolving and spreading. The initiative brings together 75 research institutions and hopes to speed up genome research, which will hopefully speed up the discovery of effective treatments options and a vaccine.
- Gov. Cuomo officially announced that schools across NY State will remain closed for the rest of the school year. He also announced that mental health services will be free for all essential workers.
- Gov. Cuomo announced that the 24-hour death toll fell below 300 (289 fatalities), for the first time since March 30. Daily Covid hospitalizations in NY are still hovering around 950 a day, a # that remains troublingly high and constant.
- New Jersey recorded its second straight day that the state’s death-toll exceeded New York’s. NJ recorded 311 Covid deaths in the last 24 hours. Yesterday, they hit The highest 24-hour death toll with 460 deaths.
- A group of pandemic experts from the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy released a new report that says COVID-19 is likely to spread for another 18 months to two years until 60-70% of the population has been infected and herd immunity is achieved. The report also called for the US to prepare for another large wave of infections in the fall and winter.
- American, Delta and Frontier, Southwest, Alaska and JetBlue are now requiring all passengers, in addition to flight attendants, to wear face masks on flight.
- The CDC has released a 17-page document on guidance for child care programs; schools and day camps; communities of faith; employers with vulnerable workers; restaurants and bars and mass transit administrators. It’s worth a read as it’s a very interesting take on what schools could look like when they reopen in the fall.
Global Updates
- When PM Modi abruptly announced India’s lockdown order, around 10 million migrant workers became stranded, with no way to return home. India has now instituted a program that will use trains to take these people back to their home states. The trains will adhere to social distancing guidelines and they will only accept migrant workers, students, tourists and pilgrims.
- The Indian government has extended its lockdown by two more weeks until May 17, but areas located in “green zones” have seen most of their restrictions relaxed.
- Hubei province will lower its emergency response to the second-highest level on May 2nd. Beijing also announced it will lower its emergency response to the second-highest level, from the highest level now.
- The Shanghai Disney resort has reopened. All guests, (adults, kids and senior citizens) are required to wear masks and staff carry contact-less thermometers and hand sanitizer, which they use at random.
- The WHO has extended its declaration of a “global health emergency”. The global tally of case #’s is around 3.2 million (confirmed), and even with Europe and Asia showing promising signs of controlling the outbreak, the WHO has expressed concern over the rapid rise of new cases in Africa and South America.
- Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa extended the nationwide lockdown by two more weeks and announced a $720 million stimulus package.
- South Africa will very slowly begin to ease restrictions today, after implementing one of the toughest lockdown orders. In general, this first phase will allow people to leave their homes, for three hours in the morning, but that’s more or less all it will do. Wearing masks and social distancing in public is mandatory and an overnight curfew has been implemented. Everyone must continue WFH, and businesses like gyms and restaurants will remain closed. Schools will not reopen until June 1.
- Baricitinib, a rheumatoid arthritis drug, will be tested as a possible COVID-19 treatment in an accelerated trial by the NIH in the US. The same drug is also being studied in Canada and Italy.
- US-based biotech company Moderna and Switzerland-based Lonza Ltd. have agreed to a 10-year collaboration to manufacture a potential COVID-19 vaccine, their aim is to produce 1 billion doses a year.
- A new report has come out in the UK which looks similar to ones released in the US- Covid patients from Black African backgrounds are dying in UK hospitals at more than 3X the rate of white British people and Pakistani deaths are 2.9X as high.
- Chile has won applause from the international community for their mass testing program which has resulted in a low death toll and underwhelmed healthcare systems. They will move forward with their “immunity passport” program, despite warnings against such programs from the WHO.
- A new watchdog report sent to the United States Congress has warned that Afghanistan could face a “health disaster” from Covid-19. The Taliban has increased the number of attacks against Afghan Security forces in recent weeks, rejecting a UN call for an international ceasefire.
This list has been curated by @jamieplancher