Coronavirus updates: U.S. battles world’s deadliest COVID-19 outbreak

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is giving an update Monday on the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Cuomo is speaking after New York endured its deadliest week yet since becoming the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak. 

Watch the Cuomo news conference in the player at the top of this page from 11:30 a.m. Eastern.

Officials announced Sunday that the state’s daily death toll had topped 700 for the sixth straight day. However, the total number of hospitalizations related to the virus decreased again, Cuomo said.

The numbers suggest the apex of cases is more of a plateau, and efforts to “flatten the curve” appear to be working.

The Supreme Court will hold arguments by telephone in May for a select number of cases that were postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, the court announced Monday.

Among the key cases that will be argued by phone are three involving subpoenas from congressional Democrats and New York prosecutors for President Trump’s financial records, as well as a pair of cases involving faithless electors and the Electoral College.

The Supreme Court’s public information office said it intends to provide a live audio feed of the arguments to the press, marking the first time the high court will have live audio of arguments. Audio recordings of oral arguments are typically posted on the Friday after they are held, though same-day audio has been provided in limited instances. 

In all, the Supreme Court will conduct phone arguments for 13 cases on select dates in the first two weeks of May. Click here to read more.

Thousands of garment workers who produce items for top Western fast fashion brands protested against unpaid wages in Bangladesh’s streets Monday, saying they were more afraid of starving than contracting the coronavirus.

Bangladesh’s apparel factories account for some 84% of the country’s $40 billion export sector, which is facing its worst crisis in decades after retailers including H&M, Walmart and Tesco cancelled orders because of the pandemic. 

Protesting workers say many factories have not paid them after the orders were cut.

Workers shouted slogans such as “we want our wages” and “break the black hands of the owners” as they blocked roads despite a nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of the deadly disease.

“We are afraid of the coronavirus. We heard a lot of people are dying of this disease,” protesting worker Sajedul Islam, 21, told AFP. “But we don’t have any choice. We are starving. If we stay at home, we may save ourselves from the virus. But who will save us from starvation?”  

– AFP

The government’s top infectious disease expert may be under pressure for appearing to contradict President Trump. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci suggested lives could have been saved if the President had acted sooner on warnings about the coronavirus. Watch Paula Reid’s report on the conflicting accounts of when the White House was warned about the pandemic below.

The coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated concerns among advocates about the conditions inside U.S. immigration jails. CBS News spoke with five women detained at a for-profit prison in Jena, Louisiana, who are pleading for their release. 

Like many of the roughly 34,000 immigrants currently held by ICE, the women feel powerless to protect themselves from the deadly contagion, which has already infected at least 61 detainees and 19 employees in more than two dozen facilities across 11 states. Click here to read excerpts of our interviews with the women.

With virus restrictions lifted, China has directed its manufacturing might toward making the personal protective equipment health care workers need to battle the coronavirus. Now there’s a rush to buy these coveted medical supplies from China by global governments, private companies — and profiteers. It’s a global free-for-all and CBS News found U.S. states and hospitals struggling to compete.

Aubrey Layne, Virginia’s secretary of finance, is responsible for purchasing his state’s supply of PPE, and he’s turning to China. 

“We need the masks, the respirators, all the gowns, the gloves,” Layne said, adding that Virginia’s current inventory isn’t enough to weather the state’s anticipated surge in coronavirus cases. Layne said China is currently the only place capable of delivering the bulk orders he needs, but buyers take on plenty of risk. 

American distributors and supply chain managers tell CBS News that PPE factories are popping up overnight in China, some even faking U.S. government approvals. Click here to read more. 

South Korea’s top infectious disease expert said Monday the number of patients who have tested positive for the coronavirus again after being cleared of the disease and released from hospitals had increased to 116. That figure was about double the number of “reactivated” cases reported last week. 

Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there hadn’t been any confirmed transmissions from patients who tested positive for a second time. 

He said it was unclear whether the reactivated cases were due to to patients contracting the disease again, faulty tests, or simply people still having low levels of the virus in their bloodstream that, for some reason, became detectable again over time.

Some countries — including hard-hit South Korea and Italy — have conducted wide-scale testing and follow-up testing, allowing them to detect reactivated cases more efficiently. A South Korean official said Monday, meanwhile, that the country had shipped 600,000 COVID-19 test kits to the U.S. to help meet a demand for more, after a request from President Trump.

– CBS/AP

The coronavirus pandemic that has already cost more than 22,000 American lives is also causing many to go hungry. Thousands have been forced to wait for hours in long lines at food banks across the country.

Feeding America, the nation’s largest network of food banks, reported a 98 percent increase in demand.

It’s a time of unprecedented demand everywhere, but the need may be most critical in rural America, reports correspondent Janet Shamlian. That is where pantries are closing because food is scarce and also volunteers who staff them are worried about their own health. Click here to read more.

While millions of Americans will soon be benefitting from the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus package, and the agriculture industry is expecting to receive up to $23.5 billion in aid from it, undocumented farmworkers like Jesús Zuniga won’t be receiving anything despite their essential role growing and harvesting crops sold in grocery stores across the U.S.

Originally from Hidalgo, Mexico, Zuniga is 45 and has been living in California and working in the state’s agriculture industry for 20 years. He has picked onions and tomatoes and is currently harvesting grapes.

“We are in really trying times and we are in trouble as farmworkers,” Zuniga told CBS News in Spanish. “We are essential workers, we pay taxes, so we’d hope that [the government] would give us help just as they are planning to with others who have documentation,” he said.  Click here to read more.

Citing economic uncertainty caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam proposed an amendment to a bill increasing the state’s minimum wage that would delay its implementation several months, his office announced Sunday.

The governor’s office also said he had signed bills that make sweeping changes to voting in Virginia by repealing the state’s voter ID law, making Election Day a state holiday and expanding access to early voting.

The governor wants the wage increase to kick in May 1, 2021, instead of in January 2021. Northam, a Democrat, proposed the same May effective date for a number of other labor-related measures, including a bill that would allow limited public sector collective bargaining. Click here to read more.

– Associated Press

“Good Morning America” co-anchor George Stephanopoulos has tested positive for coronavirus, he revealed on the show on Monday. He got his results after his wife, Ali Wentworth, had been battling with COVID-19. 

The ABC News host said he hasn’t felt any of the symptoms related to the virus despite his wife feeling them.

“I’m one of those cases that are basically asymptomatic,” Stephanopoulos said. “I’ve never had a fever, never had chills, never had headache, never had a cough, never had shortness of breath. I’m feeling great.” Click here to read more.

A U.S. Navy Sailor assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt has died of the new coronavirus, the Navy said Monday.

The sailor was moved into the intensive care unit of the U.S. military hospital on the Pacific island of Guam last week, but four days later “died of COVID-related complications,” according to the Navy.

As of Sunday, at least 585 members of the Roosevelt’s crew had tested positive for the new coronavirus. The ship has been docked in Guam since making a scheduled port call on March 27. The stay was extended indefinitely due to the COVID-19 outbreak on board. 

Almost 4,000 crew members were moved ashore to the U.S. military base in Guam for monitoring, of whom almost 3,000 have now been tested for COVID-19.

The death announced Monday was the first fatality among the Roosevelt’s crew.

More than 4,300 people were arrested over the weekend in Morocco for breaching emergency rules in place to combat the novel coronavirus, according to official government figures. 

More than half of those cited were taken into police custody. Penalties for violating the lockdown measures aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 disease include up to three months in jail and fines of up to 1,300 dirhams ($130), or both. 

Morocco has recorded 1,746 COVID-19 cases, with 120 deaths and 196 recoveries. Fewer than 7,000 tests have been carried out in the country.

The coronavirus lockdown in Moscow and the surrounding region will be tightened this week with the introduction of digital travel permits for residents, as the number of COVID-19 cases in the country continues to rise.

A special website and app were launched for the new digital permit system, the latest effort to keep people off the streets and slow down the spread of the virus. The website was down Monday morning, with city authorities blaming an alleged cyberattack they claimed had originated, in part, in an unspecified foreign nation or nations.

The digital permits will be mandatory from Wednesday for anyone wishing to travel by public or private transport within Moscow and the surrounding region. The passes can be printed, saved as screenshots or written down as a unique code and carried on paper. Only local travel on foot, for essential reasons, will be allowed without a permit.

Russia reported 2,558 new cases Monday ­– another daily record – bringing the nationwide total to 18,328. At least 18 people died overnight, raising the overall death toll to 148. Moscow, a city of 12.7 million, has seen the majority of cases.

A friend and donor to President Donald Trump who the president had said was in a coma and seriously ill after becoming infected with the coronavirus has died.

Stanley I. Chera’s death Saturday was reported by The Real Deal, which covers the New York real estate industry. The publication cited unidentified sources who have worked with Crown Acquisitions, the firm Chera founded and ran. Chera was in his late 70s.

A White House official on Sunday confirmed Chera’s identity and ties to the president. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details about Trump’s personal friendships. Click here to read more.

– Associated Press

Spain reopened parts of its coronavirus-stricken economy on Monday as slowing death tolls in some of the worst-hit countries boosted hopes the curve may be starting to flatten and lockdown restrictions could soon be eased.

Watched by a world that is keen to temper a brutal pandemic-induced recession, some Spanish factory and construction staff were set to return to work within strict safety guidelines fueling cautious optimism that the virus may have reached its peak there. 

Spain’s death toll fell again on Monday with 517 fatalities, plus the lowest daily figure of new confirmed infections since March 20. 

France and the U.S. have also seen a drop in daily COVID-19 deaths, along with Italy which reported its lowest fatalities in three weeks.

But Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez warned his country was “far from victory,” with the lockdown restrictions for the rest of the nation’s 47 million people remaining in place.

–CBS/AFP

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has left one Flint-area woman devastated after the deaths of both her husband and son from COVID-19.

Sandy Brown of Grand Blanc lost her 59-year-old husband, Freddie Lee Brown Jr., and her 20-year-old son, Freddie Lee Brown III, within days of each other in late March, CBS affiliate WWMT-TV reported.

“My two men are gone. I am standing here in the strength of the Lord, not no strength of my own,” Brown told the station. Click here to read more.

–CBS/AP

As thousands of Americans try to avoid stores over fear of the new coronavirus, Amazon has seen such an “unprecedented” surge in demand for its online grocery delivery service that the Seattle-based retail giant is making new customers wishing to enroll in the service join a waiting list. 

“We are bringing groceries to more people while also managing new safety measures (including social distancing) and unprecedented demand,” Amazon VP of Grocery services, Stephenie Landry, said in a statement posted to the corporate blog.

“We are temporarily asking new Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market delivery and pickup customers to sign up for an invitation to use online grocery delivery and pickup,” Amazon said, adding that it was “increasing capacity each week and will invite new customers to shop every week.”  

More than 3,600 deaths have been linked to coronavirus outbreaks in nursing homes and long-term care facilities nationwide, an alarming rise in just the past two weeks. 

Because the federal government has not been releasing a count of its own, The Associated Press has kept its own running tally based on media reports and state health departments. 

The latest count of at least 3,621 deaths is up from about 450 deaths just 10 days ago. Experts say even that is likely an undercount because most state numbers don’t include those who died without ever being tested for COVID-19.  

– Associated Press

The United States’ top infectious disease expert says the economy in parts of the country could have a “rolling reentry” as early as next month, provided health authorities can quickly identify and isolate people who will inevitably be infected with the coronavirus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci also says he “can’t guarantee” that it will be safe for Americans to vote in person on Election Day, Nov. 3.

Fauci says a gradual return to normal will be required based on the status of the new coronavirus pandemic in various parts of the country and the availability of rapid, widespread testing.

– Associated Press

Virginia-based Smithfield Foods announced Sunday that it is closing its pork processing plant in Sioux Falls until further notice after hundreds of employees tested positive for the coronavirus — a step the head of the company warned could hurt the nation’s meat supply, The Associated Press reports.

The announcement came a day after South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem and Sioux Falls Mayor Paul TenHaken wrote to Smithfield and urged the company to suspend operations for 14 days so that its workers could self-isolate and the plant could be disinfected.

Health officials said Sunday that 293 of the 730 people who have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in South Dakota work at the plant.  

– Associated Press 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an “emergency use authorization” that would pave the way to “decontaminate nearly 4 million N95 or N95-equivalent respirators per day in the U.S. for reuse by health care workers in hospital settings,” according to a press release.

The FDA outlined the system for which hospitals can use to sterilize the masks, a critical piece of personal protective equipment in the fight against coronavirus.

“Our nation’s health care workers are among the many heroes of this pandemic and we need to do everything we can to increase the availability of the critical medical devices they need, like N95 respirators,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen M. Hahn said in the press release. “FDA staff continue to work around the clock, across government and with the private sector to find solutions. This authorization will help provide access to millions of respirators so our health care workers on the front lines can be better protected and provide the best care to patients with COVID-19.”

California has nearly 22,500 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 635 deaths, according to data compiled Sunday by John Hopkins University, figures far lower than New York, where the infections have been most prevalent and deadly.

Dr. Mark Ghaly, secretary of the California Health and Human Services Agency, said models state officials have created to track the virus had been showing a peak by the middle of next month, but the picture has improved as people limited their movement.

Even so, California Governor Gavin Newsom implored people to continue practicing social distancing.

“Let’s just do this together. Give us a few more weeks to see where these trend lines go,” Newsom said.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, who ordered all parks closed from Saturday evening through Monday morning, also extended the city’s remain-home order to May 15 and warned that easing it too soon might open the door to more infections.  

– Associated Press