May 10 coronavirus news

The CEO of biotechnology company Regeneron tells CNN that’s he’s optimistic about an artificial antibody treatment for coronavirus that could enter clinical trials next month – but says it’s too soon to know whether it will help prevent or treat infection.

“We should be optimistic about this approach, but we have to get real data. In this environment, there’s nothing that can substitute for real science and real data,” Dr. Leonard Schleifer, CEO of Regeneron, said.

Unlike a vaccine, which triggers the immune system to develop antibodies, lab-made antibodies are infused directly into the blood, providing temporary immunity. 

“Our approach takes advantage of what’s been known about the immune system for more than 100 years,” Schleifer told CNN.

The body naturally produces antibodies after being exposed to a virus, he said.

The company is hoping to enter clinical trials next month and might have hundreds of thousands of doses available by the end of summer, according to Dr. George Yancopoulos, Regeneron’s chief scientific officer.

Yancopoulos described the therapy as an “important stopgap” until a vaccine is available and said they would be complementary, he said on ABC.

“Vaccines can provide permanent immunity to much larger numbers of people,” he said. “This is why we need all of these efforts.”

Trains sit idle at the Delhi Junction railway station in Delhi, India, on March 30.

Indian Railways announced passenger services will partially resume in the country starting Tuesday.

The railways will start with special trains on 15 selected routes, including the New Delhi-Mumbai route, according to the Railways Ministry. Indian Railways will then start additional special services on other routes based on availability.

Priority will be given to 20,000 coaches for Covid-19 care centers and then up to 300 trains every day to bring home stranded migrant workers across the country, the statement added.

Only passengers with valid confirmed tickets – which can be purchased Monday afternoon – will be allowed to enter the railway stations and it will be mandatory for the passengers to wear a face cover and undergo screening at departure. Only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the trains.

Some context: Indian railways stopped passenger services for the first time in last 167 years on March 24 after a nationwide lockdown to contain the spread of coronavirus was announced.

India has been in lockdown since March 24 and will continue until at least May 17.

Stylists and patrons wear masks at a salon in Las Vegas on May 9.

It’s 1:00 p.m. ET in the US. If you’re just tuning in, here are the latest coronavirus headlines.

A total of at least 30,560 coronavirus patients have died in Italy, the Italian Civil Protection Agency confirmed Sunday, marking an increase of 165 – the lowest rise in deaths since March 9.

The total number of active cases across Italy has once again decreased, falling from 84,842 on Saturday to 83,324, which is down by about 1,518 cases.

A total of at least 1,027 patients continue to receive treatment in intensive care units.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned that the federal government needs to have a plan in place that prioritizes getting American workers’ jobs back as big corporations start to reopen.

Cuomo said the “government should not subsidize their reduction of employees” and suggested the Americans First Law as a possible solution. The law states that if a corporation does not rehire the same number of employees they had before the pandemic, they have to return any government money they received, Cuomo said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo is going “region to region across the state” to determine what parts can reopen when New York’s close down order expires on May 15.

The state has a “clear” and “uniformed” set of criteria based on data and science, the governor said Sunday during a news conference.

Local governments should start to look into two factors, the governor said:

More will come this week as the May 15 date approaches, Cuomo said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo outlined new guidelines that nursing homes and hospitals must follow in order to protect the elderly.

Cuomo said nursing homes are “ground zero” for Covid-19.

“They are the vulnerable population in the vulnerable location. Today we’re taking additional steps to protect seniors in nursing homes,” he said at a news briefing on Sunday.

Here are the new safety measures nursing homes must follow:

Cuomo said facilities must transfer any residents that they cannot take care of.

“If a nursing home cannot take care of a person, we have facilities that can,” he said. “If they have a Covid positive person and they can’t treat a Covid positive person, they must transfer the person or call the state Department of Health and the state Department of Health will transfer that person.”

Cuomo said hospitals will also not be allowed to discharge patients to nursing homes unless they test negative for Covid-19.

“We’re just not going to send a person who is positive to a nursing home after hospital visit. Period,” Cuomo said. “If there’s any issue, the resident must be referred to the department of health which will find alternative care.”

If nursing homes do not follow these guidelines, Cuomo said they will lose their license.

“That’s harsh. No. Harsh is having a nursing home resident who doesn’t get the appropriate care. That’s what’s harsh. Having someone’s parent or mother or brother where they’re in a facility. They can’t get a visitor. They’re isolated. They feel alone and they’re not getting the appropriate care. That is what is harsh,” he said.

New York state is investigating 85 cases of a coronavirus-related illness that is afflicting children across the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a news conference Sunday.

More background: The three young New Yorkers who died from an illness that may be related to Covid-19 include a teenager in Suffolk County, as well as a 7-year-old in Westchester County and a 5-year-old in New York City, according to the governor’s office.

Details of the children who passed away were reported in a press release from Cuomo’s office following his news conference Saturday.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo reported that New York has seen 207 coronavirus-related deaths over the past 24 hours.

Cuomo also said the state recorded 521 new coronavirus cases, which brings New York “back to where we started this hellish journey,” he said during a new conference Sunday.

In regards to the number of deaths, Cuomo said the number is “still terribly high but better.”

On May 8, Cuomo said 226 people had died from Covid-19 in the state.

A key coronavirus model often cited by the White House now predicts more deaths in the US, a shift that a top researcher tied to “explosive increases in mobility in a number of states.” 

The model, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, now forecasts 137,000 deaths in the US by August, up from an earlier prediction of about 134,000.

Dr. Christopher Murray, the IHME director, discussed the model on CBS today.

“We’re seeing just explosive increases in mobility in a number of states that we expect will translate into more cases and deaths in ten days from now,” Murray said.

In a press release, Murray said the model is not yet predicting a resurgence or “return to exponential growth” of the epidemic in the US. But cell phone data still shows Americans moving more – which suggests more infections to come.

IHME is also seeing more cases and deaths than expected in certain places, “but it’s mostly mobility that’s driving up the numbers.” Some of that is the result of relaxed social distancing measures, Murray said.

“We’re seeing increases in mobility even in anticipation of the relaxation of social distancing, but there’s definitely a correlation – the places that are taking off the social distancing mandates, the bump in mobility appears to be larger,” he said.

Some context: The top five states in terms of increasing mobility, Murray said, are Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Georgia.

A number of other states have seen a 15-20% percentage point in mobility, according to an IHME press release: Alabama, Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

While the model only forecasts until August, IHME said later projections will likely extend into October – and will include potential effects of students returning to school. 

A woman shows family pictures to her mother through a window in Neuss, Germany, on Mother's Day, May 10.

This Mother’s Day feels very different than most as people across the world cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

That means many people aren’t able to see their mom in person or hug them. They are keeping their mom safe by staying home or coming up with creative and virtual ways to celebrate the women in their lives.

President Barack Obama wished Michelle happy Mother’s Day with a tweet that said, “Even if you can’t give the moms in your life a hug today, I hope you can give them an extra thank you today.”

Where stay-at-home orders stand: Several states such Illinois and Michigan still have stay-at-home orders in place.

But, at the same time, more than 45 states have relaxed restrictions on some combination of businesses, services or parks, hoping to lift economies. Some states are even starting to lift those shelter-in-place guidelines.

Most recently, California, one of the first states to implement a stay-at-home order, is set to begin loosening some restrictions Friday. Rhode Island’s statewide stay-at-home order will also expire Friday and businesses will be allowed to reopen.

Read Obama’s tweet:

White House Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett admitted “there is no downside” to increased coronavirus testing in the US.

Where Trump stands on testing: During a meeting last Wednesday with Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Trump said, “The media likes to say we have the most cases, but we do, by far, the most testing. If we did very little testing, we wouldn’t have the most cases. So, in a way, by doing all of this testing, we make ourselves look bad.”

The day before, talking to the press on the South Lawn, Trump said “We have the best testing anywhere in the world, not even close.”

Trump last month told CNN that the US is “…giving out millions of tests every day. We are doing it exponentially. We’re picking up and what we’ll be doing in the very near future will be going to certain areas of our country and do massive testing.”

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine speaks on February 27.

About 90% of the state of Ohio is set to open even after a recent uptick in new Covid-19 cases, Gov. Mike DeWine announced on Fox News Sunday.

“I look at kind of a 21-day rule. We are really at a plateau with hospitalizations. We are at a plateau with deaths. We are at a plateau in regard to new cases, so they do go up and down,” he said.

DeWine said “it’s really a risk no matter what we do.”

He said part of doing two things at once is continuing safety measures that are already in place.

“The virus is still out there, it’s still very, very dangerous. We have to keep the distancing. People should wear masks, wash their hands. I mean, these are basic things that we have to do. We can’t let up,” DeWine said.

Trump administration officials continued to predict dire, depression era-level unemployment numbers for the month of May, days after the April unemployment rate hit 17%. 

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNN on Sunday that he thinks the United States unemployment rate will “probably” be “close to 20%” in the May jobs report, noting this number will depend on what happens with the virus and with the economy as some states begin to reopen.

Hassett said that the middle of the summer will be a “transition phase.” He hopes the Congressional Budget Office’s prediction for growth in the third and fourth quarters of the year will be right.

“If you remember that we basically stopped the greatest economy on Earth to save lives and I think that we’re very glad we’ve saved lots of lives. We’re very glad that we’ve done that,” Hassett said, adding that the CBO’s projection for growth in the second half of the year is not a mystery.

Larry Kudlow, the chairman of the White House’s National Economic Council, also acknowledged challenges for May but projected some optimism moving forward. 

Economic rebound: Several of the administration’s economic advisers also predicted a rebound in the second half of the year. 

Kudlow predicted “20 percent economic growth” in the last six months of 2020.

During an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin acknowledged that the US is likely to have a “very, very bad second quarter” followed by what he predicted would be a “bounce back.”

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio responded to recent New York Police Department interactions with the public that involved social distancing or mask-wearing measures.

He referenced one interaction in particular that was caught on video last weekend. De Blasio called the “troubling” video from the lower east side “an instance of the wrong approach to policing.”

CNN previously reported on this video. 

While he championed the success the city has had in “deescalating” and lowering the temperature between police and community and improving relationships, de Blasio noted, “We certainly have seen one video in particular and there have been some others that have raised concern.”

The city said it is increasing public servants who are educating, providing face coverings, reminding of the rules and “helping people to get it right.” 

He also noted that the numbers of summonses and arrests are “extraordinarily low” given the population of New Yorkers.

Some context: More than 80% of those who were issued summonses for social distancing violations in New York City were people of color.

The data revealed 374 summonses were handed out from March 16 to May 5, averaging less than 10 summonses a day over the 42-day period.

And of that total, 193 of those issued summonses were black and 111 were Hispanic, according to the New York Police Department.

All told, 81% of people issued summonses were black and Latino.

Healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson is looking to produce a billion coronavirus vaccines for next year, according to Dr. Paul Stoffels, the company’s chief scientific officer.

“We start clinical trials in September and hopefully have data by the end of the year,” Stoffels said Sunday on ABC, adding that the company is “now working towards one billion vaccines for next year.”

Johnson & Johnson is upscaling manufacturing and will start producing the vaccine later this year, he said.

Stoffels said “clinical trials will need to be done to show that it is effective, and that will take some time.”

New York City is reporting at least 38 cases of a multi-system inflammatory syndrome in young children that could be related to coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Sunday during a news briefing.

Of the verified cases, 47% have tested positive for Covid-19 and of those who tested negative, 81% of the children had the antibodies, de Blasio said.

There are nine other pending cases being investigated across the city, de Blasio said.

At least one child has died from multi-system inflammatory syndrome in New York City, which the mayor called “deeply, deeply troubling.”

The mayor said Health and Hospital systems will be conducting antibody testing for all children who exhibit any of the symptoms related to multi-system inflammatory syndrome.

The guidance was also given to city pediatricians.

Statewide: New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said yesterday that three children died from this inflammatory syndrome in the state.

These children had symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic-shock like syndrome, more generally, inflammation that ultimately causes heart problems, Cuomo said.

When it comes to aiding in Covid-19 testing, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker told CNN that he has “not been counting on the White House.”

Illinois has the second most testing in the nation among the top 10 most populous states for Covid-19, Pritzker said.

“What we are focusing on is positivity rates — the rate at which people are testing positive — and that rate is going down in Illinois,” Pritzker added.

He said the state is keeping a close eye on the number of new people entering hospitals, which remains stable, and keeping an eye on the number of hospital beds that are available “in the event that there’s a surge.”

More context: Illinois is ramping up its Covid-19 tracing efforts and has hired a former Outbreak Intelligence Service expert from the Centers for Disease Control and prevention to have a “massive contact tracing effort up in the next few weeks,” Pritzker said.

A vial of remdesivir

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he has reached out to White House officials and sent a letter to the federal government to try to speed up the shipment of remdesivir to the city.

This comes after the city said the medicine seems to be decreasing the average hospital stay from 15 to 11 days in severely ill Covid-19 patients.

Some background: The federal government began shipping “tens of thousands” of treatment courses of remdesivir at the beginning of May.

The federal government is in charge of deciding where the medicine goes, according to Daniel O’Day, chairman and CEO of Gilead Sciences, the maker of the drug.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson takes a morning walk in St. James's Park in London before returning to Downing Street on May 6.

The leaders of the United Kingdom’s devolved nations – Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – have rejected Boris Johnson’s revised coronavirus guidance, which now advises citizens to “stay alert” as opposed to “stay-at-home” to control the outbreak, the Press Association (PA) reported Sunday.

According to the Press Association, the three leaders said they had not been consulted over the new government guidance ahead of a national security meeting on Sunday morning.

In a Tweet, Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said that she had first seen the prime minister’s new “stay alert” slogan in the Sunday newspapers.

“It is of course for him to decide what’s most appropriate for England but, given the critical point we are at in tackling the virus, #StayHomeSaveLives remains my clear message to Scotland at this stage,” Sturgeon added.

Her Welsh counterpart, Mark Drakeford, said that Wales will not be dropping the “stay-at-home” message from its policy on containing the spread of coronavirus, while Northern Ireland First Minister Arlene Foster said she will continue to promote the “stay at home” message, according to the PA. 

“We’re not out of the woods. It’s about steady progress, rather than making a dash for the exit,” Foster tweeted.

People walk along Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid on May 9.

As just over half of Spain’s population prepares to move ahead with the next step in de-escalation on Monday, the latest figures on coronavirus cases indicate why the two largest cities, Madrid and Barcelona, will continue to enforce stricter movement and mobility measures for now, a top health official said Sunday.

The Health Ministry reported at least 621 new Covid-19 cases across Spain since Saturday, and 64% of them are in the Madrid region, in Catalonia – where Barcelona is located, and in two other regions adjacent to Madrid.

Of the 143 new deaths reported since Saturday, 72% of them were in the same four regions that Simón mentioned at the government’s daily technical briefing and press conference. 

By the numbers: Overall, there are now at least 224,390 cases confirmed by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) testing, and approximately 26,621 deaths from coronavirus, the Health Ministry reported.  

According to Simón, the latest increase in confirmed cases is 0.28%, while the increase in deaths is 0.5%, the lowest since early March, a continued weeks long decline for both categories.

He said that in the two Castilla regions, their close contact to Madrid and frequent movement of people between the regions and the capital city have led to more cases in those two regions.

The entire country remains under strict home confinement rules under a state of emergency that’s just been extended through May 23, for a total of 10 weeks.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett admitted that working in the West Wing can be risky for his health.

Hassett told CNN on Sunday he has been tested repeatedly with the last one happening Saturday and so far has tested negative for Covid-19.

He said he did not have close contact with Katie Miller, Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, who tested positive on Friday.

Several top medical officials of the administration are now self-quarantining because they had close contact with her last week.

Hassett, who had left a job in the White House for the private sector and became a CNN commentator, went back to work for the administration in March.

He told CNN that when he came back into the administration he was setting up a data operation in the basement of the White House “interacting constantly with people who were going to and from FEMA.”

He added some people “caught Covid at FEMA.”

“So we’ve all been exposing ourselves to risks, under the best guidance we could possibly have to keep us safe, but we’re willing to take that chance because we love our country. There are things that have to happen in the West Wing even if the building is a little old and under-ventilated,” he said. “I absolutely have a mask in my pocket. I could wave it at you right now, and I practice social distancing, I wear a mask when I feel it’s appropriate and so on.”

White House Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett said a new emergency relief bill that would provide funding to state and local governments might not be passed right away.

He said the White House wants to learn more about what is going on in the economy as money from previous relief bills is still being distributed.

But he said that while a phase four deal might be on the back burner for now, President Trump would sign the right package.

“Of course if we go to a phase four deal, I think President Trump has signaled that while he doesn’t want to bail out the states, he’s willing to help cover some of the unexpected Covid expenses that might have come their way,” Hassett said.

Some context: Capitol Hill has passed nearly $3 trillion in funding across several packages in response to the coronavirus already, including $150 billion for state and local governments.

The problem is because there are specific guidelines on what this money has to be used for, local governments can’t use it for things they need most, like basic operational costs, such as paying police and firefighters, for example.

Democrats such as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California have suggested that state and local governments could need as much as an additional $1 trillion in aid, but Republicans are wary about passing another huge relief bill.

Trump said on Friday that the White House is “in no rush” to pass additional stimulus funds in response to coronavirus. 

Elderly people in Turkey were allowed out of their house on Sunday for the first time in 49 days.

The older Turkey citizens have been confined to their homes since March 21 when the government announced a lockdown for people over the age of 65 as a part of measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

They were allowed out for four hours between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. local time today during a general weekend lockdown that prohibits all but essential workers from going out.

Turkey has opted for an age-specific lockdowns, banning people over the age 65 and below the age of 20 from leaving their homes.

People over 65 years of age were seen in parks, coastal roads and in outdoor exercise areas.

Some context: Turkey will slowly start lifting restrictions on Monday. Hairdressers and barbers will begin providing services with new measures as well as limited reopening of malls.

Anti-lockdown protesters chant on the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne, Australia, on May 10.

Police arrested 10 people, including two protest organizers, Sunday outside Melbourne’s Parliament House during a planned protest against Australia’s coronavirus response efforts, according to a statement obtained by CNN from Victoria Police. 

The Victoria Police stated that protesters were in “direct contravention of the chief health officer’s current directives” regarding large gatherings and social distancing.

Three protesters were charged with assaulting a police officer, and one officer was taken to hospital for an apparent “rib injury.” 

The police will continue to investigate the incident to identify those in attendance with the intention of issuing additional fines, the statement added. 

Secret Service agents who are part of the President’s protective detail were seen Saturday evening wearing masks in the Cabinet Room. 

There are 11 Secret Service employees who currently have Covid-19, a congressional source confirmed to CNN.

Yahoo News, which first reported the figure basing it on a Department of Homeland Security document, also said 60 employees are self-quarantining. This is a small fraction of the 7,600 Secret Service employees who work for the agency in posts worldwide.

A Secret Service spokesperson refused to confirm how many currently have tested positive, would not say where those employees worked nor specify how many are agents.

“To protect the privacy of our employee’s health information and for operational security, the Secret Service is not releasing how many of its employees have tested positive for Covid-19, nor how many of its employees were, or currently are, quarantined,” the spokesperson said.

Employees at Kona Grill in Las Vegas work with facemasks on May 9 as some businesses are allowed to reopen.

Although states are starting to reopen, people still need to wear a mask and practice physical distancing to prevent a “backlash,” Dr. Thomas File, the president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America, said.

“We still have to use the personal practices that have led us to the present state now where we’re starting to at least, you know, flatten the curve,” he told CNN on Sunday.

He said state leaders have to acknowledge the pandemic has had a “significant impact on both public health and the economy.”

File said it is going to be important to take measures to reopen states safety to avoid making the economic situation worse.

“If there’s an increase in cases and increase in admissions to hospitals, that’s going to hurt the economy. You certainly don’t want to go back to lockdown of businesses because that’s going to hurt the economy worse,” File said.

Medical workers work to evacuate patients at Spasokukotskogo Hospital in Moscow on May 9.

A fire broke out late Saturday at a Moscow hospital treating coronavirus patients, killing one person and forcing the evacuation of patients, Russian state news agencies report.

In a statement, Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said the blaze occurred at City Clinical Hospital No. 50.

“The fire was quickly extinguished,” he said. “All patients are evacuated and will be transported to other hospitals. Unfortunately, there were some casualties. According to preliminary data, one of the patients died. I express condolences to their family and friends.”

Sobyanin said the causes of the fire would be investigated. Russian state news agency TASS, citing preliminary data, said the fire in an intensive care unit was caused by the malfunction of medical equipment. Five people were saved from the burning ward and 200 were evacuated elsewhere, TASS said.

TASS, citing emergency services, said the fire broke out in a unit with coronavirus patients on Saturday evening.

Pope Francis has called on European leaders to act in the spirit of “agreement and collaboration” in the face of the global coronavirus pandemic.

His made his comments during his weekly Sunday Angelus, in which he marked the 70th anniversary of the Schuman declaration, on which the initial framework for European Union was founded.

“To Europe, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Schuman declaration … it inspired the process of European integration which allowed for the reconciliation of the people of the continent after the Second World War, and the long period of stability and peace from which we benefit today,” the Pope said.

“The spirit of Schuman’s declaration should not stop inspiring those who are responsible in the European Union, who are called on to face, in the spirit of agreement and collaboration, the economic and social consequences created by the pandemic.”

European officials were widely criticized for lacking a unified response in the initial months of the outbreak in the region.

Members of the EU Parliament arrive and sit in an empty hemicycle at the beginning of the plenary session which is reduced to a single day due to the spread of the COVID-19 illness, in Brussels, on March 10, 2020. - All European Union States are hit by the novel coronavirus. (Photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP) (Photo by KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article Covid-19's threat to European unity

Alec Baldwin being stuck at home didn’t stop him from playing President Donald Trump one last time this season.

The season finale of NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” which took place remotely, opened with Baldwin’s Trump acting as the keynote speaker for this year’s graduating class of seniors.

“Hello, everyone, I’m Principal O’Grady. Welcome to the St. Mary Magdalene By The Expressway class of 2020 virtual graduation,” Kate McKinnon said to a zoom conference of the entire class playing students. “I know this isn’t how you expected your high school career to come to an end, but we’re all making sacrifices. I have had to share my child’s Adderall with him.”

McKinnon’s principal told the class that she tried to get the class’s preferred speakers of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama, but they said no as did the next five choices.

“So I moved on to your eighth choice, receiving one vote, President Donald Trump,” she said.

Baldwin’s Trump, wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat, appeared on the call from home.

US President Donald Trump congratulated the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and its president, Dana White, for bringing sports back with a “big match” in a recorded message that aired on ESPN before the UFC 249 Saturday night.

Justin Gaethje, right, punches Tony Ferguson in their interim lightweight title fight during UFC 249 at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena on Saturday in Jacksonville, Florida.

The fight, which saw Justin Gaethje win the battle against Tony Ferguson in Florida, was the first major US sporting event to return since coronavirus restrictions were put in place.

In his message, the President said it’s important to “get the sports leagues back.”

“Let’s play,” Trump said. “You do the social distancing and whatever else you have to do. But we need sports. We want our sports back.”

White has been a supporter of Trump in the past and spoke at the 2016 RNC on Trump’s behalf. He is also a current adviser to Trump on helping sports return. Per previous CNN reporting, White has said that he’s been on some “great” conference calls with Trump, adding “everyone is motivated to try to figure this thing out and bring back sports.”

The UK media has widely published a new slogan expected to be unveiled by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Sunday evening, in which the advice to “stay home” will be replaced with “stay alert.”

Johnson said earlier this week that he will present a plan to begin easing the country’s lockdown, and that he hoped some measures could be relaxed by Monday.

But Johnson has struggled to get all four countries within the UK on the same page, and Scotland’s First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Sunday she would stick with the older “stay at home” message for her people.

The UK’s Press Association reported the new slogan, and said that Johnson was also expected to encourage people unable to work from home to return to their workplaces while practicing social distancing. 

Restrictions limiting outdoor exercise to once per day will be lifted and garden centers will be allowed to reopen, though fines for breaking lockdown rules will be increased, PA said.

Johnson’s government has come under intense criticism over its messaging around the coronavirus response.

On Sunday, the BBC’s Andrew Marr pressed Robert Jenrick, a Cabinet minister, on how the slogan and other details were leaked to some journalists before the Prime Minister’s announcement.

Jenrick added that despite the new slogan, the government would still encourage people to stay at home.

“Staying at home will still be an important part of the message. We want people to stay at home as much as possible,” he said.

But the government wanted to issue a more nuanced message, he explained, that emphasized vigilance, such as hand-washing and maintaining social distancing, for people who were returning to work or look after the vulnerable.

He rejected criticism that the government was being bold in its easing, despite the country’s death toll now reaching above 31,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

“There will be no grand reopening of the economy tonight,” he said.

“We will help to control the virus and in time … we will be able to gradually reopen the economy and other aspects of our lives.”

Police in London have been struggling to keep people from breaking lockdown rules over the long weekend, as warm weather has tempted crowds of people outdoors.

Police in the eastern borough of Hackney posted a photo on Twitter of people drinking beer and wine, and eating pizza at a park, saying “sadly we’re fighting a losing battle in the parks today.”

Images from Greenwich Park in the city’s southeast also showed police patrolling while asking people having picnics and drinking in the sun to leave.

A police officer patrols in Greenwich Park in London, on May 9.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is scheduled on Sunday evening to present a plan for lifting the nation’s lockdown. He said earlier in the week that he had hoped some restrictions could be eased on Monday.

But without ministers giving details on the record about which measures may be loosened, British media has speculated on what new freedoms they may have next week.

Meanwhile, the country’s Housing Minister Robert Jenrick spoke Sunday of a new five-tier alert system to rank the virus’ threat level. Johnson is expected to announce the system when he unveils a plan this evening to ease the nation out of lockdown.

The UK is likely on level four of the alert system, Jenrick told Sky News. UK reports suggested the alert system would only initially apply to England and that the government would work with Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to establish similar systems.

“At the moment, we believe the country is at four on a scale of five, with five being the most concerning,” Jenrick told Sky News. “Our aspiration is to bring that down as swiftly as possible to three.

“This will be a cautious approach.”

Medical personnel work at a coronavirus testing site on April 16 in Wuhan, China.

The city of Wuhan, the original epicenter of the coronavirus crisis, on Sunday reported its first new coronavirus case since April 3, according to local health officials.

The patient is currently in a critical condition, and his wife has also tested positive and was reported as an asymptomatic case. The patient lives in a neighborhood that has recorded 20 confirmed cases overall.

The new case is lined to “past community infection,” according to the Wuhan Health Commission, citing medical experts. Five patients from the community showing no symptoms, including the new case’s wife, have been sent to hospitals for observation. China’s national and local health commissions do not include asymptomatic cases in their confirmed case counts.

China reopened Wuhan’s borders after a 76-day lockdown on April 8. As of Saturday, 50,334 total cases have been confirmed in the city, according to the commission.

A woman walks past a closed shopfront on May 7 in Sydney, Australia.

New South Wales, Australia’s largest state, will begin easing restrictions on some gatherings and allow restaurants to open with new restrictions starting May 15, Premier Gladys Berejiklian said on Sunday.

Restaurants and cafes will be allowed to open for up to 10 patrons at a time. Outdoor gatherings, weddings, and religious services will be limited to 10 people, while outdoor funerals will be permitted with up to 30 mourners.

In a statement released Sunday by the NSW Government, Health Minister Brad Hazzard reminded citizens to remain aware of the continuing coronavirus pandemic, adding that “without a vaccine we need to be vigilant, especially when restrictions lift.” 

Australia’s Prime Minister outlined on Friday a three-step plan to reopen the economy and society, but said it would be up to individual states when they put it in place. The NSW will consider steps two and three of the plan in due course, the statement on Sunday said.

South Korea registered 34 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, its biggest single-day jump in infections since April 9, according to the country’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

The spike in cases is believed to be linked to Seoul’s nightclub scene – specifically to a 29-year-old man who tested positive for the virus on Thursday, after visiting three night clubs in Seoul on May 2.

Until recently South Korea had almost completely contained its epidemic, with new cases being reported in single-digits in the days before the new cluster emerged.

As of Sunday noon, 54 cases had been linked to the nightclub cluster, 43 of whom had visited the night spots in question, while 11 were people who came into contact with those who had been there.

Officials said at least 1,946 people who had visited the establishments in question were being tracked down and put into self-isolation, the mayor Park Won-soon said. 

On Sunday, President Moon Jae-in warned of a second wave of the epidemic during his televised speech to mark the third anniversary of his inauguration. 

South Korea has recorded 10,874 cases of the virus, and 9,610 people have recovered, according to KCDC. Among the new cases, 26 were locally transmitted.

The death toll stands at 256 with no new deaths reported on Saturday.

As President Donald Trump tried to move past the pandemic, it edged even closer into his inner circle of advisers Saturday with news that top members of the coronavirus task force will self-quarantine in some form, after coming in contact with an individual who tested positive for the virus.

It was yet another blow to the President’s argument that America has largely vanquished the coronavirus threat, as he looks to turn his focus toward the economic recovery that will be the lynchpin of his fall reelection campaign.

The news that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, are all entering either full or partial quarantine was a harsh reality check that the virus has now worked its way into the highest corridors of power. This followed revelations last week that Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary and Trump’s personal valet tested positive for coronavirus.

Trump appeared only briefly Saturday for a photo op in the presidential setting of the White House Situation Room, where he met with top military brass. Neither the President nor the participants wore masks, even though the virus has clearly been in the West Wing.

The President took no questions during the photo spray, but on Twitter he seemed increasingly preoccupied by the looming 2020 election.

Read more here:

Related article As virus draws closer to him, Trump turns to 2020 and stokes fears about voter fraud

This rendering shows how authorities will spread out nets in Canet d'en Berenguer.

You make reservations at restaurants, sure. But how about booking in advance just to get a spot on the sand at the beach?

That’s exactly what some beachgoers will have to do in Spain this summer, thanks to the coronavirus crisis.

Canet d’en Berenguer, a Mediterranean town located just north of Valencia, will only allow 5,000 daily sunbathers on its local beach, around half the usual number, in order to maintain social distancing.

These spaces will need to be reserved in advance via a mobile phone app.

“This summer will be very different,” said Pere Joan Antoni Chordá, the town’s mayor. “There’ll be more space between your neighbor. Like a ‘business-class’ beach.”

Read more here:

Related article You might need a reservation for the beach this summer

A woman wearing a face mask walks in Brooklyn Bridge Park on April 28 in New York City.

As Western nations begin the slow crawl out of lockdown, it’s increasingly clear that we’re some way off society returning to anything resembling pre-Covid life.

To the surprise of many politicians, Western populations have largely obeyed instructions to remain indoors. In fact, lockdown efforts in many countries have been so effective that governments are now pondering how to gradually lift restrictions without freaking out compliant citizens.

In recent days, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson floated a way that citizens might feel comfortable emerging from isolation: face masks.

“As part of coming out of the lockdown, I do think face coverings will be useful,” Johnson said at the start of this month, claiming that masks will help give the public “confidence that they can go back to work.”

But the prospect of a new society in which the public conceals their faces from one another has wide-ranging implications for crime and security, as well as social interaction.

Read more here:

A woman awaits for the subway standing next to the Brazilian artist Alex Flemming work "Estacao Sumare" artistically tapped with face masks on top of the portrayed faces to warn about the importance of using protective face masks, to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus, COVID-19, at the Sumare subway station, in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on May 6, 2020. - Flemming's artistic installation, inaugurated in 1998, consists of 44 panels 1.75 meters high by 1.25 meters wide, and portrays all the racial diversity of the city of Sao Paulo with anonymous people who seem to observe the movement of the subway station. (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA / AFP) (Photo by NELSON ALMEIDA/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article We're headed for a faceless future as masks become the norm. That's a big security concern

Nurses tend to a coronavirus patient at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle Washington, on May 7.

There were 25,621 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus diagnosed in the United States on Saturday, according to Johns Hopkins University, bringing the total number of infections to 1,309,550.

At least 78,795 people have died in the US from coronavirus, with 1,615 new fatalities reported on Saturday.

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other U.S. territories, as well as repatriated cases.

Follow the updates on CNN’s map, using Johns Hopkins data, continues to refresh every 15 mins: 

Commuters sit in a coach at the Cardona underground station in Milan, Italy, on May 4.

For advocates of walkable, unpolluted and vehicle-free cities, the past few weeks have offered an unprecedented opportunity to test the ideas they have long lobbied for.

With Covid-19 lockdowns vastly reducing the use of roads and public transit systems, city authorities – from Liverpool to Lima – are taking advantage by closing streets to cars, opening others to bicycles and widening sidewalks to help residents maintain the six-foot distancing recommended by global health authorities.

Like jellyfish returning to Venice’s canals or flamingos flocking to Mumbai, pedestrians and cyclists are venturing out to places they previously hadn’t dared.

In Oakland, California, almost 10% of roadways have been closed to through-traffic, while Bogota, Colombia, has opened 47 miles of temporary bike lanes. New York has begun trialing seven miles of “open streets” to ease crowding in parks, with Auckland, Mexico City and Quito among the dozens of other cities experimenting with similar measures.

There are many purported benefits of “reclaiming” the streets during a pandemic.

Read more here:

A proposed "Gastro Safe Zone," which uses brightly colored ground markings to encourage passersby to keep their distance from outdoor diners.

Related article Our cities may never look the same again after the pandemic

Editor’s note: Samantha Vinograd is a CNN national security analyst. She is a senior adviser at the University of Delaware’s Biden Institute, which is not affiliated with the Biden campaign. Vinograd served on President Barack Obama’s National Security Council from 2009 to 2013 and at the Treasury Department under President George W. Bush. The views expressed in this commentary are her own.

President Trump’s personal valet, the vice president’s spokeswoman, Katie Miller, and Ivanka Trump’s personal assistant (who has been teleworking for nearly two months) all tested positive for Covid-19, illustrating the manifold threats the pandemic poses to our government.

The news raises questions about the legitimacy of the White House’s own narrative about its ability to keep Americans safe, while highlighting the potential havoc the coronavirus could wreak on our government and national security.

Earlier this week, the White House rejected the very guidelines it asked for from the Centers for Disease Control and Protection on how to safely reopen the country because the CDC’s 17-page draft was “overly prescriptive.”

Instead of relying on experts, the White House is flying blind, putting itself in charge of determining how to keep Americans safe. To make matters worse, the failure to protect the President and Vice President Mike Pence doesn’t inspire much confidence that the administration is doing everything possible to protect the rest of us. It also undercuts the President’s assertions that it’s time to reopen the country because it’s clear that new infections are a reality — even in the White House.

More directly, this news threatens the functioning of our government. 

Read more here:

President Donald Trump listens during an event in honor of World Nurses Day, in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, May 6, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Related article Contagion within the White House would be catastrophic for our national security

The UK sent 50,000 coronavirus tests to the US earlier this week due to operational issues in the government’s network of labs, a Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson told CNN on Saturday.

Validation of these tests will be completed in the UK and results will be returned to patients “as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson said.

The Department of Health and Social Care is working the resolve the lab issues and return them to full capacity.

The UK government’s attempt to expand testing has faltered in recent days as it has struggled to regularly achieve the goal of completing 100,000 tests per day.

Volunteers spray disinfectant at a market on May 6 as the city of Suifenhe, China prepares to reopen.

The coronavirus epidemic has revealed weaknesses in China’s public health system, a Chinese health official said on Saturday, in a rare public admission of deficiency from within the authoritarian government.

Li said China will now improve its disease prevention, public health system and data collection operations.

In recent weeks, the Trump administration has repeatedly lashed out at China over its handling of the outbreak, questioning its death toll and criticizing its early response to the virus. 

China reported 14 new cases of novel coronavirus as of May 9, raising the total number of confirmed cases to 82,901, according to the National Health Commission.

Six Indian workers lie in bunk beds in the middle of a workday. Beyond the four walls of their small room in the United Arab Emirates, their options for maintaining a livelihood are becoming increasingly slim.

Two months ago, they were laid off as Covid-19’s spread dealt a blow to the UAE economy. Since then, they have been confined to their labor camp, surviving on a drip feed of monetary compensation.

Manjit Singh has worked in the UAE for 17 years, enduring tough living conditions to provide a lifeline for his impoverished family back home in India. After the coronavirus started to spread this year, his employer suspended operations, leaving him in limbo. Commercial flights in the UAE were grounded, India went into lockdown on March 24, and Singh stopped receiving an income.

“For the past two months, we have been sitting in the room and our company was giving us a salary, but now they are saying that they cannot give us a salary and we should buy a ticket to go home, but where should we buy the ticket?” the 44-year-old told CNN.

Singh is one of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers across the Gulf’s Arab countries who are contending with stripped livelihoods, overcrowded camps and no easy path to repatriation, Amnesty International, Migrant-Rights.org and Business & Human Rights Resource Centre said.

Read more here:

Volunteers distribute Iftar meals to migrant workers keeping distance from each other during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan within the initiative of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, to distribute 10 million meals, on April 28, 2020 in Dubai. (Photo by Karim SAHIB / AFP) (Photo by KARIM SAHIB/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article As coronavirus sweeps the Gulf, its desperate migrant workers are stuck in limbo

A security guard watches a KBO baseball game between the SK Wyverns and Hanwha Eagles in Incheon, South Korea, on May 5.

It’s the bottom of the ninth inning. Kim Sang-su steps into the batter’s box for the NC Dinos, who are down 4-0 to the Samsung Lions on Tuesday’s opening day of the Korean Baseball Organization’s (KBO) 2020 season.

This is the Dinos’ final chance for a comeback. But play-by-play announcer Karl Ravech has disappeared.

Ravech, the host of ESPN’s flagship MLB program “Baseball Tonight,” is experiencing technical difficulties from his home in the northeast United States, where he’s calling the game – thousands of miles away from where it’s taking place.

His partner in the virtual broadcast booth, longtime professional baseball player Eduardo Perez, takes the reins from his own home in the southeast of the country, filling in briefly before Ravech is able to return.

Ravech told viewers it was likely an internet dropout and to “be prepared, it might happen again.”

That game was the first Korean baseball contest aired by ESPN as part of an agreement that will see the US sports network show six KBO games a week.

Technical difficulties, like those experienced during Tuesday’s broadcast, are just one of the many challenges ESPN faces in its first major attempt to air live sports since professional sports in the United States paused play indefinitely amid the coronavirus pandemic. The network is betting that Americans are craving live sports enough to follow an unfamiliar league halfway around the world.

Read more here:

INCHEON, SOUTH KOREA - MAY 05: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) General view of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO) League opening game between SK Wyverns and Hanwha Eagles at the empty SK Happy Dream Ballpark on May 05, 2020 in Incheon, South Korea. The 2020 KBO season started after being delayed from the original March 28 Opening Day due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. The KBO said its 10 clubs will be able to expand their rosters from 28 to 33 players in 54 games this season, up from the usual 26. Teams are scheduled to play 144 games this year. As they prepared for the new beginning, 10 teams managers said the season would not be happening without the hard work and dedication of frontline medical and health workers. South Korea is transiting this week to a quarantine scheme that allows citizens to return to their daily routines under eased guidelines. But health authorities are still wary of "blind spots" in the fight against the virus cluster infections and imported cases. According to the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 3 new cases were reported. The total number of infections in the nation tallies at 10,804. (Photo by Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images)

Related article What the return of pro sports around the world means for hungry US fans

The novel coronavirus has destroyed lives and livelihoods in both the United States and China. But instead of bonding the two nations in the fight against the pandemic, it has sent already strained relations on a rapid downward spiral – and fanned the flames of a potentially dangerous strain of nationalism.

China has been criticized at home and abroad over its handling of the virus, especially during the initial outbreak. Pushing back on such criticism with increasingly fierce rhetoric, Beijing says it is merely “responding” to false accusations, particularly from the US.

In March, as the pandemic raged across the globe, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian publicly promoted an unfounded conspiracy theory that the virus might have been brought to China by the US military.

A few days later, US President Donald Trump called the coronavirus the “Chinese virus,” pinning the blame on China as the outbreak began to take hold in major American cities.

Trump dropped the term a week later – but the finger pointing did not stop there.

Read more here:

Related article Coronavirus has created a rift between the US and China that may take a generation to heal

The United States has scaled back its role on the world stage, taken actions that are undermining efforts to battle the coronavirus pandemic and left the international community without a traditional global leader, according to experts, diplomats and analysts.

The US – usually at the head of the table helping to coordinate in global crises – has declined to take a seat at virtual international meetings convened by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union to coordinate work on potentially lifesaving vaccines.

Former world leaders warn that the Trump administration risks alienating allies by politicizing the deadly pandemic with its push to punish China and have other nations choose sides.

The administration’s decision to halt funding for the WHO, the world body best positioned to coordinate the global response to the raging pandemic, has appalled global health officials.

On Friday the US blocked a vote on a UN Security Council resolution that called for a global ceasefire aimed at collectively assisting a planet devastated by the outbreak. The US did not want any reference to the WHO in the text and rejected a compromise version that didn’t directly mention the organization – and instead cited the UN’s “specialized health agencies,” according to two diplomats familiar with the process.

The US has similarly blocked expressions of global unity at G7 and G20 meetings due to anger about China and the WHO.

Read more here:

Related article Allies despair as Trump abandons America's leadership role at a time of global crisis

Tesla filed a suit Saturday night against Alameda County, California, after local officials there refused to let the company reopen its Fremont factory.

In a series of tweets earlier Saturday, Tesla CEO Elon Musk also threatened to move the company’s headquarters to Texas or Nevada, where shelter-in-place rules are less restrictive.

“Frankly, this is the final straw. Tesla will now move its HQ and future programs to Texas/Nevada immediately,” Musk tweeted. Tesla did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

The automaker had planned to allow a fraction of its factory workers to return to work by Friday, but was warned by the Alameda County Health Department in a livestreamed town hall on Friday that such a move would be violating the county’s rules.

“This has been a collaborative, good faith effort to develop and implement a safety plan that allows for reopening while protecting the health and well-being of the thousands of employees who travel to and from work at Tesla’s factory,” the Alameda Health Department responded on Saturday in a statement to CNN Business.

“The team at Tesla has been responsive to our guidance and recommendations, and we look forward to coming to an agreement on an appropriate safety plan very soon.”

Read more here:

FREMONT, CA - JULY 26: Kuka robots work on Tesla Model X in the Tesla factory in Fremont, California, on Thursday, July 26, 2018. (Photo by Mason Trinca for The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Related article Elon Musk says Tesla will sue Alameda County, California and move to Texas or Nevada immediately following extended shelter-in-place rules

Former US President Barack Obama delivered a blistering critique of the Trump administration’s response to the coronavirus crisis, describing it as “an absolute chaotic disaster” during a private call Friday night with people who worked for him in the White House and across his administration.

The searing comments, confirmed to CNN by three former Obama administration officials on the call, offered the starkest assessment yet from the former president about how President Donald Trump and his team have handled the deadly pandemic and why he believes Democrats must rally behind former Vice President Joe Biden to defeat Trump in November.

In a 30-minute conversation with members of the Obama Alumni Association, the former president said the response to the coronavirus outbreak served as a critical reminder why strong leadership is needed during a global crisis. The call was intended to encourage former Obama staffers to become more engaged in Biden’s presidential campaign.

“This election that’s coming up – on every level – is so important because what we’re going to be battling is not just a particular individual or a political party,” Obama said. “What we’re fighting against is these long-term trends in which being selfish, being tribal, being divided, and seeing others as an enemy – that has become a stronger impulse in American life.”

Read more here:

Related article Obama says White House response to coronavirus has been 'absolute chaotic disaster'

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to ease lockdown restrictions and announce a new five-tier COVID-19 warning system during a televised national address on Sunday evening local time, the UK’s PA Media reported on Saturday.

The new warning system will use local infection rates to rank the threat level on a color-coded scale from green at level one to red at level five.

During his address, Johnson is expected to announce that the country is close to moving from a level four threat to level three.

Johnson is also expected to encourage workers unable to work from home to return to their workplaces while practicing social distancing.

Restrictions limiting outdoor exercise to once per day will be lifted and garden centers will be allowed to reopen, though fines for breaking lockdown rules will be increased.

The White House sent a memo to all staff on Friday after Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The note detailed measures taken by the White House to prevent the spread of the virus, including maintaining maximum telework for staff, reporting travel and self-monitoring of symptoms, according to a copy reviewed by CNN. 

Areas considered “high-touch points” in the White House and the Eisenhower Executive Office Building will receive “heightened levels of cleaning,” the memo said.

Some departments, such as the Office of Management and Budget, are calling political appointees back to the office despite the maximum telework order.

Earlier this week, White House staff received a separate memo informing them that they would be asked upon entry about their symptoms. The measure would be in addition to the temperature checks required for admission to the White House complex. Anyone who acknowledged having the symptoms may be pulled for further screening or barred entry, that memo said. 

Neither memo mentioned anything about wearing face coverings.

Cemetery worker Bruno Avelino walks through a graveyard in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Friday, May 8.

The novel coronavirus continues to hit Brazil hard, with at least 10,627 people there having died from Covid-19, the country’s Health Ministry said on Saturday.

At least 10,611 new cases of the virus have been reported in the last couple of days, bringing the countrywide total to 156,061 cases.

Some context: Brazil has the most confirmed coronavirus cases in Latin America and is in the top 10 countries globally for this, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

Brazil’s president, Jair Bolsonaro, has repeatedly dismissed the virus threat, warning against the effect preventive measures, such as quarantines and lockdowns, could have on Brazil’s economy.

Dr. Anthony Fauci told CNN he is undertaking a “modified quarantine” after it was determined that he was not in close proximity to a White House staffer who tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

The nation’s top infectious disease expert said he is at “low risk” and tested negative for the virus on Friday.

Fauci says he will stay at home and telework – though he might go to his office at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he would be the only one there – and wear a mask continually for 14 days. He is expected to be tested every day for the virus.

Fauci is the third member of the White House coronavirus task force going into quarantine. Dr. Stephen Hahn, director of the Food and Drug Administration, and Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, are also going to quarantine for 14 days.

Robert Redfield, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “will be teleworking” for the next two weeks after he was exposed to a person at the White House who tested positive for Covid-19, a CDC spokesman told CNN.

The Washington Post first reported Redfield’s action.

Redfield “has been determined to have had a low risk exposure on May 6 to a person at the White House who has Covid-19. He is feeling fine and has no symptoms. He will be teleworking for the next two weeks,” the spokesperson said.

The decision comes after the Food and Drug Administration announced that its commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, planned to self-quarantine after coming in contact with an individual who tested positive for coronavirus.

Neither agencies have named the person or people with whom Redfield and Hahn came into contact. 

Both men are members of the White House coronavirus task force, which held its most recent meeting on Thursday. 

White House deputy press secretary Judd Deere declined to confirm the report that Redfield will self-quarantine, but he said the physician to the President and White House operations officials “continue to work closely to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the President, First Family and the entire White House Complex safe and healthy.”

Patients who took famotidine while hospitalized for Covid-19 were more than twice as likely to survive the infection, according to a paper posted Friday on a pre-publication website. 

Among the 1,536 patients in the study who were not taking famotidine, 332, or 22%, either died or were intubated and put on a ventilator. Of the 84 patients who were taking famotidine, eight, or 10%, died or were put on a ventilator.

But the study doesn’t prove the drug caused the lower death rate, its authors say. It’s possible that it was just a coincidence.

“It is not clear why those patients who received famotidine had improved outcomes,” the authors wrote in their statement. “This is merely an association, and these findings should not be interpreted to mean that famotidine improves outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.”

The drug is a common heartburn medicine and has been on the market for nearly 40 years. It’s an active ingredient in the popular over-the-counter heartburn treatment Pepcid.

Read the full story here.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau holds a press conference at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, Ontario, on May 7.

The spread of the novel coronavirus has slowed down significantly in most parts of Canada but the situation in Montreal remains critical.

“Of course, I’m worried — as a Quebecer, as an MP — about the situation going on in my riding, in the province, as I am concerned about Canadians coast to coast,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on Saturday in Ottawa.

There are more than 68,000 cases of the virus in Canada and about 4,800 people have died, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University. Montreal’s cases account for about a quarter of the country’s cases, Quebec officials say.

More background: Trudeau’s electoral district is in Montreal, where senior centers have been reporting outbreaks.

Projections released by the Quebec’s public health institute on Friday indicate the virus could lead to as many as 150 deaths per day if Montreal fully reopens and strict social distancing guidelines are loosened.

Earlier this week, authorities in Quebec, the province where Montreal is located, postponed plans to lift some restrictions in the city from mid-May to May 25.

A health worker collects blood samples for mass coronavirus testing in Manila, Philippines, on May 8.

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 4 million people and killed more than 227,000 worldwide, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.

At least 1.3 million people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the US and more than 78,000 people have died from the disease there.