Live Updates
Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has moved here.
CNN’s global town hall on the coronavirus has now concluded.
Guests on the show, hosted by Anderson Cooper and Dr. Sanjay Gupta, included medical experts, former US Vice President Al Gore and director Spike Lee.
Scroll through our posts to catch up on what happened during the town hall.
Former US Vice President Al Gore slammed the White House’s practice of distributing much of the administration’s scientific knowledge on coronavirus through the coronavirus task force and the vice president’s office.
Gore also criticized the administration for blocking Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key member of the coronavirus task force, from testifying before the Democratic-led House.
“For the the White House to prevent him from testifying to the House … on hearings that the American people want to see … that’s horrible,” he said.
Former US Vice President Al Gore said that President Donald Trump and his administration have failed to properly handle the Covid-19 pandemic.
Gore said when he was vice president, he began every day with a report from the intelligence community and:
Gore said he believes Trump both missed the warnings and “failed to mobilize the resources of the federal government to straighten out this testing catastrophe, to get swabs, and the so-called re-agents they need to do the tests, and the gowns, and masks, and all of the other stuff.”
Reopening too soon: Gore also said he’s concerned the country is not ready to reopen.
Trump, Gore said, “may be recklessly rolling the dice hoping that he can goose the economy just enough in the third quarter of this year to enhance his reelection prospects, hoping that he can divert the blame for the extra tens of thousands of Americans who the doctors tell us will die as a result of this, and blame it on the Chinese or former President Obama or whoever, instead of doing what a president needs to do.”
Watch:
We won’t be able to go back to normal life after the coronavirus pandemic ends, warned Laurie Garrett, a Pulitzer-prize winning public health journalist, speaking on CNN’s ongoing coronavirus town hall.
Garrett said aspects of our lives likely to change include our mode of travel, especially by air. We may reconsider whether it’s necessary to go to events and meetings that involve human contact, and adopt alternatives instead. “All sorts of interactions and behaviors that we’ve taken for granted will look different,” she said.
Then, of course, there are the effects of a recession that will reverberate for years.
“As we get further and further into the economic repercussions of this extraordinary pandemic, we’re going to see that every single aspect of life is affected simply by virtue of the inability of governments to invest in change, the limitations and cash reserves for companies, and how they’re going to approach their own innovations and developments going down the road,” she said.
CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta offered viewers of CNN’s global town hall some practical advice on how safely shop for groceries during the coronavirus pandemic.
First, make your visit as brief as possible.
Next, make your visit as short as reasonably possible.
Next, try to limit your contact with items you aren’t purchasing.
Finally, Gupta reminded viewers of what’s coming up on Sunday. “Don’t forget to buy some flowers for Mother’s Day!” he said.
Watch:
Laurie Garrett, a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist who has written about public health for years, said that the global community needs to do a better job in unifying its response to the Covid-19 pandemic in order to get it under control.
“The real problem at the moment is we have very fragmented responses all over the world,” Garrett, the author of “The Coming Plague,” said during CNN’s global town hall.
The vaccine race: Garrett said that some countries are simply racing to find a vaccine in an effort to “buy themselves time and solve their own local problems.”
“The virus will continue to circulate in the world regardless of whether or not there’s a vaccine, unless we’re committed to a strategic goal of really getting rid of the virus from the planet with appropriate implementation of a vaccine for everybody, 7.5 billion human beings.”
Dr. Leana Wen, former Baltimore health commissioner, joined CNN’s ongoing town hall to talk about the novel coronavirus pandemic and answer some viewers’ questions.
What can I do to reduce my own risk? States are reopening but the risk hasn’t changed, Wen said. This means people should still follow the official guidance: Wash your hands often, stay home, practice social distancing and avoid gatherings – and work remotely if it’s an option. Wear a mask, and try to avoid public transportation.
Is swimming at a lake safer than in a pool? It’s not really about what kind of water you’re swimming in – it’s your proximity with other people, said Wen.
Should I wear gloves to the grocery store? The key thing is to avoid touching your face, with or without gloves on, Wen said. If you wash your hands often, be mindful of the things you touch, and avoid touching your face. You don’t necessarily need to wear gloves out, she said.
I live near a Tyson Foods plant. If an infected worker there is processing meat, can that meat become tainted and pass Covid-19 onto me? No. This is a respiratory virus, said CNN’s chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
Ian Haydon, a 29-year-old living in the Seattle area, joined CNN’s global town hall to explain what motivated him to participate in a vaccine trial for the virus.
Haydon said he was one of 45 healthy people selected to participate in the phase 1 trial after thousands volunteered.
He said he was just trying to do his part to stop the virus’ spread.
Watch:
Dr. Deborah Birx, a White House coronavirus task force official, hopes that the United States will have conducted more than 8 million tests for the virus before the end of the week.
Birx shared this insight on Thursday night during CNN’s coronavirus town hall.
Dr. Deborah Birx, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said on CNN’s global town hall that the Trump administration was still in the editing process regarding a draft recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on how to reopen the United States after the coronavirus pandemic.
A senior CDC official told CNN Thursday that the Trump administration would not implement the 17-page recommendation.
“We are used to dealing with a White House that asks for things and then chaos ensues. A team of people at the CDC spent innumerable hours in response to an ask from Debbie Birx,” the official said.
Birx said that the decision was made not to implement the recommendation because the editing process had not been completed.
Birx said that they were also devoting special attention to “surveillance for asymptomatic individuals.”
“That was a very new element that we really felt very strongly had to be included because of the ever-increasing evidence of asymptomatic spread,” she said.
Watch:
The novel coronavirus could kill as many as 190,000 people in Africa during the first year of the pandemic if containment measures fail, the World Health Organization warned on Thursday.
The WHO predicted that between 29 million to 44 million Africans could be infected in the first year. As many as 5.5 million of these people could require hospital treatment, a number that would overwhelm the medical capacity of most places on the continent.
A survey done in March of health services in Africa found an average of nine intensive care unit beds per 1 million people in 47 African countries.
“These would be woefully inadequate,” the WHO said.
A total of 44 US states are expected to partially reopen by Sunday – nearly the entire country.
But the coronavirus crisis isn’t getting better everywhere. There are signs of improvement in 16 states – but the situation is deteriorating in many more …
Things are getting better in states like Montana, New York, and Colorado. In these places, some schools are starting to reopen as new daily cases plateau or drop.
But things are getting worse in places like Minnesota and Puerto Rico, where cases were up 50% between last week and the week before. States like Texas and Washington aren’t as hard hit, but cases are still increasing by 10% to 50% week-on-week. Only a few states – like California and Florida – are holding steady.
Take a look:
Former Vice President Al Gore and director Spike Lee will join CNN’s global town hall tonight.
The town hall starts at 8 p.m. ET.
How to watch: The town hall will air on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español. It will stream live on CNN.com’s homepage and across mobile devices via CNN’s apps, without requiring a cable log-in. You can also watch on CNNgo, and subscribers to cable/satellite systems can watch it on-demand.
We’ll also be covering it with live updates here.
The Dalai Lama will hold his first spiritual teaching in mid-May after suspending it in February due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Dalai Lama’s office announced on Wednesday that the Tibetan leader will hold public teaching on May 16 and 17, but via live webcast.
The Dalai Lama canceled all his public engagements “until further notice” on February 12 after his personal physician and others advised him to due to the coronavirus outbreak. He has not made any public appearances since late January.
The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader in a statement on Sunday called for a “coordinated, global response” to fight the pandemic, and urged people to focus on “what unites us as members of one human family.”
If you’re just turning in, here is the latest on the coronavirus pandemic across the globe:
Canada is sending hundreds more troops to long-term care centers in Quebec and Ontario as coronavirus outbreaks contribute to a growing crisis in seniors’ homes.
Despite efforts to shore up staffing and improve conditions, there are still hundreds of outbreaks at seniors’ centers across Canada with dozens of deaths reported daily.
Canadian Defense Minister Harjit Sajjan said more than 1,600 soldiers would be deployed by next week, the majority to centers in the Montreal area.
“This is not a typical Canadian Armed Forces operation,” Sajjan added, echoing the words of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who last month said soldiers should not be taking care of seniors.
But Trudeau added that for now, Canada has no choice but to do just that as the crisis in seniors’ homes continues. Nearly four in every five Canadians who have died of Covid-19 have been residents of long-term care facilities.
Canadian military commanders say they have ‘stripped’ armed forces bases across the country of military medical personnel. They will be supported by other military staffers for logistics and operations requirements.
As of Thursday, Canada has reported about 65,000 cases of the virus and more than 4,500 deaths.
Canada’s top public health official warned this week that deaths would continue to rise even though the epidemic has been slowing in Canada with only hundreds of new cases per day outside of long term care homes.
French students will gradually start returning to schools staring Monday, depending on where they live and their school year, French Education Minister Jean-Michel Blanquer said today.
Primary schools will open across the country Monday, with classes limited to 15 students, Blanquer said.
Middle-school students from regions where the rate of infection is slowing down — categorized as “green” by the French government — will be returning to school on May 18. But middle schools in areas where the virus is still actively circulating — categorized as “red” — will not reopen.
High schools will remain closed until at least the beginning of June, the education minister added.
Schools “cannot welcome everyone at the same time,” Blanquer said, so some students will be given priority. These include disabled children, children of health care or essential workers, and children who are classed as at risk of dropping out.
In some instances children may return next Tuesday to give professors time to prepare.
Denmark will begin to open retail stores and shopping centers as coronavirus restrictions are gradually lifted, the prime minister said today.
Professional sports will be allowed to resume without spectators starting Monday.
“Phase two” of the government’s plan will see the reopening of restaurants, cafes, bars, libraries, churches, schools and boarding schools for students in grades 6 through 10, from May 18. Younger students returned to school last month, during the country’s first phase of reopening.
All reopenings will take place under strict rules to maintain social distancing and cannot be considered a return to “normal” life, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said.
A ban on gatherings of more than 10 people will remain and borders are to stay closed.
The situation in the country is still “serious” and restrictions could be reimposed if there is a spike in cases upon reopening, Frederiksen said.
The second phase will continue with ongoing precautions in place: random testing, the use of protective equipment, social distancing, good hygiene, and the avoidance of possible “super spreading” situations, such as mass gatherings.
The number of hospital admissions attributed to coronavirus in Denmark fell below 200 today for the first time in seven weeks. The number of admitted patients have been dropping steadily since peaking with 535 people at the start of April.
In Denmark, 514 people have died from the virus.
The first phase of reopening began three weeks ago and included school children up through fifth grade, as well as businesses including hairdressers and chiropractors reopening.
If you’re just joining us, here is the latest on the coronavirus pandemic across the globe:
![15943252: 3D Coronavirus Patients Lungs [Washington, D.C., U.S.]
A top hospital in Washington, D.C. has released the first images of a coronavirus patient's lungs, in an unprecedented 3D video.
The imagery shows extensive damage to an otherwise healthy, 59-year-old male who was asymptomatic until two to three days ago, said Keith Mortman, the chief of thoracic surgery at George Washington University Hospital. Now, as his lungs are failing, the patient requires a machine to help him breathe.](https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/200325000535-covid-19-lung-damage-video.jpg?q=x_0,y_0,h_1125,w_1999,c_fill/h_144,w_256)
