Coronavirus update: New York funeral home resorts to storing bodies on ice in trucks, Trump won't extend social distancing guidelines - ABC News
Coronavirus update: New York funeral home resorts to storing bodies on ice in trucks, Trump won't extend social distancing guidelines - ABC News |
- Coronavirus update: New York funeral home resorts to storing bodies on ice in trucks, Trump won't extend social distancing guidelines - ABC News
- Coronavirus 'hot spots' emerge as U.S. curve flattens - Washington Times
- US food processing plants become COVID-19 hot spots - CIDRAP
| Posted: 30 Apr 2020 04:42 AM PDT Police were called to a funeral home in Brooklyn after it was found storing 50 bodies on ice in rented trucks, US President Donald Trump says national social distancing guidelines will be "fading out" on Thursday and Britain now has Europe's second-highest death toll. Back home in Australia, the ACT has confirmed it has no active cases of coronavirus, the Northern Territory has announced its roadmap for removing social restrictions, and a report has found a Tasmanian outbreak likely originated with the Ruby Princess. This story was regularly throughout Thursday. You can also stay informed with the latest episode of the Coronacast podcast. Thursday's top storiesSouth Korea records no new local cases South Korea has recorded no new domestically transmitted cases of COVID-19 for the first time in 75 days, or since mid-Feburary. The Koreas Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded four new infections, but they were imported cases. The country has recorded 10,765 cases of coronavirus and 247 deaths while 9,059 people have been discharged from hospital. After grappling with the first major outbreak outside China, South Korea has largely managed to bring the outbreak under control without major disruptions with a massive testing campaign and intensive contact tracing. Overwhelmed funeral home stores bodies in rented trucks Police have been called to a funeral home in Brooklyn after it resorted to storing dozens of bodies on ice in rented trucks, and a passerby complained about the smell. Officers who attended the Andrew T. Cleckley Funeral Home on Wednesday found the home had rented four trucks to hold about 50 corpses, according to a law enforcement official. Investigators said the home had been overwhelmed by the coronavirus and added that no criminal charges would be laid, but said it was cited for failing to control the odors. The home was able to obtain a larger, refrigerated truck later in the day, the official said. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams said the situation was under investigation. "It was people who walked by who saw some leakage and detected an odour coming from a truck." New York City funeral homes have struggled in the city since late March. Hospitals have used refrigerated tractor trailers to cart away multiple bodies at a time, sometimes loading them in public view on the sidewalk. Trump won't extend social distancing guidelines US President Donald Trump said he won't be renewing national social distancing guidelines once they expire on Thursday, as the number of coronavirus deaths in the United States surges past 60,000. The guidelines encourage people to work from home and avoid restaurants, large gatherings, discretionary travel, and advised older Americans and those with serious underlying health conditions to isolate themselves. Vice-President Mike Pence said the guidelines had been incorporated into the new guidance issued by the White House earlier this month that lays out how states can gradually ease restrictions and begin to reopen as the rate of new cases slows. Mr Trump also laid out a vision of a return to pre-coronavirus normalcy — "with or without" a vaccine — with packed restaurants and filled stadiums. The United States has now recorded about 60,207 deaths from the virus, surpassing the total number of Americans who were killed in the Vietnam War. More than 1 million people in the US have now tested positive. More than 3 million COVIDSafe app downloads The Federal Government's coronavirus tracing app has been downloaded more than 3.31 million times. Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer Alison McMillan also gave an update on Thursday's latest figures:
Ms McMillan said the Government won't be rushing into making any changes to international travel restrictions and that decisions will be made once there is a "sustained flattening of the curve." Ban on single-use plastics delayed in SA A ban on some single-use plastics will be pushed back in South Australia to allow restaurants and cafes to use disposable items to improve hygiene during the coronavirus pandemic. The legislation banning single-use and other plastic products including straws and cutlery was introduced on Thursday, and makes South Australia the first state to undertake such a move. Environment Minister David Speirs said although a ban had strong support, the situation had changed "dramatically" in recent weeks. Mr Speirs said a start date for the ban, June 30, had now been removed from the legislation currently before State Parliament. The Restaurant and Catering Association is working with the State Government to form guidelines it hopes will allow hospitality businesses to re-open "sooner rather than later". Zero confirmed active cases in ACT The ACT has become the first Australian state or territory to eliminate all known cases of COVID-19. The last two Canberrans to have the infectious disease have now recovered, the ACT Government confirmed on Thursday. The illness claimed three lives in Canberra, which recorded a total of 106 cases since the first coronavirus case was confirmed seven weeks ago. ACT Chief Health Officer Kerryn Coleman welcomed the local elimination of the virus, but reiterated that the pandemic is ongoing. "Even though we have no active cases at the moment, it's vitally important that we continue testing as many people with symptoms as possible to know the most accurate representation of COVID-19 within the ACT." The ACT expanded testing last Friday to include anyone with COVID-19 symptoms, regardless of whether or not they had been in contact with someone who had the virus. More than 8,600 tests have been conducted in the Territory, and Dr Coleman said Canberra was in a position to test anybody with symptoms. Northern Territory to allow outdoor activities from Friday as restrictions easeThe Northern Territory has announced its timeline for easing restrictions.
A separate plan will be developed for events with more than 500 people. Earlier, Australia's Deputy Chief Medical Officer Nick Coatsworth told ABC News Breakfast it would make "no sense" for the Territory, which has had "no community cases", to have the same measures as New South Wales. These are the confirmed new cases that were announced on Thursday:
There are almost 980 cases of coronavirus currently being treated by medical staff across Australia. Two deaths in Tasmania, outbreak linked to Ruby Princess Two 86-year-old women with coronavirus have died in Tasmania, taking the state's death toll to 13. On Thursday morning, Premier Peter Gutwein released the findings of a report into the coronavirus outbreak in Tasmania's north-west. It found the outbreak most likely originated from the Ruby Princess cruise ship. The report found some staff who were infectious worked in local hospitals for several days while experiencing symptoms that they did not attribute to coronavirus. There have been 136 cases of coronavirus in north-west Tasmania, including 81 healthcare workers. Possible coronavirus cluster linked to Melbourne aged-care facility Victorian authorities are investigating a possible new coronavirus cluster linked to a Melbourne aged care facility. The state's Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton told 3AW authorities were investigating a number of cases linked to Hawthorn Grange residential aged care. Speaking on ABC Radio Melbourne, he said there were three new positive cases at the home, including two residents and one staff member. Professor Sutton said stringent protection measures were being put in place because the "potential for spread is enormous". Seven new cases have been confirmed in Victoria, bringing the total to 1,361. UK has second-highest outbreak in Europe The United Kingdom now has the second-worst death toll in Europe and third-worst in the world, after the British Government began including deaths from outside hospitals in its daily fatality figures. Britain now stands behind only the United States and Italy in total deaths from COVID-19, after it was revealed the total stood at 26,097 — a rise from the previous day's hospital-only figure of 21,678. But Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said there had not been a "sudden surge" in deaths as the figures now included all deaths attributed to COVID-19 from between March 2 to April 28. Comparatively, the US has lost more than 60,000 people due to coronavirus while Italy's death toll stands at just over 27,000. 'I can do a lot': Trump says he's considering consequences for China over virus US President Donald Trump says he believes China should have been more active in letting the world know about coronavirus sooner. He said he was looking at different options in terms of consequences for Beijing over its handling of the issue, saying, "I can do a lot." Mr Trump also said he believed China's handling of coronavirus was proof that Beijing "will do anything they can" to make him lose his re-election bid in November. The World Health Organisation, which has also been criticised by Mr Trump, has praised China's response to the outbreak, which started late last year in Wuhan. Earlier, the US President laid out his vision of a return to pre-coronavirus normalcy with packed restaurants and filled stadiums. Mr Trump's son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner, who has been helping lead response efforts, told Fox News that a lot of the US should be "back to normal" by June and the hope was that America would be "really rocking again" by July. The White House is focussing on reopening the US economy state-by-state, amid concerns that lifting restrictions too quickly and without sufficient testing and contact tracing could lead to a resurgence. Trial of drug remdesivir hailed as 'highly significant' America's top infectious disease official Anthony Fauci has hailed the "highly significant" preliminary results of a US trial of the experimental antiviral drug remdesivir for treating COVID-19. The preliminary results from the trial showed that patients given remdesivir recovered 31 per cent faster than those given a placebo. Dr Fauci likened it to 1986 when "we were struggling for drugs for HIV and we had nothing." The US Food and Drug Administration said it has been in discussions with maker Gilead Sciences Inc about making remdesivir available to patients as quickly as possible, but the agency declined to comment on any plans to grant the drug regulatory approval. Lawrence K Altman, a global fellow at The Wilson Center in Washington DC, said the new data offered a "glimmer of hope" but was not ready to celebrate the preliminary findings. He said more scientific analysis was needed comparing the trial to other studies of the drug that had shown "mixed results". US economy goes backwards in first quarter, but worse to come The US economy has suffered its sharpest decline in 11 years, with first-quarter GDP contracting at a 4.8 per cent quarterly annualised rate according to the Commerce Department. It marks the end of the longest period of US economic expansion on record. However, the current April-June period is expected to be far worse, with the Congressional Budget Office estimating that economic activity would plunge this quarter at a 40 per cent annual rate. That would be the worst quarter since such records were first compiled in 1947, and four times the size of the worst quarterly contraction on record set in 1958. Most economists have dismissed the idea of a quick and sharp rebound, or V-shaped recovery, arguing that many small businesses will disappear. They also predicted some of the approximately 26.5 million people who have filed for unemployment benefits since mid-March were unlikely to find new jobs. NYC Mayor says 'time for warnings has passed' after large funeralLoading New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has ordered a crackdown on a large Hasidic Jewish funeral in which mourners defied social-distancing rules. Social media images showed hundreds of people on the street for the funeral, which was reportedly for a rabbi who had died of COVID-19. Mitchell Silber, executive director at the Community Security Initiative, a program to protect Jewish Institutions, said the rabbi's congregation had worked with police on a plan to close streets so the funeral could adhere to social-distancing rules. Loading But he said both the rabbi's congregation and the police were surprised at the number of people who attended. The United States has around a third of the world's more than 3 million coronavirus infections and more than 60,000 deaths — with more than 18,000 in New York City, according to Johns Hopkins University. WHO says it acted 'quickly and decisively' Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), has defended the group's response to coronavirus in the face of criticism in recent weeks. Dr Tedros gave a timeline of what the WHO knew in the lead-up to declaring COVID-19 a global emergency on January 30, saying the organisation had "acted quickly and decisively". He said the organisation would reconvene an emergency committee to review the evolution of the pandemic. Earlier this month, US President Donald Trump said he would halt funding for the WHO, saying it had promoted Chinese "disinformation" about the virus and "must be held accountable". People mystified as 'plague doctor' wanders English village A person dressed in a long black cloak and beak-shaped mask has both terrified and amused local residents in the English village of Hellesdon. The outfit is reminiscent of a 17th-century plague doctor, at a time when those treating people with the Black Death thought the birdlike mask would protect them against infection. Jade Gosbell told the ABC she "couldn't believe it" when she saw the figure on a daily walk. "It was 20 degrees, which is bikini weather for us Brits, and some guy was just walking around head to toe in a huge plague doctor costume with a mask covering his face. I just thought it was ridiculous as he must have been so hot," she said.  According to the BBC, Norfolk police were "keen to trace the individual in order to provide words of advice". Polio outbreak paralyses child in NigerThe World Health Organization (WHO) says Niger has been struck by a new outbreak of polio, following the suspension of immunisation activities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The UN health agency reported that two children were infected by the highly infectious, water-borne disease and that one was paralysed. The outbreak was sparked by a mutated virus that originated in the vaccine and was not connected to a previous polio epidemic Niger stopped last year, WHO said in a statement. In rare cases, the live virus in oral polio vaccine can evolve into a form capable of igniting new outbreaks among non-immunised children; stopping the epidemic requires more targeted vaccination. Earlier this month, WHO and partners announced they were forced to halt all polio vaccination activities until at least June 1, acknowledging the decision would inevitably result in more children being paralysed. Pompeo says he's concerned about pathogens in Chinese labs United States Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he believes there are many laboratories in China working on contagious pathogens, but does not know if the facilities have adequate security to prevent future pandemics. The US and others have floated the theory that coronavirus originated in a lab, but the WHO maintains the most likely explanation is that it began naturally in a wildlife market and was transmitted between an animal and human. "There are multiple labs that are continuing to conduct work, we think, on contagious pathogens inside of China today," Mr Pompeo told a State Department news conference. Previously, Yuan Zhiming, professor at Wuhan Institute of Virology and the director of its National Biosafety Laboratory, said "malicious" claims about the lab had been "pulled out of thin air" and contradicted all available evidence. Tennis unlikely to return serve in next three months Spanish veteran Feliciano Lopez says he is "not very positive" about the chances of the ATP and WTA Tours returning to normal within three months and believes it would be unfair to resume if some parts of the world remained in isolation. Professional tennis was shut down in mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic and will not return until at least mid-July, but Lopez believes that might be too optimistic. Wimbledon has been cancelled for the first time since World War II, while the French Open has been put back to September after the US Open, which still hangs in the balance. "Right now it's more about US Open — when they are going to announce if eventually we can play there, maybe the Tour will be able to resume," Lopez told Eurosport's Tennis Legends podcast. He said he fears a situation where certain players would not be able to compete, depending on the situation in their country. Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.  ABC/wires  |
| Coronavirus 'hot spots' emerge as U.S. curve flattens - Washington Times Posted: 28 Apr 2020 05:23 PM PDT The U.S. is "flattening the curve" of coronavirus transmission, but its case tally reached 1 million Tuesday and hot spots remain from New Mexico to Massachusetts, where the governor said high hospitalization rates have not dropped. Gov. Charlie Baker, a Republican, said he is keeping nonessential businesses closed until at least May 18. He said Massachusetts has made progress in the battle against COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus, but the numbers aren't where they need to be. Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, a Republican, is allowing dozens of counties to begin reopening their economies, but the Sioux City area is waiting because its case count is growing at one of the fastest rates in the nation. Widespread transmission at an Ohio jail, meanwhile, is fueling an outbreak north of Columbus. More than three-quarters of inmates at the Marion Correctional Institution, 1,950 in all, and more than 150 staff members have been infected, according to local reports, making it one of the largest hot spots in the nation. Officials in Ohio said the high number of positive tests at the Marion jail is largely because of their widespread testing and that only 105 of the inmates were showing symptoms when they were checked. In neighboring Pennsylvania, "we are continuing to look at much of the eastern part of the state as hot spots," state Department of Health spokesman Nate Wardle said. He said that includes Philadelphia and its surrounding counties and areas farther north, including counties along the New Jersey border and into the Pocono Mountains. The state is monitoring Hazleton as a city "of concern," plus Allentown and Reading. The hot spots underscore the lingering footprint of the COVID-19 crisis even as it shows signs of plateauing nationwide. The U.S. recorded 22,000 and 27,000 new cases on Monday and Sunday, respectively, compared with well over 30,000 cases in each of the previous three days, according to a John Hopkins University tracker. "Our experts believe the worst days of the pandemic are behind us," President Trump said at a White House event on efforts to help small businesses. Even so, the pathogen has infected more than 1 million people in the U.S. and may claim more lives than expected. A closely watched model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects deaths from the current wave could reach more than 74,000, up from 67,600 estimated a week ago, because death rates aren't falling quickly after states reach the peak of their epidemic curves. As of Tuesday evening, more than 58,000 people had died in the U.S. Gallup, New Mexico, is emerging as a hot spot out West, according to a New York Times tracker, as members of the hard-hit Navajo Nation travel to the small city to shop and stay at campsites. Rhode Island, meanwhile, has been caught between the hard-hit metropolises of New York City and Boston, with Providence as a hot spot. Gov. Gina Raimondo, a Democrat, said new cases, hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions have remained steady. "Haven't really seen much of a decline, which is what we're aiming for," she said. Other states say they have beat expectations. Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, used a White House visit to boast that Florida had not become the hot spot that everyone thought it would be in March, when newscasters played reels of spring break revelers crowding the state's beaches. The governor faced criticism for refusing to issue a stay-at-home order until April 1, yet Florida's hospitalizations and deaths per 100,000 aren't as bad as the metrics in states with tougher restrictions. "You go from D.C., Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, you name it — Florida's done better," said Mr. DeSantis, a key Trump ally. "And I'm not criticizing those states, but everyone in the media was saying Florida was going to be like New York or Italy, and that has not happened. "Because we understood we have a big, diverse state. We understood the outbreak was not uniform throughout the state, and we had a tailored and measured approach that not only helped our numbers be way below what anyone predicted but also did less damage to our state going forward," the governor said. Likewise, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, said his state never saw a massive surge in key metrics like other hot spots across the country and around the globe. "We're still by no stretch of the imagination out of the woods there. It's just stable. We're not seeing substantial declines," he said. "But again, Californians know we never experienced the big surge that other parts of the globe and certainly other parts of our country had." Mr. Newsom said California is likely "weeks, not months" away from making meaningful modifications to restrictions on some businesses. He also said "learning loss" resulting from school closures might require some summer school. "We are considering the prospect of an even earlier school year into the fall," he said, "as early as late July, early August."  |
| US food processing plants become COVID-19 hot spots - CIDRAP Posted: 27 Apr 2020 03:25 PM PDT  Over the weekend several meat and cheese processing plants across the country closed in light of COVID-19 infections among employees, prompting the head of Tyson Food to declare that the food supply chain in the United States is breaking. John Tyson, chairman of the board of Tyson Foods, took out a full-page ad in several newspapers yesterday, explaining that processing plant closures lead to tremendous food waste and a potential shortage of meat products across the country. "Millions of animals—chickens, pigs and cattle—will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities," Tyson wrote. "The food supply chain is breaking." Last week, Tyson closed a pork-processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa—one of the nation's biggest—after 180 employees tested positive for COVID-19. Late last week, the company announced it would test all 2,800 plant workers for the novel virus. Early in April, Tyson also closed a plant in Columbus Junction, Iowa, for 2 weeks after hundreds of employees were infected, including two fatally. Iowa has seen a spike in COVID-19 cases within the past week, and recorded 349 new cases today, according to the Des Moines Register. The state has a total of 5,868 COVID-19 cases and 127 deaths. According to the Associated Press, about 25% of the nation's meat packing plants have been shuttered within the last 2 weeks. In Illinois, Smithfield shut down two plants after refusing to comply with local health orders. According to WBEZ Chicago, Smithfield has had to close plants in Cudahy, Wisconsin, Martin City, Missouri, and Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after workers tested positive for the virus. A plant belonging to JBS in Green Bay, Wisconsin, is now the site of that state's largest linked outbreak, the Green Bay Press Gazette reports. JBS Packerland, a beef plant, is the site of 189 cases of COVID-19, and Brown County, where the plant is located, had 776 cases as of yesterday afternoon. In Fort Morgan, Colorado, Leprino Foods shut down a cheese processing plant yesterday after a high number of employees tested positive for the virus. A JBS beef plant in Greely, Colorado was closed for 9 days earlier this month, after hundreds of workers also contracted the virus. New guidance for meat plantsYesterday the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new safety guidance for employees and employers of meat and poultry processing plants. As part of the nation's critical infrastructure, workers at plants may be permitted to continue work following potential exposure to COVID-19, as long as they are asymptomatic and additional precautions are implemented to protect them, the CDC said. The CDC said workers often work close to one another on processing lines, stand together for long 10-12 hours shifts, and have high contact in the community outside of work. The CDC recommends plants look at physical distancing in the work space, installing plexiglass barriers where possible, and increase air ventilation systems. The CDC also recommends employees wear cloth facial coverings. More states open as US nears 1 million casesTexas Governor Greg Abbott announced today that the state's stay-at-home order will expire on Apr 30, and businesses will open in phases beginning this Friday, while President Donald Trump in a phone call with governors suggested some states should reopen schools before the end of the academic year, according to the New York Times. In Texas, retail stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls will be allowed to reopen with limitations on Friday, with occupancy no more than 25%. Today some businesses in Colorado, Minnesota, and Mississippi opened. Yesterday, Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York said some businesses outside of the New York City region may open as soon as May 15, but warned social distancing will still be the rule in the weeks to come. Yesterday, New York recorded 367 deaths from COVID-19, the first time in April the daily death count has been under 400. In total, New York has 291,996 COVID-19 cases, including 17,303 deaths. According to USA Today's COVID-19 tracker, the US is nearing 1 million COVID-19 cases, with 983,848 infections, including 55,735 deaths. FDA deals with faulty antibody testsFinally today, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is reportedly dealing with the fallout of faulty antibody tests, after 120 manufacturers and labs brought the tests to American markets without an agency review, according to Politico. Antibody tests have been hailed as the key to reopening states, and necessary with a virus that features asymptomatic transmission. But reports of widespread false positives and negatives in New York and California, two states that have started using antibody tests more widely, have ledto criticism of the FDA for not overseeing the tests more closely. The FDA said it is close to finalizing a plan that would require makers of new antibody tests to apply for emergency use authorizations.  |
| You are subscribed to email updates from "usa hot news" - Google News. To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google, 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA 94043, United States | |
Comments
Post a Comment