Wednesday, April 22 coronavirus updates

Hello, welcome to The Daily Moth. It is Wednesday, April 22. Here are updates on the coronavirus pandemic. 

The U.S. death toll from COVID-19, as of this afternoon, surpassed 46,000 deaths. 

AP News reported that two pet cats in different parts of New York state tested positive for the coronavirus. The cats have mild respiratory symptoms and are expected to recover. It appears that the cats got it from humans who were infected. 

Two people from Santa Clara County, California (south of San Francisco) who died on February 6 and 17 had tissue samples from their autopsy tested and they were COVID-19 postiive. It means that the virus was already spreading and killing people before Americans realized it because previously it was thought that the first U.S. death was on February 29 in Kirkland, Washington. The two people who died did not have travel history, so there was likely some kind of community spread. 

It is possible that at least 19 people in Wisconsin contracted COVID-19 from the primary election on April 9. State health officials told ABC News that the 19 people were either in-person voters or those who worked at polling sites. It is not for sure that they became infected from voting activity as they might have been exposed in some other way, but it tells us that there are significant risks with holding in-person elections during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The CDC Director Robert Redfield told the Washington Post that it is possible that the coronavirus will be worse this winter because we will be dealing with the flu and the coronavirus at the same time. He said that all levels of government need to use the coming months to prepare and scale up testing, contact tracing, and social distancing. He also encouraged everyone to take the flu shot. 

Tyson Foods announced they would close their pork processing plant in Waterloo, Iowa because of concerns with coronavirus. At least 180 out of 2,800 employees have tested positive for COVID-19. The closure will affect the nation’s pork supply, especially because another large pork processing facility, Smithfield in South Dakota, recently closed. The CEO of Tyson Fresh Meats said the closure will affect independent farmers, truckers, distributors, and grocery stores who are part of the supply chain. 

Delta Air Lines reported a loss of $534 million during the first quarter (the first three months of the year). It is a significant loss, but Delta said the second quarter, which is from April to June, would be much worse because air travel is down 90%. ABC News said Delta is the biggest and most profitable airline and that it is their first quarterly loss in more than 5 years. Delta will get a $5.4 billion in grants and loans from the federal government. 

A medical study of the use of hydroxychloroquine drug to treat coronavirus patients that involved 368 male veteran COVID-19 patients concluded that there was no evidence that it reduced the risk of patients needing ventilators. The study said there was a higher overall mortality (death) rate among those who took the drug. President Trump has frequently touted the use of hydroxychloroquine for coronavirus. The study said the drug might have caused organ damage. The New York Times reported that a doctor who led a federal agency that is a part of the effort to develop a coronavirus vaccine was removed from his position because he said that hydroxychloroquine was pushed by politics and cronyism rather than science. He is calling for an investigation and there is a controversy. 

There continues to be a push for states to reopen. President Trump tweeted that “States are safely coming back. Our Country is starting to OPEN FOR BUSINESS again. Special care is, and always will be, given to our beloved seniors (except me!). Their lives will be better than ever… WE LOVE YOU ALL!”

CNN reported that President Trump and Vice President Mike Pence both called Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp last night to show him support for his decision to reopen some businesses this Friday. 

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said Texas should reopen to save the future of the country and that it was more important than living. He said he doesn’t want to die but that we have to take risks and get back in the game and get this country back up and running. 

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman said in an interview on CNN that she wants businesses and casinos to reopen. She said it should be up to the businesses to figure out how to implement rules on social distancing. Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak said casino owners are working together on a plan to reopen and protect their customers, but said he wants to follow federal guidelines on reopening — by waiting until there are 14 consecutive days of declining reports of new cases. 

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said he will introduce his state’s reopening plan on Friday with four parts: expanding testing, increasing hospital surge capacity, increasing PPE supplies, and a contact tracing operation. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said there is no date on when the state will reopen. 

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said we can’t act stupidly and that a second wave could knock you down. His idea is to reopen the New York state on a regional basis. 

That’s all the news updates I have for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light! 

https://abcnews.go.com/Travel/wireStory/delta-loses-534-million-1q-bigger-losses-looming-70282836?cid=clicksource_4380645_2_heads_hero_live_headlines_hed

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/04/21/coronavirus-secondwave-cdcdirector/

https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/493879-texas-lt-governor-on-reopening-state-there-are-more-important-things

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/cases-coronavirus-wisconsin-linked-election-activities-state-health/story?id=70264956&cid=clicksource_4380645_2_heads_hero_live_headlines_hed

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1252928613743235072

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/04/22/death-coronavirus-first-california/

https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/business/tyson-fresh-meats-waterloo-closing-waterloo-plant-20200422

https://apnews.com/a5077c7227b8eb8b0dc23423c0bbe2b2

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/politics/trump-pence-georgia-governor-brian-kemp/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/22/politics/las-vegas-mayor-social-distancing-cnntv/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/us-coronavirus-update-04-22-20/index.html