Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in the US has ended for the day. Get the latest updates from around the globe here.

A coronavirus model that has been cited by the White House now projects that fewer people will die in the United States by August.

In a Tuesday update, the model revised its forecast to 132,000 deaths -- which is 11,000 fewer than it projected a week ago.

Built by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, the model is one of more than a dozen highlighted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on its website. An ensemble forecast from the CDC, which relies on multiple models, projects that US deaths will exceed 110,000 by June 13. 

The White House cited the IHME model often in April, but it has been criticized by some for its assumptions and performance. The model has undergone a number of revisions in the past few weeks.

As states began reopening, IHME upped its forecast for the number of US deaths, based in part on cell phone mobility data that showed people moving around more. But the institute began revising its projections downwards last week, saying an expected increase in infections had not yet occurred.

Dr. Christopher Murray, the IHME director, said that might have been because of behavioral changes such as mask wearing. The institute has since described its plan for gathering data on how many Americans wear masks. It’s not clear what drove down the model’s projections on Tuesday, however.

Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak abruptly canceled a scheduled news conference Tuesday to announce the state’s phase two reopening plans. 

“Late last week, Gov. Sisolak had visited a work place where an employee — who was not in the building at the time — has since reported testing positive for Covid-19,” the governor’s office said in a statement.

Sisolak has had no symptoms in the five days since the potential exposure, according to the statement. The governor’s office does not say where the infected worker was employed, but Sisolak’s Twitter page shows that he visited a call center for the state Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation last Thursday.

Sisolak’s statement said the reopening announcement will go on as scheduled, but it will be presented on a video recording “out of an abundance of caution.”

The governor plans to take a coronavirus test on Wednesday.

Illinois may be entering a “downward trend” of Covid-19 deaths, Illinois Department of Public Health Director, Dr. Ngozi Ezike, said at a news briefing on Tuesday.

Ezike said the state reported a total of 780 deaths during the week of May 16.

“While 780 deaths, of course, represents 780 individuals who lost their lives, and families and loved ones and communities who are mourning those deaths, it still signals the first week that there have been fewer deaths than the previous week,” she said.

The Illinois Department of Public Health reported at least 113,195 cases of Covid-19, including approximately 4,923 deaths, on Tuesday.

A judge in Baker County, Oregon, on Tuesday refused to overturn his ruling that the state’s coronavirus restrictions are unconstitutional, despite an order from the state Supreme Court to reconsider. 

The high court told Shirtcliff over the weekend to revisit the case after delaying enforcement of his decision while an appeal is heard. 

Justice Thomas Balmer wrote for the court that Shirtcliff must either vacate his original order or provide a reason for not doing so. In his three-sentence letter today, Shirtcliff does not give a reason for adhering to his original ruling.

The Supreme Court has ordered both sides to file their arguments with the court no later than next Tuesday. The lawsuit was filed by a group of churches and businesspeople who argued that state law limits Gov. Kate Brown’s emergency authority to 28 days.

The National Basketball Association sent emails with proposal ideas to all 30 general managers, which included a “World Cup-style” playoff format in a plan to return to play.

It was first reported by The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor.

In the league’s effort to restart their 2019-2020 season, 16 to 30 teams would congregate at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, to be divided into groups to ensure each team tipped-off against the same opposition. Based on the regular-season records, the teams would be split up into “tiers” ensuring an equal level of competition, according to O’Connor and ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

CNN Sports reached out to the NBA for comment about the reports.

Northwestern University announced its plan for a "phased return" to campus for fall 2020, including an outline of safety precautions.

The University's Return to Campus and Safety Work Group developed a set of "core responsibilities" that it said will help protect the health and well-being of the community, according to a letter sent Friday to Northwestern faculty, staff and students from Interim Provost Kathleen Hagerty and university leaders.

The measures include: social distancing, using face masks, consistent health monitoring, and protecting vulnerable members of the university community, which has more than 22,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

The school said it is still in "step 1" of its phased reopen, which is essential faculty and staff only. "Step 2," a pilot phase to reactivate research laboratories, will take place when Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker's stay-at-home order expires, which could happen as soon as June 1.

Mississippi is still seeing a steady number of coronavirus cases, Gov. Tate Reeves said at a news briefing on Tuesday.

He added the number of cases "is primarily driven by finding asymptomatic or unserious cases, through our ramped up targeted testing." Active hospitalizations, patients in intensive care, patients on ventilators and deaths have stayed relatively flat, Reeves said.

Here are the latest numbers, according to officials:

Most New Mexico restaurants will be able to have outdoor dining services starting on Wednesday, according to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office.

Eateries will be allowed to serve customers outdoors as long as they are seated and practice social distancing.

Inside dining will continue to be prohibited and bars will stay closed. 

Additionally, three counties in the northwestern part of the state will be excluded from the relaxed rules because of their higher rates of coronavirus infection.

“We continue to see sustained, consistent progress in our fight against this virus,” Grisham said in a written statement.