June 9 coronavirus news

There's still a lot to learn about the long-term negative effects of the Covid-19 infection on patients, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said.

Fauci explained that because there still is not enough experience with the virus, scientists don't know what patients who have recovered will be like six months from now.

"We don't know the extent of full recovery or partial recovery, so there's a lot we need to learn," he said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Tuesday there will be "more than one winner" in the Covid-19 vaccine field.

Fauci praised the "unprecedented" rapid response of pharmaceutical companies in working toward a vaccine and therapeutics for coronavirus, saying it "even outpaced the public health response in some respect, which you usually see it opposite."

The nation's top infectious disease expert said he hopes the work that is being done to fight Covid-19 will bring "a degree of capability and preparedness to respond even better than we've responded right now" in the future. 

Chicago announced Tuesday all large outdoor events across the city are canceled through Labor Day, including Lollapalooza music festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, most programs at the Chicago Riverwalk and others, due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“We must provide ways for people to enjoy the spirit of a Chicago summer while prioritizing health and safety,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. “As difficult as it is to remove these in-person events from our calendar, we are pulling out all the stops for an inventive, engaging and fun festival season this summer.” 

The city previously canceled its annual Memorial Day Parade, and house music, gospel and blues festivals.

Lollapalooza said in a statement on its webpage it would host virtual events on the days they had planned to have the festival. 

The city also said many of the canceled events would be “reimagined” and “at-home dance parties, drive-in movies, virtual concerts and community meals for frontline workers — in lieu of summer festivals.”

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is signing an executive order today that will increase the number of people permitted to gather outdoors to 100, and will permit the number of people to gather indoors to 25% of the building’s capacity or 50 people – whichever number is lower, he said in a news conference and on Twitter. 

All outdoor recreational and entertainment businesses in New Jersey — except for amusement parks, water parks, and arcades — will be permitted to open on June 22, Murphy said.

The governor said he anticipates being able to raise the limit on “non-protest” and “non-religious” activities to 250 people on June 22 and 500 people on July 3.

“School districts planning graduations should prepare for a 500-person limit to be in place by the time graduations can resume on July 6,” he said.

People who have attended a protest should self-quarantine and monitor for coronavirus symptoms, according to a tweet from Los Angeles County Tuesday morning.

The tweet reiterated L.A. County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer’s advice to self-quarantine for two weeks. She said those who found themselves in a very crowded situation for more than 15 minutes and who were near others without face coverings should isolate for the full incubation period.

As of Monday, L.A. County has 64,644 cases, including 2,655 deaths.

Retail outlets can reopen starting June 15 as long as they comply with government coronavirus-secure guidelines, UK Business Secretary Alok Sharma said Tuesday.

Shops for essential items, such as food and medicines, were allowed to remain open during the lockdown but this announcement means outlets selling nonessential items can now reopen. 

Sharma said that stores should display in their shop window or outside their door a sign to show their customers that they have read and taken steps to follow the government guidance on reopening.

“If a shop reopens without putting in place responsible steps to reduce transmission of the virus, we can take a range of actions including issuing enforcement notices. Local authorities and the health and safety executive regularly carry out checks and respond to requests from the public regarding risks in the workplace,” Sharma said.

Restaurants, pubs and bars, as well as hairdressers, barbers, nail bars and related services will remain closed. Sharma said the government’s goal is to reopen these business sectors starting July 4 at the earliest.

The Department of Health and Human Services said Tuesday that it is taking additional steps to provide federal coronavirus relief funding to health care providers and hospitals that care for the poor and uninsured.

The agency, which has come under fire in recent weeks for delays in distributing the $175 billion in federal support that Congress authorized in late March and April, expects to dole out about $15 billion to providers that participate in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program but have not yet received payments from the relief fund that Congress authorized. The money is intended to compensate those that lost revenue or had increased expenses because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The additional funding is expected to support several hundred thousand more providers, including pediatricians, obstetrician-gynecologists, dentists, opioid treatment and mental health specialists, assisted living facilities and other home and community providers.

Also, safety net hospitals that serve a large share of low-income Americans and the uninsured will receive $10 billion this week.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the NYC Care program will expand to Queens and Manhattan four months ahead of schedule in order to help fight health care disparities exposed by Covid-19.

De Blasio said the virus taught “painful lessons” on disparity and lack of equality in the city, adding that Covid-19 did “horrific” damage in communities of color.

The approximately $37.5 million expansion is expected to reach 54,000 residents – with 44,000 in Queens and 10,000 in Manhattan.

The program provides access to low-cost and no-cost primary care for those who are ineligible or can’t afford insurance.

It currently is serving the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island.

The program is part of the ongoing city's initiative to guarantee health care for everyone regardless of immigration status, according to previous CNN reporting on the health care initiative.

The city will hire 26 providers to ensure a new primary care appointment in two weeks.

There is a strong focus on mental health as well, De Blasio said.

His wife, first lady Chirlane McCray, said NYC will reach 10,000 residents in the hardest hit neighborhoods from July to December working with 270 frontline community and faith-based organizations.

The city will deliver one-hour virtual trainings on mental health and disaster response and coping mechanisms.

Calling it an “extraordinary” day for the city, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the percentage of people citywide who tested positive for Covid-19 – which needs to be under the threshold of 15% – is at 1%.

The mayor said this is “unbelievably good news.”

All of the city's markers for indicators of the Covid-19 virus are under their thresholds, de Blasio said Tuesday.

People admitted to hospitals for suspected Covid-19 – which needs to be under the threshold 200 – is at 52. The daily number of people in intensive care units – which needs to be under the threshold 375 — is today at 337.

The mayor's update comes one day after New York City began reopening in phase one.