Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic in the US has ended for the day. Get the latest updates from around the globe here.
The Transportation Security Administration is working to put in place a plan to check temperatures of passengers as they go through security at a number of American airports, a federal health official confirmed to CNN.
The Wall Street Journal first reported the plan and said the TSA would take temperatures at about a dozen unidentified airports. It said the program could begin as soon as next week.
The federal health official emphasized to CNN the plan was not yet final.
The TSA would not confirm it was planning on enacting such a program.
Rep. Bennie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said he was not supportive of temperature checking.
“I cannot find any law that gives TSA the authority to perform temperature checks as reported,” he said. “The health and safety of our Transportation Security Officers have already been put at great risk the past few months. The administration should not put these frontline workers in further danger in order to provide passengers a potential false sense of safety.”
North Dakota officials released guidelines for large gatherings and mass gathering events, such as banquets, ballrooms and event venues, Gov. Doug Burgum announced at a news conference Friday.
The governor amended an executive order to “strongly encourage the adoption of the large gathering protocols by recreational and sports arenas and music and entertainment venues,” which had previously been closed under the order, effective immediately.
The state is now using a five-level risk model to determine what businesses and places can reopen and how they can operate, the governor said.
The levels are red/critical risk, orange/high risk, yellow/moderate risk, green/low risk and blue/new normal, Burgum said.
Right now: The state is currently operating at the “moderate risk” level, meaning there is heightened risk for exposure but if transmission is controlled in the area and health criteria is met, gatherings in facilities can be up to 50% occupancy, according to the guidelines.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis issued an executive order Friday allowing counties to enter into the state’s full phase one reopening plan.
The order gives amusement parks in Florida, like Walt Disney World Resort, the green light to submit their plans to reopen, according to the executive order.
The plan must include a proposed reopening date, guidelines that ensure guest and staff safety and a letter from the local mayor confirming approval of the effort.
In an attempt to remedy some of the disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to the agricultural industry, the United States Department of Agriculture on Friday announced a new program to deliver billions of dollars of produce and other farm products to nonprofits and local food banks.
The “Farmers to Families Food Box” program will distribute $3 billion worth of agricultural goods to non-profit organizations across the country that might have gone to waste.
More than 200 companies nationwide were awarded contracts by the USDA to provide boxes of fresh produce, meat and dairy products.
House Democrats on Friday approved a rules change to allow lawmakers to vote while away from Washington during the coronavirus pandemic, a move that will allow the chamber to operate remotely for the first time in its more than 200-year history.
Democrats approved the resolution over Republican opposition with a vote of 217-189.
How it works: Under the new rules, lawmakers who cannot or do not want to travel to the Capitol for legislative business will be able to cast votes in the House through a proxy. Members would give a colleague specific instructions for how they would vote on a measure, and the proxy must vote in accordance with their instructions.
Members will be limited to acting as proxy for only up to 10 members.
Why this matters: The resolution is a significant rules change for the chamber. Republicans urged against the change, arguing instead for the House to return in person to conduct its work.
The resolution will expire after 45 days, although House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will be able to extend the provisions if the pandemic is still happening or if there is a resurgence.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee will lift capacity restrictions for restaurants and retail stores in most of the state starting next week, according to a statement from the governor’s office.
The new guidance applies to large attractions, such as racetracks, waterparks, amusement parks, theaters and auditoriums. Those facilities can reopen on May 22.
Businesses must still adhere to social distancing guidelines.
The changes apply to 89 of the 95 counties in the state.
Davidson, Shelby, Knox, Hamilton, Madison and Sullivan counties are not included in the new guidelines. Those counties may continue to follow individual, county-specific reopening plans, the statement said.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union is “extremely disappointed by Kroger’s decision to end Hero Pay,” the union’s president Marc Perrone said in a statement.
Kroger announced Friday that the company would end Hero Pay for employees and provide a one-time bonus to its workers.
The Hero Pay program, which saw an increase of $2 per hour starting March 31, is set to end Sunday.
Perrone said that increased sales and profits made by grocery stores make the decision to end Hero Pay “more inexplicable.”
“The reality is that Kroger is choosing to ignore this pandemic,” Perrone said. “This is not how we treat heroes in America.”
More context: At least 65 grocery workers have died and at least 9,810 have been infected or exposed to the coronavirus, according to the UFCW statement.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear reacted to the news Friday saying he wants the additional pay to continue as the pandemic isn’t over.
“Kroger is suspending Hero Pay to workers effective Sunday, can I react to that news? Man, our grocery store workers have done incredible work. This virus isn’t gone, I would love to see that pay increase,” Beshear said. “Of course, it’s additional $2 per hour so I will tell you, I’d love to see that additional pay continue, even beyond this. I like to think that you ought to be able to support your family working just one job, and it’s been a really important job.”
NFL commissioner Roger Goodell outlined in a memo certain requirements teams must follow to reopen their facilities next week.
Here are the guidelines they must follow:
NFL teams may reopen their facilities beginning Tuesday provided they fit all requirements to do so, league commissioner Roger Goodell outlined in a memo dated Friday.
The ”Dr. Sills” that Goodell references is NFL chief medical officer Dr. Allen Sills.
Goodell also writes that a certain amount of players may be permitted to return next month.
Travelers who refuse to wear a mask will not be allowed to travel by train on Amtrak or by bus on Greyhound.
Representatives from Amtrak and Greyhound Bus told CNN on Friday that passengers will be denied boarding if they are not wearing a face covering.
Greyhound says it has given drivers prepackaged face masks to give to riders who do not already have a mask, but those who refuse to wear one “will be denied boarding if they do not wear a face covering.”
Amtrak is requiring that all customers on trains and inside stations wear masks.
This week, CNN obtained internal memos detailing major airlines’ mask policies. Most airlines said that passengers would not be allowed to board without a face covering. Most policies said that once on board, the job of flight attendants is to strongly encourage the use of masks and avoid confrontation.
It’s unclear how strictly Amtrak and Greyhound will enforce their mask policies once people are on board.
More than 5,300 members of the New York Police Department have returned to work full duty after testing positive for coronavirus, the NYPD announced.
There are 205 member of the NYPD still out sick with Covid-19. This figure includes 150 uniformed members and 55 civilian members of the NYPD.
So far, 5,552 members of the department have tested positive for Covid-19.
Roughly 1,157 uniformed members of the NYPD are still out sick, accounting for 3.2% of that force, the NYPD said.
It is almost 6:15 p.m. ET in New York and a lot has happened with the coronavirus pandemic. Catch up on the biggest headlines below:
Poll workers will be wearing masks at polling centers throughout the state in June and voters who arrive at centers without masks will be provided one and asked to wear it, New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said Friday.
Voters are encouraged to cast their votes either by mail or ballot drop off, Oliver said.
People who have to vote at a center will be provided sanitized pens and masks. Each voting booth will be sanitized between uses, she said.
The state’s primary election is set for June 2.
State parks in Kentucky will be allowed to reopen on June 1, Gov. Andy Beshear said.
The reopening includes lodging, cabins and golfing, he said.
The plan excludes state parks that have been designated to help provide temporary housing for some Covid-19 patients.
The state will also be resuming auto or dirt track racing, fishing tournaments, and reopening aquatic centers and bowling alleys on June 1, he said.
Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, said the department’s forecasting models predict deaths from Covid-19 exceeding 100,000 by June 1.
He tweeted: “CDC tracks 12 different forecasting models of possible #COVID19 deaths in the US. As of May 11, all forecast an increase in deaths in the coming weeks and a cumulative total exceeding 100,000 by June 1.”
His tweet comes after researchers at the University of Washington revised the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation model on Tuesday — often cited by the White House — upward to 147,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by August 4.
As of 5:40 p.m. ET on Friday, Johns Hopkins University counts 87,184 coronavirus deaths in the United States.
There are at least 1,439,231 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 87,184 people have died, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.
Johns Hopkins on Friday reported 21,457 new cases and 1,286 deaths.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said today that sports are not over, but watching the games on television may last a while.
Whitmer also stressed the “need a vaccine.”
“And we need to have mass quantities available, or we need to be able to test and acknowledge that we’ve got some immunity that’s built up. We’re not there yet,” she said.
The governor said the organizers of leagues understand how important it is to act responsibly.
“We can have sports, just the way we observe them may look a little different,” Whitmer added.
The governor also addressed recent threats against her, saying, “It is never acceptable to make threats of violence to anyone, but our officeholders as well. And so we take them very seriously.”
“I’ve never felt unsafe because I know that the State Police is a serious organization that is incredibly professional and has got my safety at the center of some of the work that they do,” Whitmer added.
By the numbers: Michigan has a total of 50,079 Covid-19 cases and 4,825 deaths.
All retailers in New Mexico — with the exception of those in three counties — can operate at 25% of their fire code capacity starting Saturday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said Friday.
Cibola, McKinley and San Juan counties are not included in the new guidance because case counts are still too high in that region, Lujan Grisham said.
Retailers are considered any business that sells good directly to the consumer. Entertainment venues, such as movie theaters, concert halls and amusement parks, are not considered retail businesses, Lujan Grisham said.
Houses of worship are also allowed to operate at 25% capacity, she said.
Other nonessential businesses, such as office spaces and call centers, can also operate with 25% of pre-crisis staffing levels, according to the new guidance.
Cases of coronavirus are still “too high” in New Mexico, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said during a Friday news conference.
Lujan Grisham said that she will “do whatever it takes” to protect vulnerable communities from increased spread.
She warned that another shutdown could be possible if people don’t work to mitigate the spread of coronavirus.
There are 223 people who are hospitalized with coronavirus and 49 of them are on ventilators, Lujan Grisham said.
So far, 253 people have died in New Mexico from coronavirus, Lujan Grisham added.
