Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has moved here.
Two nurses at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Denver, Colorado, have told CNN that they’re running out of proper sedation drugs because they’ve had to intubate so many patients since the coronavirus epidemic began in the US.
A nurse at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, tells CNN that their hospital is running out of fentanyl, which they used to sedate intubated Covid-19 patients.
SCL Health Vice President of System Communications Nikki Sloup said that their hospital system, which includes St. Joseph’s Hospital, currently has an adequate supply to meet patient needs. But Sloup warns that if they experience a patient surge, it could see shortages.
CNN reached out to Johns Hopkins Hospital for comment but did receive a response.
One nurse said they’ve never seen so many ventilators being put to use.
More than 262 million Americans are currently under stay-at-home orders – over 80% of the US population – according to a CNN count.
This count includes state, city and county orders. The numbers were tallied using US census data.
Among the most heavily impacted states are:
Hawaii has reported its first death from the coronavirus, leaving Wyoming as the only US state without a fatality from Covid-19.
The Hawaii victim “was an older adult resident of Oahu” with preexisting health problems, according to Dr. Bruce Anderson with the state Department of Health.
“This is a difficult time for everyone in Hawaii,” Governor David Ige said in a news conference Tuesday evening.
A plane from Russia loaded with personal protective equipment (PPE) and other supplies to assist in the response to Covid-19 is expected to arrive in the United States on Wednesday, a senior administration official tells CNN.
President Trump on Monday told reporters that Russia sent the US “a very, very large planeload of things, medical equipment which was very nice.”
Why is Russia sending the equipment? The Russian embassy in DC tweeted Tuesday that President Vladimir Putin provided the assistance with the consideration that manufacturers would reciprocate and share supplies with Russia if need be.
The National Security Council and State Department did not reply to inquiries as to if President Trump promised that US manufacturers would share supplies with Russia if Russia gets to a point where they need them.
Over the next few weeks, Gov. Brian Kemp will deploy the National Guard to help long-term care facilities, assisted living facilities and nursing homes in Georgia with Covid-19 cases.
The National Guard will help implement infection control protocols and enhance sanitation methods in hopes of mitigating exposure to the vulnerable residents, the governor said in a press release.
There have been at least 811 new coronavirus deaths reported in the US on Tuesday, according to a count from CNN Health.
This is the most reported deaths in the United States in a single day since the coronavirus outbreak began.
There have been a total of 3,815 deaths reported in the US.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced the country’s first coronavirus death on Twitter Tuesday.
In the short tweet Bukele added, “God will protect us.”
El Salvador has reported 32 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
President Trump on Tuesday again touted anti-malaria drugs as a potential treatment for coronavirus, and extolled their safety, despite the lack of scientific studies on the matter.
Facts First: Trump is right that the drugs have been available for a while, but he’s wrong to imply that they’ve been proven safe for Covid-19 patients. Public health officials have said testing is still needed, and trials are underway.
Over the weekend, the US Food and Drug Administration gave emergency authorization for doctors to use the drugs in hospitals for a limited set of Covid-19 cases. Some physicians have already been using the malaria drugs off-label to treat coronavirus patients.
The drugs have been used to safely prevent and treat malaria, and for lupus and other conditions. But there isn’t scientific data proving that they’re safe for coronavirus patients.
There’s no evidence to back up Trump’s assertion that it’s already known that Covid-19 patients won’t die from the treatment. The drug can lead to cardiac side effects, including an irregular heartbeat, which can be especially dangerous for patients with Covid-19, doctors say.
Early tests are underway now in New York, the hardest hit area in the US with more than 75,000 cases.
This isn’t the first time Trump has made this comment. His messaging on the drugs have been far more optimistic than the messaging from the public health officials that have attended the daily White House briefings.
There are 41,771 positive cases of Covid-19 in New York City and 1,096 fatalities, according to a press release from the New York City mayor’s office Tuesday evening.
There were at least 8,400 people hospitalized, and of those individuals, at least 1,888 were in the ICU as of 6 p.m. ET on March 31.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said in a press conference this afternoon that he signed an executive order to prohibit utility companies from shutting off services for people unable to pay for gas, electric, water and waste water.
Services cannot be shut off for next 60 days, Cooper said.
President Trump says he doesn’t think he would have responded differently to early indications of the novel coronavirus’ spread if he wasn’t being impeached.
Trump’s response follows Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s recent comments blaming Democrats for distracting the Trump administration with impeachment earlier this year as coronavirus was spreading abroad.
“I think I handled it very well, but I guess it probably did (distract me). I mean, I got impeached. I think, you know, I certainly devoted a little time to thinking about it,” Trump said during the briefing Tuesday.
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Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak issued a travel advisory Tuesday asking everyone entering the state to self-quarantine for 14 days even if they have no symptoms of the novel coronavirus.
The advisory does not apply to essential workers, including in the healthcare and food supply industries.
New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority ridership is down 90% since pre-pandemic levels, the group’s chairman and CEO Pat Foye announced Tuesday.
Foye, who tested positive for coronavirus last weekend, said 582 of his colleagues have also tested positive for the coronavirus.
Foye said reports of overcrowding incidents have been sporadic and that the MTA is working closely with the NYPD to control crowding and tell riders to move to a different car or wait for another train. He added that people are mostly complying and he believes no summonses have been issued.
There are at least 184,343 cases of coronavirus in the US, according to CNN Health’s tally of US cases that are detected and tested in the country through its public health systems,
So far, 3,796 people have died in the US from coronavirus.
The total includes cases from all 50 states, Washington, DC, and other US territories, as well as all repatriated cases. Hawaii and Wyoming are not reporting a death from coronavirus.
For the most up-to-date US numbers compiled by CNN, please check this map which automatically refreshes every 10 minutes.
The New Jersey Department of Health confirmed to CNN that the state is ordering additional refrigeration trailers to be placed across the state to serve as additional locations for body storage.
Leusner also said the chief state medical examiner is working with the Funeral Directors Association to address their needs and concerns.
New Jersey currently has 18,696 cases of coronavirus, according to CNN Health’s tally.
Maine Gov. Janet Mills issued a “stay healthy at home” directive today that requires people living in Maine to stay at home at all times, unless for an essential job or an essential personal reason, according to a release from the governor’s office.
The executive order takes effect at 12:01 a.m. ET on April 2 and will last until at least April 30.
The governor also mandated a series of other new restrictions, including prohibiting the use of public transportation unless for an essential reason and mandating the continued termination of classroom or other in-person instruction until at least May 1.
Maine has 303 confirmed coronavirus cases and five deaths, according to figures compiled by CNN.
President Trump discussed the need for Americans to wear masks to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
Trump said that Americans “can wear scarves” in lieu of masks.
Trump said he wants the masks being produced to go to hospitals that need them.
“We want them to go to the hospitals. But one of the things that Dr. Fauci told me today is we don’t want everybody competing with the hospitals where you really need them,” Trump added.
Trump did say that it might not be a bad idea for Americans to use some sort of face cover, for at least a period of time.
“So you can use scarves if you want, it can be something else, it does not have to be a mask, but it’s not a bad idea at least for a period of time. I mean eventually you’re not going to want to do that, you’re not going to have to do that. It’s going to be gone. It’s going to be gone, hopefully gone for a long time,” Trump said.
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President Trump acknowledged Tuesday that Covid-19 is worse than the seasonal flu, despite claiming otherwise multiple times in the past.
Some context: The tone is new for Trump who on March 9 tweeted: “So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus, with 22 deaths. Think about that!”
Two days after Trump made that comment, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that coronavirus is “10 times more lethal than the seasonal flu.”
Today members of the coronavirus task force warned that Americans should be “prepared” for over 100,000 deaths.
Watch:
President Trump defended the ability of the US to conduct tests for coronavirus, despite medical workers saying they cannot test everyone who needs one.
Vice President Mike Pence later attempted to clarify why there is a discrepancy in the amount of tests that the administration said had been distributed and the amount of tests that have been conducted.
Pence said under the old testing system, tests were being sent out, but had to be returned to labs that could only tests a small number per day.
“I think that the misunderstanding early on was that there are many tests being distributed, many test kits being sent, but under the old system, the antiquated system those were being processed in state labs or at CDC that could only produce 30 to 50 tests a day,” Pence said.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the task force response coordinator, also said she’s disappointed that Abbott Laboratories coronavirus test disbursed around the country are not being utilized.
“It is disappointing to me right now that we have about 500,000 capacity of Abbott tests that are not being utilized. So, they are out. They’re in the states. They’re not being run and not utilized. And now we have to figure out how do we create awareness,” Birx said during the briefing Tuesday.
