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In a brief statement released Tuesday, Beijing authorities said Ren Zhiqiang, a real estate tycoon with close ties to senior Chinese officials, has been placed under investigation for alleged “serious violations” of laws and Communist Party regulations.
The statement did not give other details.
Ren, 69, was born into a family of Communist ruling elite and is known for his outspoken style.
After allegedly penning a scathing article on President Xi Jinping’s handling of the coronavirus crisis, he reportedly disappeared last month with rumors swirling about his detention by the authorities.
People who test positive for the coronavirus and die at home will be included in New York City’s case count, according to authorities.
New York city has reported a total of 3,544 deaths and a total of 74,601 coronavirus cases to date. New York state currently has 139,875 confirmed cases of coronavirus, including 5,489 deaths.
The United States’ coronavirus death toll reached 12,722 on Tuesday evening, with an increase of 1,736 deaths during the day. That number marks the most deaths recorded in a single day so far.
According to data supplied by Johns Hopkins University, the previous record for the most new US coronavirus deaths added in a single day was 1,344. That was reached on April 4.
President Donald Trump claimed Tuesday that he knows “for a fact” that the United States doesn’t actually have the highest number of coronavirus cases in the world, saying it’s simply testing more than any other country – a comment the coordinator of his White House coronavirus task force later clarified.
“I think the reporting here has been pretty straight-forward for the past five – six weeks,” Dr. Deborah Birx told reporters. “Prior to that, when there wasn’t testing in January and February, that’s a very different situation and unknown.”
Earlier in the press conference, Trump said that “America continues to perform more tests than any other nation in the world, and I think that’s probably why we have more cases.”
“Because you look at some these very large countries,” he continued, “I know for a fact that they have far more cases than we do, but they don’t report them.”
Per capita, countries like Italy and South Korea have done more testing than the United States by far. Many experts believe that the number of coronavirus cases in the US is likely higher than reported due to problems with testing availability.
Birx elaborated there may have been early deaths in the US that were not counted as coronavirus related, but perhaps should have been.
Birx said some countries don’t consider coronavirus to be the cause of death in some individuals with pre-existing conditions.
“There are other countries that if you had a pre-existing condition, and let’s say the virus caused you to go to the ICU and then have a heart or kidney problem, some countries are recording that as a heart issue or a kidney issue and not a Covid-19 death.”
“The intent is right now,” she said, “if someone dies with Covid-19, we are counting that as a Covid-19 death.”
She later conceded that some rural areas might not “have the same level of testing.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he is worried about coronavirus cases and hospitalizations increasing again as some people start to leave their homes.
“The weather has turned warm. People have been in their homes for one month, everyone has cabin fever and they’re coming out in greater numbers,” Cuomo told CNN’s Erin Burnett.
Earlier Tuesday, Cuomo said at his daily press briefing that hospitalizations may be leveling off and social distancing “is working,” but stressed that New Yorkers need to keep doing it.
He told Burnett his focus isn’t merely on preventing a second wave, but working to improve the current situation in New York – an epicenter for coronavirus in the United States.
“(I’m) not even worried about a second wave. I’m worried about getting out of the situation we’re in right now and saving as many lives as possible and that will be a direct coefficient of how well we comply with social distancing,” Cuomo said.
The governor said not complying with social distancing would be irresponsible and put a burden on health care workers and first responders.
“This really is a time where your own individual actions affect other people. It can literally kill other people,” he said.
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There are at least 387,547 cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least 12,291 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally of cases.
So far Tuesday, there are at least 19,351 new cases and 1,305 deaths have been reported, according to the tally.
The total includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as all repatriated cases. Wyoming is the only state not reporting a death from coronavirus.
A third player on the National Hockey League’s Colorado Avalanche has tested positive for Covid-19, according to a statement from the NHL.
The league did not identify the player.
“The player is in self-isolation and had not had close contact with any other Avalanche players or staff members,” the statement said.
President Donald Trump said he didn’t see the coronavirus warning memos written by his trade adviser Peter Navarro in January until a “day or two” ago, telling reporters Tuesday: “I didn’t see them. I didn’t look for them either.”
A source familiar with the memo confirmed to CNN that Navarro fired off an internal memo in January warning the coronavirus could become a “full-blown pandemic,” risking trillions of dollars in economic losses and the health of millions.
When asked why he initially downplayed the coronavirus — specifically his claim that cases would go down —Trump told reporters, “I’m not going to go out and start screaming, this could happen,” Trump said.
“I’m a cheerleader for this country. I don’t want to create havoc and shock,” he added.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told her colleagues in conference calls Tuesday the House may have to move this week on the small business loan package requested by the Trump administration, sources on the calls said.
Another source said Pelosi is making clear she is willing to move forward this week on the package if she gets a deal with the administration, which wants $250B for small business loans.
Democrats have made a number of requests to be included in this $250 billion package, including protections for renters and minority business owners. It’s still not clear what Pelosi will ultimately demand of the administration.
Pelosi has made clear this small business loan package is only an interim package, and they still to plan to move forward with another plan – called CARES 2 – in the coming weeks.
Minutes after President Donald Trump said he’s placing a “very powerful hold” on US funding to the World Health Organization for what he says is a “China-centric” stance, he appeared to back off the statement.
“I’m not saying I’m going to do it, but we are going to look at it,” Trump said after being pressed on his statement.
Speaking Tuesday at his daily coronavirus briefing, Trump said the organization “receives vast amounts of money from the United States” that he wants to re-examine.
Trump said certain WHO programs were worthwhile but that overall they’d made mistakes – in particular, he said, opposition to his decision to shut down travel from China.
“We have to look into that, so we’re going to look into it,” Trump said.
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President Donald Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci on Tuesday discussed the disproportionate impact the coronavirus is having on African Americans.
“We’re actively engaging on the problem of increased impacts – this is a real problem and it’s showing up very strongly in our data – on the African American community. And we’re doing everything in our power to address this challenge. It’s a tremendous challenge. It’s terrible,” Trump said during a White House press briefing from the coronavirus task force.
He continued, “It’s been disproportional. They’re getting hit very hard.”
Fauci, the director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, called the issue an “exacerbation of a health disparity.”
“We’ve known, literally forever, that diseases like diabetes, hypertension, obesity and asthma are disproportionally afflicting the minority populations, particularly the African Americans,” Fauci said. “Unfortunately, when you look at the predisposing conditions that lead to a bad outcome with coronavirus, the things that get people into ICUs, that require intubation and often lead to death, they’re just those very comorbidities that are unfortunately disproportionately prevalent in the African American population.”
He added, “It’s very sad. There’s nothing we can do about it now except try and give them the best possible care to avoid those complications.”
US President Donald Trump said British officials contacted the White House on Tuesday to request ventilators and that American officials were working to supply those additional machines.
“We’re going to work it out for them,” Trump said at the White House coronavirus task force briefing.
Dealing with their own Covid-19 outbreak, the UK asked for the Trump administration to send over 200 ventilators, the President said.
“They needed them desperately,” Trump said. “They’ve been great partners.”
Trump said the US would soon have “110,000 ventilators coming over a short period of time.”
“I don’t think we’ll need them,” he said.
Emergency physician Dr. Megan Ranney says she’s worried a number of factors could be leading to an undercount in the death toll related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Ranney, an emergency physician at Lifespan/Brown University, told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that people with acute conditions who usually fill her emergency department, like strokes or heart attacks, are not showing up.
“I’m worrying that they’re dying at home or having severe illness that we would attribute to Covid-19,” Ranney said.
In other cases, she said, people are dying at home from the coronavirus. And in still others, people coming to emergency rooms have trouble getting tested.
Ranney said she also wonders whether fatalities were attributed to other health issues – not accounting for the role coronavirus played.
“We wonder how much of that preceded the reports of this past week. How many deaths were attributed to heart attacks, hypertension, diabetes, that were actually exacerbated by Covid-19,” she said.
The world’s busiest airport, Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, is facing an increasing homelessness problem as hundreds seek overnight refuge in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Jeff Smythe, CEO of Hope Atlanta, an organization striving to curb homelessness, said his team screened more than 250 homeless people at the airport for Covid-19 symptoms each night this past weekend.
Smythe told CNN that at least one homeless person was sent to the hospital by Atlanta Police after being screened for Covid-19.
“We are very concerned about these vulnerable populations. I had a couple of veterans last night that were in either the high risk category because of age or chronic condition or both,” Smythe said.
Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottom’s spokesperson told CNN in a statement that the city is working toward alternative solutions for the homeless community.
“The Mayor has worked closely with her team to ensure immediate compliance, and as needed, additional measures to further reduce the risk of exposure to people experiencing homelessness and airport staff,” the spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added: “The City and its partners are working to finalize funding and action plans for additional solutions, such as emergency lodging with the opportunity for placement into permanent housing.”
Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport and Atlanta Police declined to comment referring CNN to statement released by City Hall.
North Carolina is currently dealing with an “overwhelming crush” of unemployment claims, which are topping 400,000, due to the economic fallout tied to the coronavirus pandemic, the governor said Tuesday.
”Right now about 110,000 people have received checks, and I believe the figure is over 26 million dollars that has gone out to people. We have over 400,000 people who have applied,” Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper told reporters in Charlotte.
Cooper pledged that the state’s Employment Security Commission will keep on “working hard until these claims get paid and everybody gets in the system” but he also acknowledged the difficulty in processing all the claims.
“This is a frustration that’s being faced in every single state in the country because for example in North Carolina, this is a system that was used to about 3,000 claims a week and now they’re dealing with over 400,000,” he said.
Cooper stressed that “every single family that applies for unemployment benefits is important.”
“Every single family who applies is probably hanging by a thread right now and the people over at the Employment Security Commission know this,” he said.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement told congressional staff Tuesday that it’s reviewing cases of individuals in detention who may be vulnerable to the coronavirus, following repeated calls from lawmakers to release detainees.
The agency, in an email obtained by CNN, told the congressional staff that it has instructed its field offices to “further assess and consider for release certain individuals deemed to be at greater risk of exposure, consistent with CDC guidelines, reviewing cases of individuals 60 years old and older, as well as those who are pregnant.”
“Additionally, efforts to identify other individuals who may be more vulnerable to COVID-19, based on risk factors identified by the CDC, other than age and pregnancy, are ongoing, based on the recommendations of CDC,” ICE said.
Nineteen detainees in ICE custody have tested positive for coronavirus, according to the agency.
Famous chef José Andrés has teamed up with Nationals Park in Washington, DC, to distribute thousands of meals to people in need during the coronavirus pandemic.
Andrés is the founder of World Central Kitchen, a charity that has been serving low income communities battling the virus in more than 25 cities across the country.
He said it is important to help people during this pandemic because there are less volunteers and less resources for those experiencing homelessness. Andrés said his charity is not only providing meals, but also giving people hand sanitizer and educating them about social distancing.
“If we are not careful, we may have a humanitarian crisis as many people are losing their jobs and as many NGOs are not able to be providing services that normally they provide,” Andrés said.
The charity delivers some food, but has also partnered with elderly homes and is in the process of partnering with delivery companies.
Having a kitchen at the National’s stadium allows Andrés to bring food to not just people in Washington, DC, but also in Virginia and Maryland.
Andrés said keeping everyone safe and healthy is a priority.
“We’ve been getting experience in how to do it right, protecting our teams, and also protecting the people receiving our meals,” he said.
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California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that shipments of ventilators will arrive in hotspots in New York, New Jersey and Illinois as early as Tuesday night, as his state began flying a surplus of 500 ventilators to states in need.
“One hundred going to New York, 100 going to New Jersey, 100 going to Illinois,” Newsom, a Democrat, told reporters Tuesday.
He continued: “The Vice President was correct ventilators are going to DC, Delaware, ventilators are going to Maryland, and likely Nevada. So that was the determination; it was done through the collective wisdom of our partners at FEMA … it was done in collaboration with their expectation and needs of what is required of the moment on the ground, based upon that data, and that collaborative engagement, we made this determinations working together, including with the vice president and his (White House coronavirus) task force.”
Newsom said the 500 ventilators are being loaned after the state was able to refurbish and purchase sufficient equipment for the states own needs.
“Because we feel we’re adequately resourced for the moment — again, in a dynamic world, where things can change, and we’re confident that the number of ventilators that we currently have in possession are adequate to the task in the very short term,” he said.
The ventilators being shipped are part of California’s own supply, and are being distributed as a loan.
President Donald Trump met by telephone with leaders from the banking industry Tuesday about Paycheck Protection Program loans for small businesses after the program had rocky rollout.
The program was initially met with confusion and a bit of pushback from some banks who claimed they didn’t have enough information about the program, or guarantees that they would ultimately be paid back by the government.
JP Morgan Chase told its customers last week it would not be able to start accepting applications for the loan when the program rolled out Friday, because it was “still awaiting guidance from the SBA and the US Treasury.”
But that confusion seemed to be cleared up by Tuesday, when the bank’s Chief Operating Officer Gordon Smith thanked the SBA and Treasury Department for working with the bank “seven days a week late, late into the night in very close partnership to make sure that we could deliver the program.”
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters the issues were due to “a lot of new users coming onto the system.”
“They’re all getting authenticated. We’ll get them all approved,” he said.
During the meeting, Trump acknowledged that there had been a few issues, but wrote them off as normal.
“There are a few glitches, very few,” the President said. “Any little glitch we had worked out within minutes. Within hours. There were a couple, a little on applications. They wanted to work it a little bit differently, banks had some suggestions and it was all done probably I would say 100% of it in the first day.”
Work on a new round of payouts for small businesses is already in the works, Trump and Mnuchin said.
