Tag Archives: pandemic

Fort Worth’s NBC News affiliate reports: A surprise birthday party last month has ended up with 18 members of a Texas family being diagnosed with COVID-19, including a couple in their 80s and a cancer patient.  Carole and Frank Barbosa, who are in their 80s, are among the family members fighting the coronavirus. Both have been hospitalized for at least …

Tallahassee’s NBC News affiliate reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis said Thursday that he has no plans of moving to the third and final phase of reopening the Florida economy as the state continues to see a surge in new COVID-19 cases. “We are where we are,” DeSantis said during a press conference in Tampa. “I didn’t say we’re going to go …

Just in from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton: Attorney General Paxton today filed a brief asking the United States Supreme Court to declare Obamacare unlawful in its entirety. At the heart of Obamacare is an individual mandate commanding Americans to purchase health insurance the federal government deems suitable. The Supreme Court upheld that mandate in 2012 because it included a …

ABC News reports: Nearly 25 million Americans may have contracted the coronavirus, a figure ten times higher than the number of confirmed cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday. In a briefing with reporters Thursday, CDC Director Robert Redfield said surveys of blood samples taken from around the country suggest that millions of Americans may have contracted …

Reuters reports: President Donald Trump will jet off today on Air Force One to hold a public event in Wisconsin, a battleground state. White House Trade and Economic Adviser Peter Navarro says Trump will tour the Marinette Marine shipyard near Green Bay, which was recently awarded a multi-billion-dollar federal contract for new Navy ships. “He’s going there to celebrate jobs …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott announced Thursday morning he is once again putting a stop to elective surgeries to preserve bed space for coronavirus patients — but this time the prohibition only applies to Bexar, Dallas, Harris and Travis counties, four areas where the number of patients hospitalized with virus is quickly progressing. Just Tuesday, Abbott stressed that …

NPR reports: The Trump administration is defending plans to close 13 federally run coronavirus testing sites in five states at the end of the month. The testing sites are located in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New Jersey and Texas. They are the last of 41 federally operated testing sites. Federal officials say the sites have been closing or transferring to state …

The Washington Post reports: Across the United States, more than 36,000 new infections were reported by state health departments on Wednesday — surpassing the previous single-day record of 34,203 set on April 25. Texas, Florida and California led the way, with all three states reporting more than 5,000 new cases apiece. Even as case numbers climb, reports circulated that the …

The Charlotte Observer reports: A concerned North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced Wednesday the state will remain in Phase Two for another three weeks while making face coverings mandatory in public. The order that moved the state into Phase 2 on May 22 was scheduled to expire on Friday. It has been extended until July 17. The mask requirement takes …

Sacramento’s NBC News affiliate reports: Gov. Gavin Newsom is holding a news conference Wednesday with the latest on California’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. On Monday, California saw the highest jump in new COVID-19 cases in a day since the state starting tracking case numbers in mid-March. The California Department of Public Health said 5,019 new lab-confirmed novel coronavirus cases …

Arizona Central reports: The state reached a new high for hospitalizations Tuesday, according to the update provided by the Arizona Department of Health Services Wednesday morning. Inpatient beds and ventilators in use for suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients both hit their highest-ever numbers Tuesday, according to the report. Emergency department visits and ICU beds in use hovered around their highest …

The Dallas News reports: Gov. Greg Abbott sternly warned Texans of “rampant” spread of coronavirus that took the state to a new high Tuesday of more than 5,000 new cases in a single day. Saying Texans should stay home unless they have a good reason to venture out, Abbott late Tuesday afternoon gave local officials more powers to limit public …

Newsday reports: Gyms, malls and movie theaters across New York state will remain closed beyond phase four reopening. The news will hit small retailers, big chains and consumers alike. New Yorkers have been longing to hit the gym since the coronavirus forced those closures, and some expected that fitness facilities may reopen this summer as part of phase four. Businesses …

The Hill reports: Arizona health officials reported yet another record number of coronavirus cases on Tuesday, the same day President Trump is traveling to the state to visit the nation’s southern border and speak at a rally. The Arizona Department of Health Services reported 3,591 new COVID-19 cases and 42 related deaths. The state previously had its highest number of …

The Daily Beast reports: Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of President Donald Trump’s coronavirus task force, told the nation’s governors in a call today that it was vital that they ramp up testing to find asymptomatic individuals to prevent further community spread. Her remarks stood in stark contrast to those by the president at his rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma over …

CNN reports: Covid-19 has “brought this nation to its knees,” Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Tuesday in a House hearing. “We’ve all done the best that we can do to tackle this virus,” Redfield said during a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. Redfield said the virus has highlighted decades of …

The New York Times reports: European Union countries rushing to revive their economies and reopen their borders after months of coronavirus restrictions are prepared to block Americans from entering because the United States has failed to control the scourge, according to draft lists of acceptable travelers seen by The New York Times. That prospect, which would lump American visitors in …

Reuters reports: Top Trump health officials on Tuesday will testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Officials expected to speak include National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen Hahn and the administration’s testing czar, Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir …

The New York Times reports: Leaders of local and state health departments have been subject to harassment, personal insults and death threats in recent weeks, a response from a vocal and angry minority of the public who say that mask requirements and restrictions on businesses have gone too far. One top health official, Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the director of the …

The Washington Post reports: South Carolina racial justice activists said they would postpone future demonstrations or move them online after at least 13 people who took part in previous protests tested positive for the coronavirus. As the number of cases across the country continued to climb ominously Monday, organizers of “I Can’t Breathe” protests in South Carolina urged participants to …