Houston hasn’t reported a surge of coronavirus cases. But its hospitals tell a different story.
HOUSTON — Two weeks ago, Houston Methodist Hospital opened a special unit to treat critically ill coronavirus patients. The city had reported only a handful of confirmed cases at that point, but the hospital’s 24-bed coronavirus ICU filled up in only about a week, far...
U.S. economy lost over 700,000 jobs in March, ending decadelong streak of employment gains
The U.S. economy lost a total of 701,000 jobs in March, bringing a record 10-year streak of employment gains to a halt as the coronavirus pandemic continues to hammer the workforce and shatter economic growth. The closely watched monthly jobs data, released Friday by the...
100,000 New Yorkers have coronavirus, death toll nears 3,000
ALBANY — The horrific toll the coronavirus pandemic is taking on the Empire State continued to climb Friday as the number of cases soared past 100,000 and officials reported the disease has claimed nearly 3,000 New Yorkers. State officials reported that 2,935 people have died...
Coronavirus lawsuits just ‘tip of the iceberg’
The coronavirus pandemic is imperiling more than lives and livelihoods. It’s also leading to lawsuits. Workers are suing companies. Businesses are suing insurers. Prison inmates and migrants in detention, abortion providers and gun shop owners are suing federal and state governments. Colleges, cruise lines and...
MESS: STIMULUS STUMBLES OUT THE GATE
The national unemployment rate has risen faster than it has in decades, the government announced Friday, as the Trump administration struggled to move forward with new policies to reduce the economic devastation of the coronavirus pandemic. One week ago, Congress authorized bigger unemployment benefits, $1,200...
Top administration officials said last year threat of pandemic kept them up at night
Washington (CNN)Two top administration officials last year listed the threat of a pandemic as an issue that greatly worried them, undercutting President Donald Trump’s repeated claims that the coronavirus pandemic was an unforeseen problem. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar and Tim Morrison, then...
Leonardo DiCaprio helps launch $12M coronavirus relief food fund
Leonardo DiCaprio will help launch America’s Food Fund, which has already raised $12 million to help communities impacted by the novel coronavirus. The organization said Thursday that the funds will be aimed to help low-income families, the elderly, individuals facing job disruptions and children who...
Some suspected COVID-19 survivors worry their cases aren’t being counted in official statistics
The availability of testing for COVID-19 is controversial in nearly every country. South Korea is held up as a model — it has conducted over 300,000 tests to date, one of the highest numbers per capita of any country. They have also been aggressive when...
Coronavirus: US set to recommend wearing of masks
The White House is expected soon to advise Americans living in coronavirus hotspots to wear cloth masks or scarves in public to help stop the spread of the coronavirus. President Donald Trump said “I don’t think it will be mandatory – if people want to...
After mocking Trump for promoting hydroxychloroquine, journalists acknowledge it might treat coronavirus
After repeatedly mocking President Trump for suggesting on March 19 that hydroxychloroquine could be an effective treatment for coronavirus, media organizations have begun acknowledging that the drug — now approved for emergency use to treat coronavirus by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) — may...
Coronavirus may be most infectious when symptoms are mildest, small study finds
Editor’s note: The study described in this article has now been accepted for publication in the journal Nature. The journal published an unedited version of the manuscript on April 1. This article was originally published on March 11. People infected with the novel coronavirus shed...
New York nonprofit teams with high-end restaurant to help feed health care workers, others
A nonprofit organization is using the kitchen of a Michelin-starred restaurant in New York City to help feed needy residents and health care workers during the ongoing lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic. Matt Jozwiak, 32, the founder of ReThink, has converted the kitchen of...
Detroit bus driver dies of coronavirus after posting video to take virus seriously
A Detroit Department of Transportation bus driver died less than two weeks after he made a Facebook video encouraging people to take the new coronavirus seriously, a report said Thursday. MICHIGAN JUDGE JAILS DEFENDANTS FOR BEING LATE TO COURT AMID CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: REPORT In the...
Could more Western countries start recommending wearing masks to prevent coronavirus spread?
The US government is weighing whether or not to change its guidelines on covering one’s face to prevent further spread of coronavirus. Wearing a mask in public has been recommended by public health bodies in several Asian countries such as China and South Korea. But...
Coronavirus: A visual guide to the pandemic
There are now more than one million confirmed cases of coronavirus in 181 countries and at least 53,100 people have died. The United States has more confirmed cases than any other single country and more than half of all the cases have been in Europe,...
Coronavirus: India’s bailout may not be enough to save economy
Mohammad Alam is one of thousands of workers standing in a food queue in India’s capital, Delhi. The factory where he worked shut down after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a 21-day lockdown to stop the spread of coronavirus. A daily-wage labourer, he has no...
South Africa’s ruthlessly efficient fight against coronavirus
One week into South Africa’s nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, and it is tempting – dangerously tempting – to breathe a sigh of relief. After all, look at how much has already been achieved. More than 47,000 people have been tested, and...
Coronavirus: Peru limits movement by gender to stem spread
Peru has begun enforcing strict new measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus disease, restricting public movement by gender. Men can only leave home on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; women can do so on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. On Sundays, no-one is allowed out....
Coronavirus: Google reveals travel habits during the pandemic
Google is to publicly track people’s movements over the course of the coronavirus pandemic. The tech firm will publish details of the different types of places people are going to on a county-by-county basis in the UK, as well as similar data for 130 other...
Coronavirus: Confirmed global cases pass one million
More than a million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University – another grim milestone as the world grapples with the spreading pandemic. Nearly 53,000 people have died and more than 210,000 have recovered, according to...
Cruise ship with suspected patients on board allowed to dock in Florida
A cruise ship which has been floating at sea carrying passengers with suspected coronavirus after it was turned away from South American ports has finally been given permission to dock in Florida. The Zaandam and sister ship the Rotterdam, which was sent to help it,...
In the Coronavirus, Putin May Have Met His Match
The Russian leader still wants to make himself president for life. But COVID-19 is fomenting new distrust in the state he built. Back in January, when Vladimir Putin announced plans to change the constitution as part of a bid to prolong his rule, few obstacles...
WHO chief blames Taiwan for soiled reputation amid coronavirus failings
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus believes Taiwanese netizens responsible for bulk of online criticism TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — As a petition calling for the resignation of World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus surpasses 580,000 signatures, the Ethiopian health official is reported to have accused Taiwanese...
The Countries That Are Succeeding at Flattening the Curve
Lessons from Taiwan, Canada, South Korea, Georgia, and Iceland show that the coronavirus can be stopped. The United States is now an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, with epidemiological models publicized on Tuesday suggesting the disease could infect millions of Americans in the coming months,...
Global coronavirus cases pass the one million mark as deaths pass 50,000
Global deaths from COVID-19 have tonight passed the 50,000 mark after Italy announced 760 new fatalities in 24 hours. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases passed the one million mark on Thursday evening. More than 200,000 have recovered from the disease. While it was more...
U.S. Unemployment Claims Hit Another Record High
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday she’s creating a new House committee to oversee the coronavirus response that will have subpoena power to seek information from the Trump administration. “It would have subpoena power that’s for sure. It’s no use having a committee unless you...
The Coronavirus Doesn’t Discriminate, But U.S. Health Care Showing Familiar Biases
The new coronavirus doesn’t discriminate. But physicians in public health and on the front lines say that in the response to the pandemic, they can already see the emergence of familiar patterns of racial and economic bias. In one analysis, it appears doctors may be...
Many Americans may have to wait months for coronavirus relief checks
The first Americans to get relief payments from the government under the coronavirus legislation signed into law last month won’t see the money until at least the week of April 13, according to new estimates from the Trump administration provided to House Democrats and outlined...
Coronavirus live updates: 50,000 dead worldwide
Pelosi announces new House committee to oversee coronavirus response House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced her intention to create a bipartisan House committee to oversee the federal response to the coronavirus crisis, led by Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, the majority whip. Pelosi told reporters...
Exclusive: Military Fears Domestic Spying As Trump Orders Mexico Mission
U.S. armed forces struggles to keep up with demands for assistance in coronavirus response while also dealing with its own outbreak, President Donald Trump has ordered a significant increase in counter-narcotics and border control operations—an increase that will strain already limited resources but also push...