BEAUMONT, Texas — This article contains ongoing U.S. and international updates on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects. Here are some key updates for Friday, April 17, 2020. You can find more details by scrolling through the story.
- Efforts to replenish funding for Paycheck Protection Program continues to struggle
- New York residents are urged to wear masks in busy public places starting Friday.
- Modeling by the Imperial College London finds Africa could have 300,000 coronavirus deaths this year.
- China reports its economy suffered its worst contraction in more than 40 years.
- New data shows Wuhan had nearly 1,300 more deaths than previously reported.
- The United Nations warns that the pandemic is putting children "in jeopardy" because of how their lives are being upended.
- Look back at the Thursday, April 16 blog at this link.
School Impacts | Business Impacts, Closures | Map of SE Texas cases | Coronavirus symptoms & prevention | Coronavirus questions answered
Latest updates:
Here are the latest updates from around Southeast Texas, Texas, Louisiana and some from the world (all times are local Central Daylight Time)
April 17, 6 p.m.-- Some Boost Mobile stores in Texas will be offering tablets and 2 months of data to families with children K-12 in low income areas impacted by school closures until April 30 while supplies last. This new program is called "Operation Bridge the Digital Divide."
"Just looking to share the message to help out as many families as we can during these strange times," A company representative for Boost Mobile said in an email.
Boost Mobile in Beaumont is located at 105 North 11th Street. Call (409) 204-7390 for more information.
MORE ABOUT THE PROGRAM: Operation Bridge the Digital Divide
April 17, 6:10 p.m.-- Hardin County officials report six additional cases in the county. The new cases reported on Friday include two Kountze residents, one person from Lumberton and three residents of Silsbee, according to the release. Read more here.
April 17, 4:15 p.m. -- Beaumont Public Health Department confirms the seventh death in the city of Beaumont. Officials say the man was a patient between the ages of 50 and 60-years-old with underlying medical conditions. Read more here.
April 17, 12:20 p.m. -- Texas has 2nd most COVID-19 recoveries in America according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott. He says we've shown we can adopt safe standards to begin the process of reopening business in Texas.
All Texas schools, public, private and higher education are to remain closed for the remainder of this school year according to Texas Governor Greg Abbott.
He has formed a state-wide strike force to open Texas, which is joined by a team of nationally-recognized medical advisers.
His executive order will outline how this will work. He says, in opening Texas, we must be guided by data and doctors, with health and safety as the priority.
We believe all stores in Texas should be able to operate retail-to-go starting next Friday the governor said.
April 17, 11 a.m. -- Lawmakers are struggling to break a stalemate over President Donald Trump’s $250 billion emergency request for a small-business program, stoking uncertainty about when additional support will be available in a key rescue program now exhausted of funds. Scroll down for more.
April 17, 10 a.m. -- At least 940 people aboard a French aircraft carrier and its escort ships have been infected with the new virus. Scroll down for more.
April 17, 9 a.m. -- Russian President Vladimir Putin is prodding top officials to move faster to prepare for a surge in coronavirus cases. Scroll down for more.
April 17, 8:50 a.m. -- With a road map to now go by from President Donald Trump, Gov. Greg Abbott will announce today his plan to gradually re-open Texas.
He's expected to hold a news conference at noon, which will be streamed here on 12NewsNow.com from the state capitol.
April 17, 6:30 a.m. -- Africa could see 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus even under the best-case scenario, according to a new report that cites modeling by the Imperial College London. Scroll down for more.
April 17, 6 a.m. -- New York residents will be required to wear face coverings anytime they come into close contact with other people outside their homes starting Friday night. Scroll down for more.
April 17, 5:40 a.m. -- Bleak figures from the world’s two largest economies underscore how quickly the coronavirus is delivering a massive economic blow. Scroll down for more.
There have been 671,331 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 12:30 a.m. ET Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been 33,284 deaths and 56,236 recoveries. More than 3.4 million tests have been conducted.
Worldwide, there have been 2.16 million cases, 144,000 deaths and 544,000 recoveries.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough, that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death.
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Stalemate over small-business program funding
Lawmakers are struggling to break a stalemate over President Donald Trump’s $250 billion emergency request for a small-business program, stoking uncertainty about when additional support will be available in a key rescue program now exhausted of funds.
A House session Friday was expected to simply be a pro forma meeting. A Senate session quickly adjourned Thursday without any progress.
Staff aides to House and Senate Democrats and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin convened another conference call, on legislation to shore up the Paycheck Protection Program and demands by Democrats for potential additions. The Small Business Administration announced Thursday it has reached its $349 billion lending limit and is no longer accepting applications.
GOP aides said that Mnuchin is prepared to accept additional funding sought by Democrats for hospitals, but that additional aid to state and local governments couldn't get approval in the current round. The aides spoke on condition of anonymity to characterize internal party deliberations.
Schumer said Friday that more money is needed for widespread, accessible testing for the coronavirus before the economy can be reopened with confidence.
On Friday, Trump added his voice, tweeting that the “Do Nothing Democrats” should immediately return to Washington and approve the legislation. “End ENDLESS VACATION!” he wrote.
The Capitol is largely shuttered, requiring consensus from all sides for any legislation to pass, and top GOP leaders are vowing to stick closely to Trump’s request despite Democrats' additional demands.
More than 900 infected aboard French aircraft carrier
At least 940 people aboard a French aircraft carrier and its escort ships have been infected with the new virus.
The total number of positive cases is expected to grow because some test results are still pending, the head of the military health service, Maryline Gygax Genero, told a Senate hearing Friday.
Among those infected are two of four U.S. sailors serving on the Charles de Gaulle as part of the U.S. Navy’s Personnel Exchange program.
Those infected represent more than a third of the 2,300 military personnel aboard the Charles de Gaulle and its escort ships.
Gygax Genero says twenty people on the aircraft carrier have been hospitalized, including one in intensive care.
Two investigations are under way into the virus outbreak on the ship.
Putin warns Russia yet to see peak of virus infections
Russian President Vladimir Putin is prodding top officials to move faster to prepare for a surge in coronavirus cases.
Speaking Friday on a conference call with top federal official and regional governors, Putin told them to “act faster and more energetically” to secure ventilators, protective gear and other essential supplies.
He warned Russia is yet to see a peak of infections, adding Moscow was the first to face soaring numbers of infections and “the problem is spreading into the regions.”
Russia has registered 32,008 coronavirus cases and 273 deaths.
Putin says Russia so far has secured 72% of the 95,000 specialized hospital beds for coronavirus patients the Kremlin ordered to prepare until April 28.
Russian Defense Ministry Sergei Shoigu reported the military is building 16 specialized hospital for coronavirus patients, half of which will be completed this month.
Study: Africa could have 300,000 deaths this year
Africa could see 300,000 deaths from the coronavirus even under the best-case scenario, according to a new report that cites modeling by the Imperial College London.
Under the worst-case scenario with no interventions against the virus, Africa could see 3.3 million deaths and 1.2 billion infections, the report by the U.N. Economic Commission for Africa says.
Even with “intense social distancing” under the best-case scenario the continent could see more than 122 million infections, the report says.
Any of the scenarios would overwhelm Africa’s largely fragile and underfunded health systems, experts have warned.
New York to require face coverings in busy public places
New York residents will be required to wear face coverings anytime they come into close contact with other people outside their homes starting Friday night.
The mandate by Gov. Andrew Cuomo will require a mask or face covering, like a bandanna, on busy streets, public transit, or any situation where people cannot maintain 6 feet of social distancing, even if it is passing a person briefly on a wooded trail.
The governor, who has himself eschewed masks during his daily news briefings, though he comes within six feet of his staff, said there will initially be no civil penalties for noncompliance, but he’s urging merchants to enforce it among customers.
China suffers worst economic contraction since 1970s
Bleak figures from the world’s two largest economies underscore how quickly the coronavirus is delivering a massive economic blow.
China on Friday reported GDP shrank 6.8% from a year ago in the quarter ending March, its worst contraction since before market-style economic reforms began in 1979. And in the U.S., the world’s largest economy, the ranks of the unemployed swelled toward levels last seen during the Great Depression.
Still, the economic data from China was not as bad as some had feared, prompting shares in Asia to surge. That was after Wall Street also rose, powered by buying of Amazon, health care stocks and other market niches that are thriving in the coronavirus crunch.
Wuhan raises number of COVID-19 deaths by 1,290
The central Chinese city of Wuhan has raised its number of COVID-19 fatalities by 1,290, with state media saying Friday the undercount had been due to the insufficient admission capabilities at overwhelmed medical facilities at the peak of the outbreak.
Wuhan’s revised death toll of 3,869 is the most in China. Numbers of total cases in the city of 11 million were also raised by 325 to 50,333, accounting for about two-thirds of China’s total 82,367 announced cases.
Questions have long swirled around the accuracy of China’s case reporting, with Wuhan in particular going several days in January without reporting new cases or deaths. That has led to accusations that Chinese officials were seeking to minimize the impact of the outbreak and wasting opportunities to bring it under control in a shorter time.
U.N. warns pandemic putting many children “in jeopardy”
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is warning that the coronavirus pandemic is putting many of the world’s children “in jeopardy” and is urging families everywhere and leaders at all levels to “protect our children.”
The U.N. chief said in a video statement Thursday that the lives of children “are being totally upended” by COVID-19, with almost all students out of school, family stress levels rising as communities face lockdowns, and reduced household income expected to force poor families to cut back on essential health and food expenditures, “particularly affecting children.”
Guterres said “children have so far been largely spared from the most severe symptoms of the disease.”
But with a global recession gathering pace, he said, “there could be hundreds of thousands additional child deaths in 2020.”
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Arrests in China for mask production violations
Chinese police have arrested 42 people for hoarding and driving up the price of the cloth material used to make face masks, as well as illegally producing shoddy and inferior material for resale.
The Ministry of Public Security said in a statement Friday that a nationwide task force had been formed to crack down on crimes related to the production of masks, which almost all Chinese wear when in public and many in their offices and even homes as a safeguard against coronavirus.
That has led to scarcities in many places and severe price increases, especially in online sales. The ministry statement said raids in the southern industrial hub of Guangdong and three other provinces in early and mid-March resulted in the breaking of 20 cases and the seizure of material worth more than 34 million yuan (almost $5 million).
Michael Cohen being released from prison early
President Donald Trump’s former lawyer and longtime fixer Michael Cohen will be released from federal prison to serve the remainder of his sentence in home confinement amid the coronavirus pandemic, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
Cohen is currently locked up at FCI Otisville in New York after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including campaign finance fraud and lying to Congress. He will remain under quarantine for 14 days before he is released. Federal statistics show 14 inmates and seven staff members at the prison have tested positive for coronavirus.
After he is released, Cohen will serve the remainder of his sentence at home, according to the person, who could not discuss the matter publicly and spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity.
