Coronavirus US live: Trump administration reportedly expects daily death toll to double in June

In the last two weeks, Trump’s public death toll predictions have jumped from 50,000 to 60,000 to 70,000 to potentially as high as 100,000, CNN notes in this helpful timeline:

While death toll predictions can be challenging for experts, who are often forced to revise projections as the pandemic continues, Trump’s public statements suggest he is “more concerned with shaping perceptions in the current moment than with how something might be perceived in the future”, CNN noted. That means “offering projections that seem unrealistically low from the moment he utters them”.

Notably, in late February, the president said the spread of Covid-19 in the US was not inevitable and the danger to Americans “remains very low”. He predicted that the number of cases diagnosed in the country, just 15 that time, could fall to zero in “a few days”.

Hi all – Sam Levin here in Los Angeles, taking over our live coverage for the rest of the day. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is scaling back its policy of allowing Covid-19 blood tests to hit the market without first proving that they worked.

The FDA is now requiring that companies show their tests or could otherwise have them pulled from the market, the AP reports. The move comes amid growing concerns that some sellers have made false or misleading claims about the accuracy of their tests:

Under pressure to increase testing options, the FDA in March essentially allowed companies to begin selling tests as long as they notified the agency of their plans and provided disclaimers, including that they were not FDA approved. The policy was intended to allow “flexibility” needed to quickly ramp up production, officials said.

“However, flexibility never meant we would allow fraud,” Dr. Anand Shah, an FDA deputy commissioner, said in a statement. “We unfortunately see unscrupulous actors marketing fraudulent test kits and using the pandemic as an opportunity to take advantage of Americans.”

Here’s my colleague Maanvi Singh’s recent explainer on the coronavirus antibody tests and how they work:

A divide is emerging among congressional leaders on whether Capitol Hill should start using rapid coronavirus testing as lawmakers start returning to Washington.

Following criticism about the fact that rapid testing was available to the White House but not to Congress, Trump told Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell and House speaker Nancy Pelosi that Capitol Hill could have access to rapid testing.

But the two congressional leaders jointly declined that offer this weekend. “Our country’s testing capacities are continuing to scale up nationwide and Congress wants to keep directing resources to the front-line facilities where they can do the most good the most quickly.,” McConnell and Pelosi said in a joint statement.

Trump then sent a tweet this morning suggesting he disagreed with the two leaders’ decision. In an interview today, House minority leader Kevin McCarthy said, “I do believe it would be critical to have the testing here because there will be a flare-up. Remember how many people from other parts of the country come to this location.”

The testing question will likely only intensify next week, as House members return to Capitol Hill. The attending physician of the Capitol has said he does not have enough tests to proactively test every member of the Senate, which returned to session today.

The Washington Post has more context about that internal White House document on the country’s projected coronavirus death toll.

The New York Times reported earlier today that an internal doucment showed the country’s daily death toll was expected to nearly double by June 1, from 1,750 to 3,000.

Here’s what the Post adds on the projection:

The White House and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quickly disavowed the report, though the slides carry the CDC’s logo. The creator of the model said the numbers are unfinished projections shown to the CDC as a work in progress.

The work contained a wide range of possibilities and modeling was not complete, according to Justin Lessler, an associate professor of epidemiology at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, who created the model. …

‘I had no role in the process by which that was presented and shown. This data was presented as an FYI to CDC … it was not in any way intended to be a forecast,’ he said.

Lessler insisted, however, the numbers show how moving to reopen the country could spiral out of control. He said 100,000 cases per day by the end of the month is within the realm of possibility. Much depends on political decisions being made today.

The president has praised states that have start to take steps to reopen their economies, but public health experts have warned the loosening of restrictions could cause a surge in infections.

Another anti-shutdown protest has popped up outside the Massachusetts capitol in Boston, with hundreds of demonstrators gathering to denounce the state’s stay-at-home order and closure of nonessential businesses.

Photos of the protest appeared to show participants standing closely together as speakers denounced the stay-at-home order as akin to communism.

The pictures raised concerns that the protesters could be unknowingly spreading coronavirus as they ignored recommendations on physical distancing.

It’s important to note that most Massachusetts residents support the steps taken by governor Charlie Baker to limit the spread of the virus. The Republican governor is enjoying an approval rating of 80%.

Virginia governor Ralph Northam signaled he would be able to ease the state’s shutdown of nonessential businesses order starting May 15.

The Democratic governor said he was extending the order to keep nonessential businesses closed, which was set to expire Friday, for another week until at least May 14.

But Northam said he expected to be able to start the process of reopening by that point. “Everything you have done has truly made a difference. We flattened the curve [of coronavirus cases] and our hospitals have not been overwhelmed,” Northam said.

“I am keenly aware that it has come with a tremendous cost. Now we can start to move into a new phase of our response,” he added.

Northam has been working with Maryland governor Larry Hogan and Washington mayor Muriel Bowser to coordinate the DC region’s response to coronavirus, but it was unclear if Maryland and the District would take similar steps to start easing restrictions.

“Each state has their own situation, their own challenges,” Northam said. “As you know, Maryland, Washington and specifically northern Virginia are in very densely populated areas, so we do communicate. We’re probably not going to do everything on the exact day but we’re working as close as we can.”

Northam’s separate stay-at-home order is currently supposed to remain in effect until June 10.

Signs on Capitol Hill are being used to remind senators of social distancing recommendations, as the chamber returns to session this afternoon for the first time in nearly six weeks.

Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has said members will limit congestion on the floor and use larger hearing rooms to limit the potential spread of coronavirus.

However, the Republican leader chose not to make mask usage mandatory for senators, although members are encouraged to cover their faces.

New Jersey schools will remain closed for the rest of the academic year, governor Phil Murphy announced at a press conference earlier today.

The Democratic governor said, “As I have noted before, we are working with the principle that public health creates economic health, or in this case, public health creates educational health.”

The decision is unsurprising, considering New Jersey has been one of the states hit hardest by coronavirus. New Jersey has confirmed 126,744 cases of coronavirus, and 7,871 people have died in the state.

Murphy’s announcement comes three days after New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced the neighboring state would also cancel in-person instruction for the rest of the academic year.

The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports:

Texas attorney general Ken Paxton said Friday that fear of contracting Covid-19 was an “emotional condition,” and was an insufficient reason to request a mail-in ballot in his state.

Texas severely restricts the use of mail-in ballots to certain groups of voters, including those who have a sickness or physical condition. Even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, the state is refusing to budge on that requirement — something Paxton, a Republican, reiterated Friday in a letter to local election officials.

“A person ill with COVID-19 would certainly qualify as having a sickness. However, a reasonable fear of contracting the virus is a normal emotional reaction to the current pandemic and does not, by itself, amount to a ‘sickness,’ much less the type of sickness that qualifies a voter to receive a ballot by mail,” he wrote in a letter to the officials.

Democrats and civil rights groups are suing the Texas to force it to allow anyone to vote with a mail-in ballot. A judge in Travis County ruled last month that voters who risked getting Covid-19 by voting in person could request a mail-in ballot. Texas is appealing that ruling.

Paxton reiterated earlier guidance from his office that anyone who advised a voter to apply for a mail-in ballot because they feared contracting Covid-19 could face “criminal sanctions.”

Democrats are closely focused on Texas, long seen as a solid Republican state, because they believe that an increasingly racially diverse electorate could tip the state in their favor. In addition to placing severe restrictions on mail-in ballots, Texas also has no online voter registration and closely regulates how registration drives are conducted.