Coronavirus: Wisconsin voters wait for hours, others stay home amid virus

More than 1.4 million people worldwide – including more than 398,000 people in the United States – have been infected with the new coronavirus, and the number of deaths from the outbreak continues to rise. Officials are attempting to contain the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. as hospitals brace for unprecedented patient surges.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is tracking cases in the U.S. here.

>> Coronavirus: Know the facts directly from the CDC

Live updates for Tuesday, April 7, continue below:

Wisconsin voters wait for hours, others stay home amid virus

Update 11:20 p.m. EDT April 7: Despite federal health recommendations, thousands of Wisconsin voters waited hours in long lines outside overcrowded polling stations on Tuesday so they could participate in a presidential primary election that tested the limits of electoral politics in the midst of a pandemic.

Thousands more stayed home, unwilling to risk their health even as Republican officials pushed forward with the election amid a stay-at-home order. But many of the potential voters who remained in their homes complained that the absentee ballots they had requested never showed up.

Musician John Prine dies from coronavirus complications

Update 10:20 p.m. EDT April 7: Musician John Prine died Tuesday from complications of the coronavirus at 73, according to his family.

He died at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee, where he had been hospitalized last month.

Read more here.

Twitter’s Jack Dorsey sets up $1B fund

Update 9 p.m. EDT April 7: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is setting aside $1 billion in stock to establish a philanthropic venture focused initially on global relief efforts for the COVID-19 pandemic. Dorsey, who is also CEO of the financial-payments startup Square, will bequeath the new venture shares from his Square holdings.

Dorsey announced the new venture, called Start Small, in a series of tweets, and said the contribution amounts to 28% of his fortune. The organization will disclose all transfers, sales and grants on a public Google Doc spreadsheet.

Start Small won’t be limited to COVID-19 work. “Once we have disarmed this pandemic,” he wrote, the organization will shift its focus to girls’ health and research into universal basic income, the idea that governments should guarantee a minimum income for all citizens.

Nearly 400 virus deaths in Washington state

Update 7:50 p.m. EDT April 7: Health authorities in Washington on Tuesday announced more than 20 new coronavirus deaths in the state, bringing the total to at least 394.

According to figures from the Department of Health, there are more than 8,600 confirmed cases in Washington. The bulk of the cases and deaths are in King and Snohomish counties.

For most people, COVID-19 displays 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 be more severe, causing pneumonia or death.

Trump seeks $250 billion more from Congress for payrolls

Update 6:40 p.m. EDT April 7: As Congress races to craft the next coronavirus rescue package, President Donald Trump’s sudden request Tuesday to pump $250 billion more into a just-launched payroll program for small businesses may hit roadblocks.

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said more money is needed for the popular new $350 billion Paycheck Protection Program, which took off with a start last Friday but was quickly overrun as companies jumped at the chance to tap up to $10 million in forgivable loans to keep paychecks flowing amid the stay-home shutdown. He requested the funds in private calls to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Democrats largely support it as a component of a broader new aid package, but McConnell wants to swiftly jam it through Congress this week, even though the House and Senate all but shuttered.

“The ways it’s going, we’re going to need that, because the people are loving it,” Trump said in a conference call with banking executives open to the press.

NYC virus deaths exceed 3,200, topping toll for 9/11 attacks

Update 5:40 p.m. EDT April 7: New York City’s death toll from the coronavirus rose past 3,200 Tuesday, eclipsing the number killed at the World Trade Center on 9/11. In Britain, Prime Minister Boris Johnson lay in intensive care, believed to be the first major world leader hospitalized with the virus.

The twin developments came even as the crisis seemed to be easing or at least stabilizing, by some measures, in New York and parts of Europe, though health officials warned people at nearly every turn not to let their guard down. After 76 days, China finally lifted the lockdown on Wuhan, the city of 11 million where the outbreak began.

At least 3,202 people have died in New York City from COVID-19, the city reported. The deadliest terror attack on U.S. soil killed 2,753 people in the city and 2,977 overall, when hijacked planes slammed into the twin towers, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field on Sept. 11, 2001.

New York state recorded 731 new coronavirus deaths, its biggest one-day jump yet, for a statewide toll of nearly 5,500, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

“A lot of pain again today for many New Yorkers,” he said.

Defense Secretary Esper accepts acting Navy secretary’s resignation

Update 5:10 p.m. EDT April 7: Secretary of Defense Mark Esper has accepted Thomas Modly’s resignation as acting Secretary of the Navy.

The letter released Tuesday afternoon also said that Army undersecretary James McPherson will take over as the next acting Navy secretary.

29 people at Pittsburgh senior living home test positive

Update 4:30 p.m. EDT April 7: Twenty-nine residents and staff members at the Kane Community Living Center in Glen Hazel have tested positive for COVID-19.

As of April 6, 18 residents have tested positive and 11 staff members have tested positive. On March 27, Kane reported that two residents at the facility tested positive.

Read more here.

What is convalescent plasma therapy?

Update 3:45 p.m. EDT April 7: A newly approved treatment with some history of success could offer hope for the sickest of the country’s COVID-19 patients.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of convalescent plasma therapy as an experimental treatment in clinical trials and for critically ill COVID-19 patients without other treatment options.

The therapy, which takes antibodies from the blood of a person who has recovered from a virus and transfuses those antibodies into a person sick with that virus, has long been used as a way to help kickstart a person’s immune system.

Acting Navy secretary offers resignation after calling fired captain ‘stupid’

Update 3:25 p.m. EDT April 7: Acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly offered to resign Tuesday after giving a profanity-laden speech to the crew of USS Theodore Roosevelt in which he called the ship’s fired commander “too naive or too stupid,” according to Politico.

It was not immediately clear whether Defense Secretary Mark Esper would accept his resignation, which officials had not pressed for, Politico reported.

Modly faced heavy criticism after he reprimanded sailors aboard the aircraft carrier, who had cheered in support of Capt. Brett E. Crozier after he was ousted for widely distributing a memo pleading for an accelerated evacuation of the ship’s crew members in an effort to protect their health during the coronavirus pandemic. At least 173 sailors aboard the ship had tested positive for the coronavirus as of Monday. About 2,000 of the 4,865 crew members had been taken off the ship to be tested.

Modly said Crozier should have known his letter voicing urgent concerns about the virus aboard his ship would leak to the media. He said if Crozier didn’t think this would be the result, he was “too naive or too stupid to be a commanding officer of a ship like this."

Late Monday, Modly backtracked.

“I apologize for any confusion this choice of words may have caused,” he wrote, referring to his speech aboard the Roosevelt on Sunday. “I also want to apologize directly to Captain Crozier, his family, and the entire crew of the Theodore Roosevelt for any pain my remarks may have caused.”

Oklahoma reports 16 new fatal coronavirus cases

Update 2:55 p.m. EDT April 7: Health officials in Oklahoma reported 16 new fatal coronavirus cases Tuesday, raising the state’s coronavirus death toll to 67.

A dozen of the newly reported deaths involved patients who were over the age of 65, KOKI-TV reported. One man who died was between 18 and 35 years old. The other three patients were identified as women between 50 and 64 years old, according to KOKI-TV.

As of Tuesday afternoon, 1,472 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Oklahoma.

Trump dismisses watchdog tasked with overseeing $2T stimulus spending

Update 2:40 p.m. EDT April 7: President Donald Trump has removed the top person assigned with overseeing spending of the $2.2 trillion economic stimulus package passed last month to help Americans struggling during the coronavirus epidemic, according to multiple reports.

Glenn Fine, the acting Defense Department inspector general and a veteran watchdog, had been selected by peers last month to chair a special oversight board for the fund, The Associated Press reported. Dwrena Allen, a spokeswoman for the Pentagon’s inspector general’s office, confirmed Tuesday to Politico that “Mr. Fine is no longer on the Pandemic Response Accountability Committee.”

Fine is being replaced by Sean O’Donnell, the inspector general at the Environmental Protection Agency, The Washington Post reported. O’Donnell will be expected to continue carrying out his duties for the EPA during his time on the oversight board, according to Politico.

Trump's removal of Fine follows his late-night firing on Friday of Michael Atkinson, the intelligence community inspector general who forwarded to Congress a whistleblower complaint that ultimately led to the president’s impeachment in the House.

On Monday, the president also publicly condemned the acting Health and Human Services watchdog over a survey of hospitals about the coronavirus response.

Trump has bristled at the oversight of the coronavirus law, suggesting in a statement last month that some of the mandates from Congress were unconstitutional.

“I’ll be the oversight," Trump declared as lawmakers were finalizing the rescue plan.

4,782 COVID-19 cases reported in Ohio

Update 2:15 p.m. EDT April 7: Officials in Ohio reported a total of 4,782 coronavirus infections statewide Tuesday, WHIO-TV reported.

Of those, 1,354 infections were serious enough to require hospitalization. According to WHIO-TV, officials said Tuesday that 303 people who had been hospitalized have been discharged, amount to about 25% of people who were hospitalized.

Officials with the Ohio Department of Health reported Tuesday that 167 people have died of COVID-19 in the state.

China’s virus pandemic epicenter Wuhan ends 76-day lockdown

Update 2:10 p.m. EDT April 7: The lockdown that served as a model for countries battling the coronavirus around the world has ended after 11 weeks: Chinese authorities are allowing residents of Wuhan to once again travel in and out of the sprawling city where the pandemic began.

As of just after midnight Wednesday, the city's 11 million residents are now permitted to leave without special authorization as long as a mandatory smartphone application powered by a mix of data-tracking and government surveillance shows they are healthy and have not been in recent contact with anyone confirmed to have the virus.

The occasion was marked with a light show on either side of the broad Yangtze river, with skyscrapers and bridges radiating animated images of health workers aiding patients, along with one displaying the words “heroic city," a title bestowed on Wuhan by president and Communist Party leader Xi Jinping. Along the embankments and bridges, citizens waved flags, chanted “Wuhan, let’s go!” and sang a capella renditions of China’s national anthem.

Restrictions in the city where most of China’s more than 82,000 virus cases and over 3,300 deaths were reported have been gradually relaxed in recent weeks as the number of new cases steadily declined. The latest government figures reported Tuesday listed no new cases.

3,361 new COVID-19 cases reported in New Jersey

Update 1:25 p.m. EDT April 7: Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey said health officials reported 3,361 new coronavirus infections Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases to 44,416 in the state.

The number is slightly lower than the 3,663 new COVID-19 cases reported Monday.

Officials also reported 232 new fatal COVID-19 cases, more than twice the 86 new fatal cases reported Monday. Statewide, 1,232 people have died of coronavirus.

In an effort to encourage New Jersey residents to continue social distancing measures, Murphy said Tuesday he was signing an executive order to close all county parks and state parks and forests.

“We’ve seen far too many instances in our parks where people are gathering and socializing in groups,” Murphy said. “We need to flatten the curve.”

Sen. Rand Paul cleared after testing positive for COVID-19

Update 1:15 p.m. EDT April 7: Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said Tuesday that he’s been retested weeks after being diagnosed with COVID-19 and is now negative for the viral infection.

Paul tested positive for COVID-19 on March 22, making him the first U.S. senator to contract the disease.

“I appreciate all the best wishes I have received,” Paul said Tuesday in a tweet. “I have been retested and I am negative.”

More COVID-19 cases reported in New York state than in Italy

Update 1:05 p.m. EDT April 7: Numbers released Tuesday showed that New York state has now reported more coronavirus infections than all of Italy, the country with the third-highest number of COVID-19 in the world.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that 138,836 people have tested positive for coronavirus in the state, 3,250 more than the number of positive test results by Tuesday in Italy.

More people have died from the coronavirus in New York City -- at least 3,202 people -- than the 2,753 people killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center. Statewide, 5,489 people have died of COVID-19, Cuomo said.

604 new fatal coronavirus cases reported in Italy

Update 12:55 p.m. EDT April 7: Officials in Italy reported 604 new fatal coronavirus cases Tuesday, bringing the country’s total number of COVID-19 deaths to 17,127.

The number is slightly lower than the 636 new fatal cases reported Monday.

Officials said that as of Tuesday, 135,586 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in Italy. The cases included 28,718 which were serious enough to require hospitalization. On Tuesday, officials said 3,792 people were in intensive care units. More than 61,000 people had been placed under isolation.

US House makes adjustments to stymie spread of coronavirus

Update 12:45 p.m. EDT April 7: With most lawmakers back in their home districts, the U.S. House met on Tuesday in a quick pro forma session to fulfill a requirement, enshrined in the Constitution, to meet every three days.

But in these times of COVID-19, the session was anything but normal. The lawmaker presiding in the speaker’s chair wore a black mask, the House reading clerk performed her duties from the table usually used by Republicans members of the House and the House Chaplain delivered his prayer from the House floor.

Pennsylvania officials report 1,579 new coronavirus infections

Update 12:30 p.m. EDT April 7: Health officials in Pennsylvania reported 1,579 new COVID-19 cases Tuesday, raising the total number of cases in the state to 14,559, WPXI reported.

Authorities also reported 78 new fatal coronavirus cases Tuesday. Statewide, 240 have died of COVID-19, according to WPXI.

FDNY: Over 1,300 EMTs, paramedics, firefighters return to work

Update 12:20 p.m. EDT April 7: More than 1,300 members of the New York City Fire Department have returned to duty after being exposed to COVID-19 or after recovering from coronavirus infections, officials said Tuesday.

“FDNY members are responding to a record number of medical calls, and they continue to meet this unprecedented challenge head on,” Fire Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro said Tuesday in a statement posted on Twitter.

"I am incredibly proud of the men and women of this Department who are demonstrating every single day throughout this pandemic why they are known as the best and the bravest.”

1,260 new COVID-19 cases reported in Georgia

Update 12:10 p.m. EDT April 7: Officials in Georgia reported 1,260 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, raising the state’s total number of cases to 8,818, WSB-TV reported.

Health officials also confirmed a total of 329 deaths in the state attributed to COVID-19. The number was up 35 from those reported Monday night, according to WSB-TV.

UK officials report 786 new fatal coronavirus cases

Update 11:45 a.m. EDT April 7: Officials in the United Kingdom recorded 786 new fatal COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, raising the country’s coronavirus death toll to 6,159.

Authorities with the British Department of Health and Social Care also announced a total of 55,242 people have been diagnosed with coronavirus infections in the U.K.

875 new coronavirus cases reported in Florida

Update 11:35 a.m. EDT April 7: Health officials in Florida said Tuesday that 875 new COVID-19 cases have been identified, raising the total number of cases in the state to 14,504, WJAX-TV reported.

Officials said 1,777 of the COVID-19 cases were serious enough to require hospitalization. The Florida Department of Health also reported 29 more fatal cases Tuesday, bringing the state’s total number of deaths to 283.

Over 11,000 people have died of COVID-19 in the US

Update 11:25 a.m. EDT April 7: More than 11,000 people have died of coronavirus in the United States, according to numbers compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The deaths include 5,489 reported in New York state and 1,005 reported in New Jersey. Officials in Michigan have also reported 727 deaths while 512 fatal cases have been reported in Louisiana.

As of Tuesday morning, more than 369,000 Americans have tested positive for COVID-19.

Largest single-day increase in fatal coronavirus cases reported in New York

Update 11:15 a.m. EDT April 7: Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York said Tuesday that health officials in the state have recorded the highest single-day number of fatal coronavirus cases in the state.

Cuomo said Tuesday that 731 new fatal cases were identified in the state, bringing the total number of deaths attributed to the coronavirus in New York to 5,489. In the last four days, the highest single-day number of reported deaths had been 630.

Cuomo also said the number of people admitted to hospitals in New York state with COVID-19 complications appears to be stabilizing.

As of Tuesday, 138,836 people have tested positive for COVID-19 in the state, which is the hardest hit by the new coronavirus. In New Jersey, the state with the second-most number of cases in the country, 41,090 people have tested positive and 1,005 people have died.

U.N. estimates loss of 195M full-time jobs globally

Update 11 a.m. EDT April 7: The U.N.’s labor organization estimates the equivalent of 195 million full-time jobs could be lost in the second quarter alone from the COVID-19 outbreak, with businesses and plants shuttered worldwide.

The projection from the International Labor Organization is based on an emerging impact of the virus, and it amounts to a big increase from its March 18 prediction for an extra 25 million jobs losses for all of 2020.

“These figures speak powerfully for themselves: That the world of work is suffering an absolutely extraordinary fall," ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said.

The agency said full or partial lockdown measures now affect nearly 2.7 billion workers or about 81 percent of the global workforce.

Some 1.25 billion are in hard-hit sectors such as hotel and food services, manufacturing and retail.

US surgeon general optimistic continued social distancing will slow coronavirus spread

Update 10:30 a.m. EDT April 7: U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Tuesday that he’s optimistic that continued social distancing efforts will allow for businesses to begin reopening in the coming weeks.

“I want the American people to know, there is a light at the end of this tunnel,” Adams said during an appearance on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Tuesday. “We feel confident that if we keep doing the right thing for the rest of this month that we can start to slowly reopen in some places.”

He echoed comments made by other public health officials in recent weeks urging Americans to continue social distancing and to avoid being in public if at all possible.

“It’s going to be a hard and a tough week but the American people have the power to change the trajectory of this epidemic if we come together like we have after past tragedies in this country,” Adams said.

Treasury secretary says Trump looking at how to reopen parts of US economy

Update 10 a.m. EDT April 7: Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Tuesday that President Donald Trump is looking at how to open parts of the U.S. economy that have been shuttered by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“The president is very much looking at how we can reopen parts of the economy,” Mnuchin said Tuesday in an appearance on Fox Business News. “There are parts of the country, like New York, where obviously this is very, very concerning. There are other parts of the country where it’s not.”

The U.S. economy has suffered nearly 10 million layoffs in just the past few weeks — far exceeding the figure for any corresponding period on record. Still, health officials have cautioned governments not to rush to reopen businesses.

“The last thing any country needs is to open schools and businesses only to be forced to close them again because of a resurgence,” World Health Organization director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said last month.

Mnuchin said Tuesday that he’s heard from health professionals who have indicated that “in many places where we’re quite close to the worst point."

"They’re beginning to peak and I think then things are going to get better,” he said.

US stocks open higher on hopes virus peak could be closer

Update 9:50 am. EDT April 7: Stocks climbed in early trading on Wall Street on Tuesday as markets around the world piled on even more big gains following their huge rally a day earlier.

The S&P 500 index rose 3% in the first few minutes of trading and added on to Monday’s 7% surge, following encouraging signs that the coronavirus pandemic may be close to leveling off in some of the hardest hit areas of the world.

The stock market is looking ahead to when economies will reopen after authorities shut down businesses and travel and issued stay-at-home orders in hopes of slowing the spread of the virus.

Queen Elizabeth wishes prime minister a 'full and speedy recovery’

Update 9:45 a.m. EDT April 7: Queen Elizabeth of the United Kingdom shared well wishes for Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his family after he was admitted Monday to intensive care with COVID-19 symptoms.

Johnson had been quarantined in his Downing Street residence since being diagnosed March 26 with COVID-19. His fiancee, Carrie Symonds, who is pregnant, is also recovering from coronavirus symptoms.

“Earlier today The Queen sent a message to Carrie Symonds and to the Johnson family,” representatives of the British royal family said Tuesday in a statement on Twitter. “Her Majesty said they were in her thoughts and that she wished the Prime Minister a full and speedy recovery.”

The queen’s son, 71-year-old Prince Charles, went into self-isolation last month after testing positive for COVID-19, according to BBC News. He has since recovered.

US surgeon general: We are going to be at 2 million tests this week

Update 9:35 a.m. EDT April 7: U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams said Tuesday that 2 million coronavirus tests will have been administered in the United States by the end of the week.

“Testing is a concern,” Adams said during an appearance on “CBS This Morning” on Tuesday. “We are going to be at two million test this week and it’s rapidly ramping up with the commercial industry coming on board.”

Adams said he’s been in touch with Assistant Secretary for Health Adm. Brett Giroir, who was tasked last month with coordinating COVID-19 diagnostic testing efforts.

“I speak with him every day,” Adams said. “He assures me that by the end of this month, we should be not only doing just diagnostic testing but also having good surveillance testing across the country."

Walgreens to expand drive-thru testing

Update 9:20 a.m. EDT April 7: Officials with Walgreens announced Tuesday that the pharmacy chain is working to open 15 new drive-thru testing locations in seven states: Arizona, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Tennessee and Texas.

The testing sites will use Abbott Laboratory’s ID NOW COVID-19 test, which can deliver results in as little as five minutes, according to Walgreens. The company expects to be able to test up to 3,000 people per day at each location.

“We’re continuing to do everything we can, both with our own resources and also by partnering with others, to serve as an access point within the community for COVID-19 testing," company president Richard Ashworth said Tuesday in a statement.

"Opening our first drive-thru testing location last month has allowed us to quickly learn and develop an efficient and scalable process, and we’re pleased to be working with Abbott to help accelerate our efforts, and to enable quick results for those being tested.”

The testing sites are expected to open beginning later this week.

Navy crewman on hospital ship in New York tests positive for COVID-19

Update 9:05 a.m. EDT April 7: U.S. Navy officials said a crew member on board the hospital ship USNS Comfort in New York harbor tested positive for COVID-19 on Monday.

The crew member has been isolated from patients and other crew members, and Navy officials said the illness will not affect the Comfort’s mission of receiving and treating patients.

The Navy had recently announced that the Comfort, which initially was taking only non-COVID patients, is now accepting trauma, emergency and urgent care patients regardless of their COVID status.

British prime minister receiving oxygen but not on ventilator, spokesman says

Update 8:25 a.m. EDT April 7: A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom told reporters Tuesday that he remained in good spirits after being admitted to intensive care Monday with worsening symptoms of COVID-19, Reuters reported.

“The prime minister has been stable overnight and remains in good spirits," the spokesman said, according to Reuters. "He is receiving standard oxygen treatment and breathing without any other assistance. He has not required mechanical ventilation, or non-invasive respiratory support.”

Johnson had been quarantined in his Downing Street residence since being diagnosed with COVID-19 on March 26.

Global coronavirus deaths near 76K, worldwide cases approach 1.4 million

Updated 7:45 a.m. EDT April 7: The global death toll attributed to the novel coronavirus hit 75,973 early Tuesday, according to a Johns Hopkins University tally.

In the four months since the virus was first identified in Wuhan, China, it has infected at least 1,360,039 people worldwide. Five countries – the United States, Spain, Italy, Germany and France – have now confirmed total infection counts well above China’s 82,718 cases.

• The United States has reported 368,449 cases, resulting in 10,993 deaths.

• Spain has confirmed 140,510 cases, resulting in 13,798 deaths.

• Italy has reported 132,547 infections, resulting in 16,523 deaths.

• Germany has reported 103,375 cases, resulting in 1,810 deaths.

• France has confirmed 98,984 infections, resulting in 8,926 deaths.

• China has recorded 82,718 cases, resulting in 3,335 deaths.

• Iran has recorded 62,589 cases, resulting in 3,872 deaths.

• The United Kingdom has reported 52,301 cases, resulting in 5,385 deaths.

• Turkey has recorded 30,217 cases, resulting in 649 deaths.

• Belgium has confirmed 22,194 cases, resulting in 2,035 deaths.

Nissan furloughs roughly 10K US factory workers

Updated 6:35 a.m. EDT April 7: In a move to conserve cash amid, Nissan said it has furloughed about 10,000 U.S. factory workers as the automaker combats a sharp drop in sales fueled by the novel coronavirus pandemic, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The cuts, which represent the majority of Nissan’s US workforce, will affect workers at Nissan plants in Tennessee and Mississippi, the Journal reported.

Japan officially declares state of emergency amid spiking coronavirus cases

Updated 5:14 a.m. EDT April 7: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe formally declared a one-month state of emergency during a coronavirus task force meeting moments ago.

The measure, effective immediately, is slated to last through May 6 across seven virus-stricken prefectures.

Per the declaration, public transport and supermarkets will remain open in a bid to maintain “basic economic activity,” but residents are asked to stay home and avoid unnecessary trips.

According to a tally maintained by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, Japan has confirmed 3,906 coronavirus cases to date, resulting in at least 92 deaths.

Coronavirus takes toll on NYPD with 12 dead, nearly 20 percent unable to work

Updated 5:03 a.m. EDT April 7: A 12th member of the New York City Police Department died Sunday of a suspected coronavirus infection, while nearly 20 percent of the department’s uniformed workforce is out sick, CNN reported.

NYPD Auxiliary Police Officer Ramon Roman became the department’s 12th virus-related fatality since the pandemic began.

According to the department, 6,974 NYPD members were out sick on Monday, accounting for slightly more than 19 percent of its entire uniformed workforce. That figure has increased more than seven percentage points in 10 days, CNN reported.

Toyota to make face shields to help combat coronavirus pandemic

Updated 4:21 a.m. EDT April 7: Toyota announced plans early Tuesday to produce between 500 and 600 medical face shields per week to help front-line medical workers more effectively battle the novel coronavirus pandemic.

“Toyota will do what it can to help efforts on the front lines of treatment and in limiting the further spread of COVID-19, which has become society’s biggest priority,” the company said in a prepared statement.

Specifically, the Japanese automaker will use injection molds and 3-D printing to mass produce the protective equipment. The statement also notes Toyota plans to leverage its supply chain to distribute thermometers and other protective gear.

Although the company statement focuses primarily on production in its Japanese facilities, multiple U.S. based Toyota manufacturing facilities have announced similar plans.

White House trade adviser warned of coronavirus in January, report says

Updated 3:07 a.m. EDT April 7: Peter Navarro, U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade adviser, warned administration colleagues in late January that the novel coronavirus could kill more than 500,000 Americans and cost the nation trillions of dollars, The New York Times reported early Tuesday.

“The lack of immune protection or an existing cure or vaccine would leave Americans defenseless in the case of a full-blown coronavirus outbreak on U.S. soil,” a Jan. 29 Navarro memo to the National Security Council said, adding, “This lack of protection elevates the risk of the coronavirus evolving into a full-blown pandemic, imperiling the lives of millions of Americans.”

Read more here.

CDC study: US children less likely than adults to fall seriously ill from coronavirus

Updated 2:33 a.m. EDT April 7: Preliminary data appears to support early-stage inklings that children in the United States have fared far better than adults in both coronavirus infection rates and severity of symptoms once diagnosed.

According to The Washington Post, the CDC’s first report analyzing the coronavirus’ effects on children determined slightly less than 2% of confirmed U.S. cases have occurred in pediatric patients. The agency’s research also suggests that while some serious virus-induced illnesses have occurred in young patients, those younger than 18 have been typically less likely to require hospitalization and less likely to develop fevers or coughs than older patients.

Tyson Foods suspends Iowa production after coronavirus sweeps plant

Updated 2:10 a.m. EDT April 7: More than two dozen employees of a Tyson Foods plant in Iowa have tested positive for the coronavirus, prompting the company to idle its Columbus Junction production facility.

In a statement released Monday, Chief Executive Officer Noel White called the suspension a cautious step to address “varying levels of production impact.

"In an effort to minimize the impact on our overall production, we’re diverting the livestock supply originally scheduled for delivery to Columbus Junction to some of our other pork plants in the region,” White said.

Elsewhere, he said, workers at all locations will now have their temperatures taken before being allowed to enter their respective facilities; deep cleaning protocols have been adopted; and the company is working to acquire protective face coverings for workers.

US coronavirus deaths hit 10,986, total cases near 370K

Published 12:45 a.m. EDT April 7: The number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States surpassed 368,000 early Tuesday morning across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

According to researchers at Johns Hopkins University, there are at least 368,196 confirmed U.S. cases of the virus, which have resulted in at least 10,986 deaths. U.S. cases now more than double the 136,675 reported in Spain and the 132,547 confirmed in Italy.

Of the confirmed U.S. deaths, 4,758 – or roughly 43% of the nationwide total – have occurred in New York, 1,003 in New Jersey and 727 in Michigan.

In terms of diagnosed cases, New York remains the hardest hit with at least 131,815 confirmed cases – more than three times the next-closest state – followed by New Jersey with 41,090 and Michigan with 17,221.

Six other states have now confirmed at least 12,000 novel coronavirus cases each, including:

• California: 16,334, including 388 deaths

• Louisiana: 14,867, including 512 deaths

• Massachusetts: 13,837, including 260 deaths

• Florida: 13,629, including 254 deaths

• Pennsylvania: 13,206, including 179 deaths

• Illinois: 12,262, including 308 deaths

Meanwhile, Washington state and Texas each has confirmed at least 8,000 novel coronavirus infections, followed closely by Georgia with 7,558 cases; Connecticut, Colorado, Indiana, Ohio and Maryland each has confirmed at least 4,000 cases; Tennessee and North Carolina each has confirmed at least 3,000 cases; and Virginia, Missouri, Arizona, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Alabama each has confirmed at least 2,000 cases.

Click here to see CNN’s state-by-state breakdown.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.