New Jersey postpones primaries to July 7
New Jersey Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy said on Wednesday that he was delaying the state's primary elections to July 7 from June 2 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Murphy said that he would also consider making the July contests vote-by-mail only if the pandemic does not improve and that having "extra time" to prepare "will make that task easier."
U.K. reports record number of deaths
Britain reported a record number of deaths in hospitals on Wednesday, with a rise of 938 in one day taking the toll to at least 7,097, according to the country's Department of Health.
Although significantly bigger than the previous highest toll of 786, the U.K.'s Deputy Chief Scientific Adviser Prof. Dame Angela McLean insisted new cases are not "accelerating out of control."
News of the deaths came as the U.K.'s Chancellor Rishi Sunak revealed that Prime Minister Boris Johnson's condition was "improving" and he is now "sitting up in bed" after spending two nights in intensive care with coronavirus.
He added that Johnson had been "engaging positively" with the medical team treating him in St Thomas's Hospital in London.
Cuomo says all New Yorkers can vote absentee in June primary
New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday announced that all voters in his state will be able to cast absentee ballots in the June 23 Democratic primary election.
"New Yorkers shouldn't have to choose between their health and their civic duty," Cuomo said in a tweet. Melissa DeRosa, the governor's chief of staff, said during his daily coronavirus press briefing in Albany that a determination would be made closer to election day whether polling locations would be open on June 23.
Last month, Cuomo moved the date of the state's primary election from April 28 to June 23 due to the coronavirus pandemic. New York will not hold a Republican presidential primary this year.
N.Y. sees deadliest day as Cuomo says 'we're flattening the curve'
New York state suffered its highest single day of deaths with 779 lives lost from the coronavirus, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday, a grim milestone that comes as the state appears to be slowing down the virus' spread.
Cuomo warned that the number of deaths will only increase the longer coronavirus patients remain hospitalized. On Tuesday, he said New York had recorded 731 deaths, a jump from 599 from Monday.
"The bad news isn't just bad, the bad news is terrible," he said during his daily news conference in the state capital of Albany, adding that he will direct all flags to be flown at half-staff in honor of the 6,268 people in New York who have died from the virus.
However, there was some good news as Cuomo said total hospitalizations are down, and hospitals are releasing more patients than new ones are being admitted.
"We're flattening the curve because we're rigorous about social distancing," he said.
The hospital system should "stabilize" over the next couple weeks and the outflow to the field hospitals minimized, he added, as long as people continue to follow social distancing guidelines.
Detroit providing 20,000 masks to bus riders after driver dies
The Detroit Department of Transportation is providing 20,000 surgical masks free to riders as part of the city's fight to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
The masks will be available via a box near the back door, where riders now enter and exit the bus.
The move follows the recent death of bus driver Jason Hargrove from the coronavirus, two weeks after he posted a Facebook Live video criticizing a passenger for coughing and not covering up their mouth.
Zoom bolsters security efforts with advisory board
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan announced Wednesday that his rapidly-growing videoconferencing company is creating a new advisory board to help address the security issues that have made it the target of lawsuits and political pressure.
Alex Stamos, a former chief security officer at Facebook and current NBC News contributor, has joined the company as an outside consultant. The move comes one day after Yuan told NBC News that he had to “double down on privacy, double down on security."
Many non-Zoom users have recently become aware of the distasteful practice of “Zoombombing,” or crashing an unintentionally public Zoom call for the purposes of harassing people.
'No miraculous recovery': Some ICU doctors say hydroxychloroquine isn't helping sickest patients
The federal government's guidance on emergency usage of the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine for COVID-19 patients may have actually set the medication up for failure.
That's because the guidance limits the drug's usage to those sick enough to be hospitalized. Many doctors suspect, however, that if the drug does turn out to be beneficial, it may work better early on in the course of the illness.
Lights to stay dimmed on Broadway for at least 2 more months
Broadway will remain shut down at least until June 7 because of the coronavirus crisis, the head of the theaters' trade association said Wednesday.
“Our top priority continues to be the health and well being of Broadway theatergoers and the thousands of people who work in the theater industry every day, including actors, musicians, stagehands, ushers, and many other dedicated professionals,” said Charlotte St. Martin, president of the Broadway League.
St. Martin said the decision was made in accordance with federal CDC guidelines and “the continued direction” of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
Fewer than 100,000 people checked by TSA at airports on Tuesday, a record low
Fewer than 100,000 people were checked by the TSA on Tuesday at the nation's airports, a new record low for U.S. passengers, an agency spokesperson says.
In total, 97,130 people went through TSA checkpoints at U.S. airports, a fraction of the 2.09 million who went through the checkpoints on the same date in 2019.