Coronavirus updates: New York aims to double testing capacity as death toll rises
More than 2.5 million people have been infected with the new coronavirus globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. It has killed more than 177,000 people worldwide. About a quarter of those deaths — more than 44,800 — have been recorded in the United States.
In New York, one of the world's hardest-hit regions, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday night that he aims to double the state's testing capacity. He said the state hopes to start testing 40,000 people per day, but acknowledged that it would take "several weeks, at best" to do so.
Despite the severity of the U.S. epidemic, progress in some of the hardest-hit places combined with the devastating economic impact of shuttered businesses is putting governors under mounting pressure to ease the measures that have helped curb the spread of COVID-19.
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Detailed information from the CDC on coronavirus treatment and prevention.
New research shows LA County's rate of infection could be 40 times higher than number of confirmed cases
In Los Angeles County, more than 15,000 people have tested positive for COVID-19, but health officials announced this week that antibody tests show the rate of infection could be 40 times that number.
Serology tests were used in a study conducted earlier in April by the University of Southern California and the LA County Public Health Department. The tests, which detect antibodies in an individual's blood to determine if that person had the coronavirus, showed roughly 320,000 people, or about 4% of Los Angeles' population, have been infected with COVID-19, CBS Los Angeles reports.
33 more immigrants in ICE custody test positive
At least 253 immigrants in ICE custody have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Tuesday evening, according to the agency's latest tally.
Monday's 96-case spike was followed by 33 new cases Tuesday across the U.S. There are now 4 detention centers in the U.S. — in New York, California, Texas and Louisiana — with more than 27 cases each.
Coronavirus cases spike at Ohio prisons
The number of coronavirus cases has spiked to nearly 4,000 in the Ohio prison system, a number that state officials are attributing to "aggressive testing." The Marion Correctional Institution has become one of the top hotspots in the country, where 2,011 inmates and 154 staffers have tested positive, officials said.
As of Tuesday, there were 3,762 inmates and 319 staffers who tested positive system-wide. Nine inmates and one staffer have died from the virus, according to the state's Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. That's about 30% of all cases in Ohio. There have been 12,516 positive cases total across the state, along with 509 deaths, according to the Ohio Department of Health.
"A lot of the problems are we don't have a lot of personal protective equipment going into this episode," said Christopher Mabe, president of the Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, which represents nearly 8,000 correctional officers. "It's virtually impossible to social distance in a prison," Mabe told CBS affiliate WBNS.
31st NYPD member dies of coronavirus
The New York City Police Department announced Tuesday that another member has died of the coronavirus, bringing the NYPD's total to 31. The patient was identified as School Safety Agent Sharon Williams, who had been with the force for more than two years.
More than 4,700 uniformed members of the NYPD — 13% — called in sick on Tuesday, down from a high of 19.8%. More than 4,518 members of the NYPD have tested positive so far, but more than 2,600 have returned to work after recovering.
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