COVID-19 Pandemic Update: NY, NJ, CT, RI, DE, RI, & PA, Governors Defy Trump By Releasing Regional Plans To Reopen Economy

Summary:

• Smithfield foods close the world’s largest pork plant
• US, Europe see a decline in new cases
• China, Russia report concerning increases in new cases
• China ends Gilead drug trial hailed as ‘highly successful’ a few days ago
• Italian death toll passes 20k
• South America, Africa see an acceleration in new cases
• Cali Gov. says he’ll release plan to reopen economy tomorrow
• Cuomo sees vaccine in 12-18 months
• George Stephanopoulos tests positive for COVID-19
• WHO says it will release new guidelines for countries restarting economies
• New York deaths pass 10k
• Cuomo reports another drop in hospitalizations
• Florida case total passes 20k
• Macron extends French lockdown until May 11
• A hastily organized press conference involving the governors from six northeastern states – NY, NJ, CT, RI, DE, RI, PA – is underway, as the group explains to the public how they will work together to cut costs and pool resources to battle the epidemic and coordinate the difficult decision of reopening the regional economy.
• Singapore reports record jump in new cases
• Saudi Arabia reports record jump in daily case sin the Middle East, confirming 472 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing its total to 4,934 cases. 
• All 9 SCOTUS justices will hear arguments via videolink for the first time in history
• UK’s top scientific advisor warned against lifting the lockdown
• Global cases top 1.9M, deaths near 120k
• 2 NYPD detectives die from COVID-19
• Senior Israeli rabbi succumbs to the virus
• EU competition regulator warns about the risk of corporate takeovers from China
• In Ecuador, police move to collect 800 bodies from a hard hit village
• Trump likely to cut money for WHO
• Iran reports 1,600+ new cases, 100+ deaths
• Putin warns outbreak getting worse
• Australia, New Zealand keep restrictions in place despite a drop in new cases
• Globally, the number of confirmed infections rose by 72,523 on Sunday, the lowest number of additional cases in seven days. According to Johns Hopkins, roughly 1,859,011 have been confirmed worldwide as of Monday morning. Additionally, the daily death toll on Sunday also dropped to 5,417, as the rate of growth slowed to just 5%, its slowest rate since March 9. The US also saw a significant slowdown in deaths on Sunday, with just 1,528 Americans losing their lives. This is down sharply from a peak of more than 2,000 just two days earlier and represents a daily growth rate of just 7%, the slowest since March.