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Nebraska retail center plans to reopen next week to be '1st shopping center back' A Nebraska shopping mall with more than 80 stores and restaurants plans to reopen next week. Nebraska Crossing Outlets in Gretna will have a “soft opening” April 24 and an official “grand opening” by May, the property owner said in a news release. “Our global retailers have asked us to take on this role and be the first shopping center back open in the U.S.,” owner Rod Yates said in an email statement to NBC News on Tuesday. “We will walk before we run here, and obviously if you have any underlying health issues, we will encourage shoppers and/or employees to not participate.” On Tuesday, the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that that the country lacked the critical testing and tracing procedures needed to begin reopening the nation’s economy. As part of the initiative to reopen in the midst of a pandemic, the Nebraska complex will add 200 shields for workers, thermometers for every store to take employees’ temperatures and wipe and hand sanitizer stations, according to the statement. There is no shelter-at-home order for Nebraska. Last week, Gov. Pete Ricketts issued an order to close theaters, barbershops, beauty salons, tattoo shops and massage businesses until April 30. Nebraska Crossing Outlets was never officially completely closed to the public. Some restaurants and stores have been providing curbside pickup. It is unclear how many businesses will participate in the planned reopening. Share this -







Thousands of MLB players, families to participate in coronavirus study Major League Baseball confirmed Tuesday that 27 teams will participate in a study looking for COVID-19 antibodies among club employees and their relatives. The Athletic first reported that 10,000 volunteers will participate in the study, which will be conducted with the Sports Medicine Research and Testing Laboratory, Stanford University and the University of Southern California. The study will aim to measure the prevalence of COVID-19 among people across the United States by testing for a blood protein that the body creates in response to the infection, the Athletic reported. The Athletic, citing Stanford researcher Jay Bhattacharya, reported that players, families, team staff, concessionaires, ushers and other part-time employees of all ages, backgrounds and genders will participate. Share this -







In show of unity, all New York, New Jersey House members request more coronavirus aid In a show of unity, the House delegations from both New York and New Jersey, which includes Republicans and Democrats, sent the leadership of each chamber of Congress a letter Tuesday to request urgent funds for their hard-hit states. They sent House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., a letter asking for special funding as the two states now have 45 percent of the COVID-19 cases. The states, however, have only received 9 percent of the $150 billion in funding for states in the coronavirus stimulus relief package because of federal funding allocation guidelines. The delegations are asking for a $40 billion fund to be appropriated based on the percentage of need. The letter comes as President Donald Trump has clashed with governors over the response to the pandemic and getting access to critical medical supplies and testing. Share this -







Senate Republicans investigating WHO and China's coronavirus response Congressional Republicans are planning their own probe into the coronavirus outbreak – examining how the World Health Organization and Chinese government responded to the pandemic from the onset. The Senate Homeland Security Committee, led by Chairman Ron Johnson R-Wis., will conduct a “wide-ranging” oversight investigation into the origins of the virus and the WHO’s response to the virus, according to a committee source familiar with the matter. President Donald Trump announced Tuesday he was halting funding to the organization for having fumbled the response to the pandemic by failing to challenge the Chinese government's early accounts of how the virus was spreading. "The outbreak could have been contained at its source with very little death," Trump said. Senator Rick Scott, R-Fl., who called for an investigation into the WHO two weeks ago, was tasked by Johnson with taking the lead on that aspect of the probe, a source close to Scott told NBC News. Click here for the full story. Share this -







Trump to use his 'total' authority to authorize governors to reopen states Coronavirus: President Trump, governors clash over authority to reopen U.S. April 14, 2020 02:47 A day after he was roundly criticized for falsely claiming he had "total" authority to reopen the country, President Donald Trump said he'd "be authorizing each individual governor of each individual state to implement a re-opening and a very powerful re-opening plan of their state at a time and in a manner as most appropriate." "I will be speaking to all 50 governors very shortly," Trump said at a coronavirus news briefing in the Rose Garden. On Monday evening, Trump insisted to reporters that he has the authority to order states to reopen if he wants, and that the "the president of the United States calls the shots." On Tuesday, Trump said "I'm not going to put any pressure" on any state to reopen before governors feel they're ready. He also said some states may be ready to step away from CDC social distancing guidelines, which are supposed to last through the end of the month, before May, and he'd "authorize" them to do so. "The day will be very close, because certain states as you know are in a much different condition, much different place than other states. It's going to be very, very close, maybe even before the date of May 1st. So, that will be for some states. Actually, there are over 20 that are an extremely good shape, and we think we will be able to get them open fairly quickly, and then others will follow," Trump said. Share this -







The number of coronavirus tests plummeted in recent days The number of coronavirus tests done by private labs has dropped precipitously over the past few days, according to the American Clinical Laboratory Association, even as state and local officials have called for an expansion of testing. Private labs like Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp perform 85% of the coronavirus tests nationwide. The total number of tests done per day by private labs hit a peak of 108,000 tests on April 5, but last week’s daily average was 87,000. And the numbers have dropped steadily over the past three days: from 91,000 on Saturday to 75,000 on Sunday to 43,000 on Monday. The reason for the steep decline wasn’t immediately clear. Quest Diagnostics reported a backlog of 150,000 tests last week, but as of Tuesday the backlog has been cleared. “In recent days, our capacity for COVID-19 diagnostic services has exceeded demand for these services,” said spokesperson Kimberly Gorode. Share this -







3 California churches sue Gov. Gavin Newsom over orders banning gatherings California Governor Gavin Newsom speaks in front of the hospital ship USNS Mercy after it arrived into the Port of Los Angeles on March 27, 2020. Carolyn Cole / Pool via AFP - Getty Images Three southern California churches have filed a lawsuit against the state's governor and local officials over orders that ban religious gatherings because of the coronavirus pandemic. Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a stay-at-home order on March 19 to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. The order says that residents should stay home, except for essential needs or jobs. It required indoor shopping malls and nonessential retail to close. Read the full story here. Share this -







Thousands of health care workers infected with coronavirus, CDC report finds Nurses stand at UCLA Medical Center as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues in Los Angeles, on April 13, 2020. Lucy Nicholson / Reuters Between 10 percent and 20 percent of U.S. coronavirus cases are health care workers, though they tended to be hospitalized at lower rates than other patients, officials reported Tuesday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first national data on how the pandemic is hitting doctors, nurses and other health care professionals. Read the full story here. Share this -







'Probable' coronavirus deaths in New York City would push toll over 10,000 New York City COVID-19 death toll passes10,000 in revised count April 14, 2020 00:55 The number of "probable" coronavirus deaths in New York City would push its death toll over 10,000, according to NYC Department of Public Health Data obtained by NBC News. The data showed that the city's 6,589 confirmed coronavirus deaths would jump by 3,778 with "probable" fatalities included, raising the total death toll to 10,367. The department defines a "probable" victim as someone who had not tested positive, but whose death certificate lists that they were killed by COVID-19, the disease associated with coronavirus. "We are focused on ensuring that every New Yorker who died because of COVID-19 gets counted," said Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot. "While these data reflect the tragic impact that the virus has had on our city, they will also help us to determine the scale and scope of the epidemic and guide us in our decisions." She added that as new information becomes available, some deaths previously classified as probable may be reclassified as "laboratory-confirmed.” Share this -





