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UNDATED (AP) — Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green said the state is moving into “Phase 2” of its effort against the coronavirus now that it has successfully reduced the rate of new infections and “flattened the curve.” Green said in a video posted on social media that low-risk activities like elective medical procedures are resuming and officials in the next few weeks will consider authorizing medium-risk activities. The next step after these activities would be “higher risk stuff” like large gatherings of people and bars, he said. On Friday, Hawaii reported one new case of COVID-19 for a cumulative total of 619. Sixteen people have died.
NEW YORK (AP) — A neighborhood in Brooklyn has come together to help bury a stranger. When 91-year-old Winifred Pardo died at an assisted living facility in Manhattan, her family was in other states and couldn't be with her because of the coronavirus. So a Brooklyn funeral director turned to people in her own neighborhood for help. She posted on a neighborhood forum asking if anyone wanted to contribute items like flowers for the service. And people responded. One woman did some embroidery for the casket. Others sent over lilacs and daffodils. One of Pardo's daughters says she was touched by the gifts.
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City nursing home says nearly 100 of its residents have died from confirmed or suspected cases of the novel coronavirus. The Isabella Geriatric Center in Manhattan is among the hardest hit nursing homes in the state, with 46 confirmed fatalities and an additional 52 deaths of people suspected to have the virus. The nursing home said it had to order a refrigerator truck because funeral homes have been taking days to pick up the deceased. The nursing home said it struggled to secure testing during the early part of the pandemic. Mayor Bill de Blasio called the death toll “horrifying.”
WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. regulators will allow emergency use of the first drug that appears to help some coronavirus patients recover faster. President Donald Trump announced the move Friday after preliminary results from a government-sponsored study showed that the drug remdesivir shortened the time to recovery for hospitalized COVID-19 patients. The drug also might be reducing deaths, although that’s not certain from the partial results revealed so far. Drugmaker Gilead Sciences has said it will donate its currently available stock of the drug and is ramping up production to make more.
GRETNA, La. (AP) — In the biggest one-day push yet to restart their economies amid the pandemic, more than a dozen U.S. states let restaurants, stores or other businesses reopen. The lifting of restrictions on Friday received a mixed response. In much of Colorado, people ventured out to get their hair cut and shop at stores, while only sparse crowds showed up at the newly reopened malls in Texas. Protesters in several states that are still locked down demanded they reopen. Meanwhile, the first drug shown to work against the coronavirus won emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
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