Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — The decision to shelve detailed advice from the nation’s top disease control experts for reopening communities during the coronavirus pandemic came from the highest levels of the White House. That's according to internal government emails and documents obtained by The Associated Press. The files also show that after the AP reported Thursday that the document had been buried, the Trump administration ordered key parts of it to be fast-tracked for approval. The emails show experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention spending weeks working on guidance to help the country deal with the emergency, only to see their work quashed by political appointees with little explanation.
UNDATED (AP) — A funeral home business leader for Brazil’s state that covers much of the Amazon region says emergency coffin shipments have started to arrive for people who have died of COVID-19. Manuel Viana is president of the Amazonas Union of Funeral Companies and said Friday that more than 500 coffins were delivered by ship to Manaus, the largest city in Amazonas state. He says hundreds more are on the way and will be distributed in Manaus and other cities in the region. Manaus is one of the hardest hit Brazilian cities for coronavirus deaths and Viana says there are predictions that the city of more than 2 million could have more than 4,300 deaths in May.
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea has reported 18 fresh cases of the new coronavirus, including 12 in Seoul, as health workers scrambled to trace contacts following a slew of transmissions linked to clubgoers. The latest infections brought national totals to 10,840 cases and 256 deaths. Most of the new cases are likely linked to nightclubs in Seoul’s Itaewon leisure district, which was brought to a sudden standstill Friday night following reports of the transmissions. At least 15 cases were linked to a 29-year-old man who visited three Itaewon clubs last Saturday later tested positive. It raised concern about a broader spread of the virus in the Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of South Korea’s 51 million people live.
NEW YORK (AP) — New York state's attorney general has asked an appeals court to scrap the Democratic presidential primary, saying the election was properly nixed until a judge decided it was unconstitutional to do so. Attorney General Letitia James filed the papers late Friday with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments are scheduled for next Friday. A lower-court judge ruled earlier this week that eliminating the primary infringed the rights of delegates for Bernie Sanders and Andrew Yang. The candidates have withdrawn from the race, leaving former Vice President Joe Biden as the presumptive nominee. But the ex-candidates say they need their New York delegates to properly influence the Democratic platform at an August convention.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Magician Roy Horn of the famed Las Vegas act Siegfried & Roy has died of complications from the coronavirus. He was 75. Publicist Dave Kirvin said in a statement that Horn died Friday in a Las Vegas hospital. He was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act’s white tigers. Siegfried & Roy were an institution in Las Vegas, where their magic and artistry consistently attracted sellout crowds. The pair performed six shows a week, 44 weeks per year.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
