June 16 coronavirus news

By Helen Regan and Steve George, CNN

Updated 2:11 AM ET, Wed June 17, 2020
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12:01 p.m. ET, June 16, 2020

New York hospitals can now allow visitors, governor says

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press conference in Albany, New York, on June 16.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press conference in Albany, New York, on June 16. State of New York

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said hospitals across the state can now allow visitors as coronavirus numbers continue to improve.

"The numbers look very good," he said at a news conference. "We're going to allow hospitals to accept visitors at their discretion."

Cuomo said that if a hospital chooses to allow visitors, those guests must follow state guidelines, including wearing personal protective equipment and being subject to symptom checks. The visits may be time-limited.

Cuomo also added that group homes can allow visitors starting on Friday, if they follow similar guidelines.

11:51 a.m. ET, June 16, 2020

US Open will be held in New York City without fans, governor says

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced today that the US Open tennis tournament will be held in Queens from August 31 to September 13.

He said the event will be held without fans, but it will be televised.

11:37 a.m. ET, June 16, 2020

Fauci doesn’t see global efforts to find vaccine as a “race of who gets there first” 

From CNN Health’s Amanda Watts)

Dr. Anthony Fauci, left, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 29.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, left, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases speaks during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on April 29. Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci says he hopes many countries around the world are successful in finding a coronavirus vaccine.

“This is not a race of who gets there first,” he said.

Speaking to NPR’s 1A program on Tuesday, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said, “I would love there to be more than one, two or three vaccines, including China getting a vaccine, and we get a vaccine, and some of the European countries get a vaccine.”

Fauci said that for a vaccine to be successful, it has to be available globally.

“The more companies that have successful vaccines, the better off we are. I don't see this as a race in which there is one winner,” Fauci said.

The United States’ efforts are “moving very quickly,” he said. “And I might emphasize, not at the experience of safety, nor compromising any of the scientific integrity of the study.”

Fauci said there is no guarantee that a vaccine is going to be effective.

“Certainly we would not have a vaccine given to anyone if it's not safe, and if it's not effective,” he said.

But Fauci is hoping “to get to the point where you can make a determination if it's effective likely, by the end of this calendar year and the beginning of 2020. So, the vaccine does show itself to be safe and effective, we may get doses that are available for people by the very end of this year, and the beginning of the first few months of 2021.”

11:26 a.m. ET, June 16, 2020

LPGA to resume season in July

From CNN's Wayne Sterling

The Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour announced Tuesday that the 2020 season will resume with back-to-back events in Ohio. 

A new tournament, the LPGA Drive On Championship, will take place from July 31 until August 2 at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. It will feature a field of 144 players competing for a $1 million purse and will take place without sponsors, pro-ams or spectators. 

The next tournament will be the Marathon LPGA Classic, one of the longest running events on the LPGA Tour. It will be held at Highland Meadows Golf Club in Sylvania, Ohio, August 6 through August 9, with spectators.

11:26 a.m. ET, June 16, 2020

Fauci says protesters should "wear a mask consistently"

From CNN Health’s Amanda Watts

Protesters kneel and hold up signs as they demonstrate the death of George Floyd by blocking traffic on I-395 in Washington on June 15.
Protesters kneel and hold up signs as they demonstrate the death of George Floyd by blocking traffic on I-395 in Washington on June 15. Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci said when it comes to protests during a pandemic, the best advice is “don’t gather in crowds,” but added, “If you are going to, please wear a mask consistently. Keep it on. Don't take it off.” 

“That is really an important issue — namely the social injustices that we're seeing towards minorities, particularly African Americans, including the violence against them," the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases told NPR’s 1A program.

But he added that demonstrations themselves put protesters and others at risk.

“When you look at some of the visuals on the TV — of the demonstrations, when people get animated — they start shouting, they start chanting, they pull their mask off. Don’t do that," he said. 

“Please wear a mask, but keep the mask on all the time,” he said.

 

11:17 a.m. ET, June 16, 2020

NYC could enter phase 2 of reopening on June 22 if indicators and state deem it ready, mayor says 

From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia

New York City will be ready for phase two of reopening on June 22 if the indicators and the discussions with the state indicate “we’re ready to go,” Mayor Bill De Blasio said in a news conference today.

Phase two is tentatively booked for June 22, though the mayor said earlier he believes it will take a bit longer than that.

Phase two allows for a wider range of businesses to continue to reopen under Covid-19 guidelines, including retail businesses and offices.

Malls, specifically any indoor common portions of retail shopping malls with 100,000 or more square feet of retail space available for lease, must remain closed to the public

Large gathering and event venues, including but not limited to establishments that host concerts, conferences, or other in-person performances or presentations in front of an in-person audience, must also remain closed to the public.

When asked later in the news conference about the next reopening phase, the mayor said "we want to know what that has resulted in in terms of the spread of the disease, or maybe it hasn’t, we don’t know that answer yet cause not enough time has passed.”

“We need more information,” he said.

The decision to enter the next phase or wait more time will be made alongside the state on June 22.

The mayor said he likes to keep expectations low and points to the beginning of July.

11:01 a.m. ET, June 16, 2020

NYC mayor says he intends to get Covid-19 test

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a press conference in New York on June 16.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a press conference in New York on June 16. NYC Media

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he intends to get a Covid-19 test “because I have asked all New Yorkers to get one.”

“I’ll follow my own guidance, and I’ll make sure to get one too," he said.

De Blasio, who took a sick day yesterday, said he feels fine today. He said he thinks he had a "24 hour kind of thing," which caused him to clear his schedule.

10:56 a.m. ET, June 16, 2020

Fauci hasn’t spoken to Trump in 2 weeks

From CNN’s Amanda Watts

 

President Donald Trump is flanked by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 15 in Washington.
President Donald Trump is flanked by Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, while speaking in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 15 in Washington. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci said he last spoke to President Trump two weeks ago.

“Not last week, but the week before. I spoke with him when we made the presentation to explain to him our vaccine development efforts,” Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said while speaking to NPR’s 1A program on Tuesday,

“So it was two weeks ago," he added.

Remember: Even as cases rise, an administration official familiar with discussions inside the coronavirus task force told CNN the panel remains sidelined and muzzled. Key members — such as Fauci along with Dr. Deborah Birx and Robert Redfield — are now far less visible than they were during the early weeks of the pandemic.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, requested a briefing next week from top administration public health officials, including Fauci and Birx, on recent coronavirus spikes in states around the country.

"As the President continues to fixate on the stock market and Senate Republicans are ready to prematurely declare victory, we need to wrest the focus back to these crucial issues," Schumer said last week on the Senate floor.

 

10:56 a.m. ET, June 16, 2020

Passengers are more cautious about flying now than they were in April, survey shows

From CNN's Eoin McSweeney and Chris Liakos

A passenger waits at Frankfurt Airport on June 15 in Frankfurt, Germany.
A passenger waits at Frankfurt Airport on June 15 in Frankfurt, Germany. Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)

Only 45% of passengers intend to fly within two months of the pandemic subsiding, compared to 61% in early April, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said on Tuesday. 

According to a survey carried out by IATA, overall bookings are down 82% on 2019 levels and demand for long-haul travel remains close to zero.

Normally, airlines would have sold 14% of tickets for winter at this point in the year but IATA said passengers are booking tickets much closer to the date of departure.

“Airlines in the Northern hemisphere rely on a strong summer season and a predictable booking curve to get them through the lean months. But neither of these conditions are in place and airlines will need continued help from governments to survive a hard winter,” Alexandre de Juniac, IATA’s Director General and CEO, said.

As travel in Europe is restarting IATA, expressed again the need for an extension of the slot waiver into the winter season to give “fragile” airlines the flexibility they need to focus on meeting passenger demand as it evolves.

The association also called for Covid-19 testing government collaboration, emphasizing it is by far a preferred alternative to quarantine measures.

 “We have seen a few countries, like Iceland, implement testing on arrival as an alternative to quarantine. The point to emphasize here is that testing before departure would be much more efficient. It would keep people who test positive completely out of the travel system. The challenge, however, is for governments to work together so that testing data from the departure location is accepted by the arrival state,” said de Juniac.