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Exclusive--Ken Cuccinelli: 8-in-10 Border Crossers Deported in 2 Hours During Coronavirus

Acting Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Deputy Secretary Ken Cuccinelli says border crossers are being almost immediately returned to Mexico after their crossing into the United States. 





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Schumer: Vote by Mail 'Will Be a Very Important Part' of Next Coronavirus Bill

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) stated that vote by mail provisions “will be a very important part of the legislation that we’re going to put forward, and we are going to fight




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Italian Nurse on Coronavirus Frontline Raped by Illegal Migrant After Her Shift

An Italian nurse working on the frontline against the Chinese coronavirus was brutally sexually assaulted by an African migrant after finishing her shift and heading to her home.




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Cotton: Chinese Government Made a 'Conscious Decision' to Allow Coronavirus to Get Outside Its Borders

Friday on Fox News Channel's "Your World," Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) argued when determining how and whether or not China was responsible for coronavirus global pandemic, it was undeniable China allowed the virus to spread beyond its borders.




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Pressure Mounts on Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf as Even Democrats Now Question Coronavirus Shutdown

Pressure is increasing on Gov. Tom Wolf (D) to reopen Pennsylvania, even among Democrats, as it is revealed that the vast majority of recent coronavirus deaths in the state occurred at nursing homes or personal care facilities, the Morning Call revealed this week.




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Despite Reported Under-Counts, Mexico Surpasses 3,100 Coronavirus Fatalities

Mexican health officials admitted to surpassing 3,100 COVID-19 related-deaths as cases continue to rise nationwide. The reports come despite repeated accusations of the government downplaying the true scope of the coronavirus pandemic




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Kenyan Governors: We Can't Control Coronavirus with Open Border

Kenya's regional governors are calling on national authorities to close the country's borders as illegal migration from surrounding countries has caused an increase in imported coronavirus cases, Kenyan newspaper the Nation reported on Thursday.







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73 Percent of U.S. Adults Say China Bears Responsibility for American Coronavirus Deaths

Nearly three-fourths of U.S. adults say China bears responsibility for American coronavirus deaths, a Morning Consult tracker poll released Friday revealed.




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Sali v. Corona Regional Medical Center

(United States Ninth Circuit) - In an amended opinion, reversed the denial of class certification in a wage-hour lawsuit brought by registered nurses against a hospital.




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U.S. Coronavirus Testing Still Falls Short. How's Your State Doing?

By Rob Stein, Carmel Wroth, Alyson Hurt

To safely phase out social distancing measures, the U.S. needs more diagnostic testing for the coronavirus, experts say. But how much more?

The Trump administration said on April 27 that the U.S. will soon have enough capacity to conduct double the current amount of testing for active infections. The country has done nearly 248,000 tests daily on average in the past seven days, according to the nonprofit COVID Tracking Project. Doubling that would mean doing about 496,000 a day.

Will that be enough? What benchmark should states try to hit?

One prominent research group, Harvard's Global Health Institute, proposes that the U.S. should be doing more than 900,000 tests per day as a country. This projection, released Thursday, is a big jump from its earlier projection of testing need, which had been between 500,000 and 600,000 daily.

Harvard's testing estimate increased, says Ashish Jha, director of the Global Health Institute, because the latest modeling shows that the outbreak in the United States is worse than projected earlier.

"Just in the last few weeks, all of the models have converged on many more people getting infected and many more people [dying]," he says.

But each state's specific need for testing varies depending on the size of its outbreak, explains Jha. The bigger the outbreak, the more testing is needed.

On Thursday, Jha's group at Harvard published a simulation that estimates the amount of testing needed in each state by May 15. In the graphic below, we compare these estimates with the average numbers of daily tests states are currently doing.

Two ways to assess whether testing is adequate

To make their state-by-state estimates, the Harvard Global Health Institute group started from a model of future case counts. It calculated how much testing would be needed for a state to test all infected people and any close contacts they may have exposed to the virus. (The simulation estimates testing 10 contacts on average.)

"Testing is outbreak control 101, because what testing lets you do is figure out who's infected and who's not," Jha says. "And that lets you separate out the infected people from the noninfected people and bring the disease under control."

This approach is how communities can prevent outbreaks from flaring up. First, test all symptomatic people, then reach out to their close contacts and test them, and finally ask those who are infected or exposed to isolate themselves.

Our chart also shows another testing benchmark for each state: the ratio of tests conducted that come back positive. Communities that see about 10% or fewer positives among their test results are probably testing enough, the World Health Organization advises. If the rate is higher, they're likely missing a lot of active infections.

What is apparent from the data we present below is that many states are far from both the Harvard estimates and the 10% positive benchmark.

Just nine states are near or have exceeded the testing minimums estimated by Harvard; they are mostly larger, less populous states: Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Several states with large outbreaks — New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut, among others — are very far from the minimum testing target. Some states that are already relaxing their social distancing restrictions, such as Georgia, Texas and Colorado, are far from the target too.

Jha offers several caveats about his group's estimates.

Estimates are directional, not literal

Researchers at the Global Health Initiative at Harvard considered three different models of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak as a starting point for their testing estimates. They found that while there was significant variation in the projections of outbreak sizes, all of the models tend to point in the same direction, i.e., if one model showed that a state needed significantly more testing, the others generally did too.

The model they used to create these estimates is the Youyang Gu COVID-19 Forecasts, which they say has tracked closely with what's actually happened on the ground. Still, the researchers caution, these numbers are not meant to be taken literally but as a guide.

Can't see this visual? Click here.

If social distancing is relaxed, testing needs may grow

The Harvard testing estimates are built on a model that assumes that states continue social distancing through May 15. And about half of states have already started lifting some of those.

Jha says that without the right measures in place to contain spread, easing up could quickly lead to new cases.

"The moment you relax, the number of cases will start climbing. And therefore, the number of tests you need to keep your society, your state from having large outbreaks will also start climbing," warns Jha.

Testing alone is not enough

A community can't base the decision that it's safe to open up on testing data alone. States should also see a consistent decline in the number of cases, of two weeks at least, according to White House guidance. If their cases are instead increasing, they should assume the number of tests they need will increase too.

And, Jha warns, testing is step one, but it won't contain an outbreak by itself. It needs to be part of "a much broader set of strategies and plans the states need to have in place" when they begin to reopen.

In fact, his group's model is built on the assumption that states are doing contact tracing and have plans to support isolation for infected or exposed people.

"I don't want anybody to just look at the number and say, we meet it and we're good to go," he says. "What this really is, is testing capacity in the context of having a really effective workforce of contact tracers."

The targets are floors, not goals

States that have reached the estimated target should think of that as a starting point.

"We've always built these as the floor, the bare minimum," Jha says. More testing would be even better, allowing states to more rapidly tamp down case surges.

In fact, other experts have proposed that the U.S. do even more testing. Paul Romer, a professor of economics at New York University, proposed in a recent white paper that if the U.S. tested every resident, every two weeks, isolating those who test positive, it could stop the pandemic in its tracks.

Jha warns that without sufficient testing, and the infrastructure in place to trace and isolate contacts, there's a real risk that states — even those with few cases now — will see new large outbreaks. "I think what people have to remember is that the virus isn't gone. The disease isn't gone. And it's going to be with us for a while," he says.

Can't see this visual? Click here.

Daniel Wood contributed to this report.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.




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Coronavirus Antibody Testing / Reopening Public Recreational Spaces / Next Generation Jazz Festival Results

We explore what antibody testing is and the potential it has against the coronavirus as UC Davis Health begins testing some of its healthcare workers. Local county leaders check in, and the results of the Next Generation Jazz Festival.




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COVID-19 Weekend Updates / Truckee, Chico Mayor Coronavirus Check-In / Photography During Pandemic

The latest developments in the coronavirus pandemic from weekend across the region. We check in with the mayors of Truckee and Chico on how their cities are managing, and a local photographer offers a window into the lives of her neighbors.




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How to start a garden in Colorado during the coronavirus shutdown

If you start your garden now, you'll be able to eat freshly grown salads in no time.




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Coronavirus threatens to keep proposed taxes, laws off Colorado’s 2020 ballot

Groups that were planning to ask Colorado voters for money and new laws in November are seeking rule changes after the coronavirus brought their efforts to a screeching halt.




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Colorado dispensaries say coronavirus pandemic is making case for marijuana delivery

As the coronavirus pandemic disrupts daily life and commerce in Colorado, many in the state’s marijuana industry believe it makes the case for allowing dispensaries to begin delivering to customers' homes now.




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Charlotte Figi, 13-year-old Coloradan who inspired CBD reform, dies after family suspects she contracted coronavirus

Charlotte Figi, the young Colorado Springs girl whose battle with Dravet syndrome inspired changes to medical marijuana laws, has died. She was 13 years old.




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Colorado’s marijuana businesses should be eligible for federal coronavirus aid, Polis tells Congress

Colorado's cannabis industry is allowed to remain open to provide "critical" services during the coronavirus pandemic, but because marijuana is a federally controlled substance, dispensaries and other businesses are ineligible to receive stimulus funds to help offset the economic impacts caused by COVID-19.




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Denver marijuana dispensaries see increase in burglaries during coronavirus pandemic

Dispensaries and cultivations reported 10 burglaries in the first two weeks of April, Denver police said. That's up from eight burglaries reported during the whole month of April 2019.






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A 16-year-old Denver girl died this week of coronavirus, school officials say

Jaqueline Paisano, who everyone knew as Jackie, died of COVID-19 complications Monday night, according to George Washington High School Principal Kristin Waters. She would have been 17 next month. She is believed to be one of the youngest people in Colorado to die from the disease caused by the coronavirus.




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Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy dies from coronavirus at 75

LAS VEGAS — Roy Horn of Siegfried & Roy, the duo whose extraordinary magic tricks astonished millions until Horn was critically injured in 2003 by one of the act’s famed white tigers, has died. He was 75. Horn died of complications from the coronavirus on Friday in a Las Vegas hospital, according to a statement […]





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Summer concerts at Hudson Gardens canceled over coronavirus concerns

Hudson Gardens has hosted concerts every summer since 1999.




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Colorado jazz festivals reschedule and regroup in response to coronavirus outbreak

Due to the coronavirus, several of Colorado's jazz festivals have been canceled or postponed until next year.




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U.S. shelves detailed guide to reopening country amid coronavirus outbreak

A document created by the nation's top disease investigators with step-by-step advice to local authorities on how and when to reopen restaurants and other public places during the still-raging outbreak has been shelved by the Trump administration.







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Colorado legislature can resume its regular session after breaking for coronavirus, Supreme Court rules

Colorado lawmakers don't have to meet for 120 consecutive days during a declared public health emergency, the Colorado Supreme Court ruled in a narrow decision Wednesday.




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Colorado lawmakers could return to the Capitol as early as May after breaking for coronavirus

Colorado lawmakers are hopeful that they'll be back at the Capitol as early as May, but they caution that it will depend on the advice of experts and whether the state's state-at-home order is still in place.




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Colorado state employees’ raises at risk because of coronavirus’ economic impact

Colorado lawmakers may forgo raises next year as they anticipate having to make major changes in the overall state budget -- including eliminating raises for all state employees.




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Colorado lawmakers bracing for coronavirus budget hit of up to $3 billion

The state's budget writers are now planning for a shortfall that's measured in billions rather than millions -- taking the possibility of new spending off the table and threatening existing programs.




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Colorado’s Democratic lawmakers call on community, colleagues to denounce hate, bigotry during coronavirus pandemic

Democratic state lawmakers say hate and bigotry are on the rise during the COVID-19 pandemic and they’re asking Coloradans to join them in condemning it.




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RTD to reduce service on B-Line, G-Line due to coronavirus pandemic; no change to A-Line service

RTD will add two of its three commuter rail corridors to the long list of bus and train routes set to go undergo frequency reductions starting April 19 due to steep ridership drops resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.




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Coronavirus-induced RTD service reductions start Sunday

Every bus and rail line except for train service to Denver International Airport will see drastically reduced service starting Sunday, as the Regional Transportation District adjusts to a coronavirus pandemic that has gutted its ridership.




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Construction speeds up on I-70 and I-25, but other Colorado projects may be doomed by coronavirus

Big highway projects along the Front Range have taken advantage of the unprecedented weeks-long lull in traffic set off by the coronavirus pandemic by speeding up some work.





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On Earth Day, coronavirus gives us glimpse at what it takes to reduce pollution

As people across the globe stay home to stop the spread of the new coronavirus, the air has cleaned up, albeit temporarily. People are also noticing animals in places and at times they don’t usually. When people stay home, Earth becomes cleaner and wilder.




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Editorial: Jails, prisons, courts must act to stop coronavirus spread

Some activities must continue even as cities, counties and states effectively shut down to avoid the spread of COVID-19. Obviously our hospitals, doctors’ offices and emergency responder systems must remain open. Grocery stores are essential and so are pharmacies.





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Editorial: Ethics in the time of coronavirus

The world has been thrust into an unprecedented time. The White House has estimated that 100,000 to 240,000 Americans could die in the coming months as a new virus sweeps through the nation and that’s if we implement and execute the recommendations from our doctors and scientists. About 700,000 jobs were lost in the U.S. in March as mayors and governors across the nation responded responsibly by forcing all but the most essential businesses to close.




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Editorial: Those inciting unrest in Colorado don’t realize the true threat of the new coronavirus

We understand why unrest is bubbling among those who are unemployed and entrepreneurs who could lose their businesses. But the alternative to stay-at-home orders is allowing the highly contagious new coronavirus to rip through our communities.





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How lobbyists and panicked Denverites kept liquor stores and marijuana dispensaries open during coronavirus

A large lobbying effort mobilized almost immediately. Conducted outside the public’s view, its goal was to keep hundreds of stores open, thousands of Denverites employed, and entire industries functioning across the city.




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$558 million in federal coronavirus help arrives on Colorado’s Front Range

In some cases, cities and counties have been hesitant to spend the emergency appropriations, because the federal government hasn't told them exactly how to.