Below are 20 updates from the six states hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic:
New York (203,377 confirmed cases as of 7:25 a.m. CDT April 15)
1. As New York looks ahead to conducting a phased reopening of the economy and gradually lifting restrictions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo doubled down on the importance of widespread availability of accurate tests at a media briefing April 15. New York has been aggressively conducting testing — more than 500,000 tests have been conducted in the state to date — but that is not enough, and states that need to do large amounts of testing will need help from the federal government, he said. Individual states and private companies will not be able to bring testing to a national scale.
"Testing capacity to me is like the [need for] ventilators over the last month," he said.
The state's department of health has developed an antibody test, which can help identify people who have been exposed to the new coronavirus, and will begin using these tests this week. Currently, the health department can test up to 2,000 people per day with these tests. The health department has also asked the FDA to expedite approval of an antibody finger-prick test that can test up to 100,000 people a day.
The state plans to coordinate statewide testing and prioritize healthcare workers, first responders and essential workers to receive antibody tests, Mr. Cuomo said.
Contact tracing and isolating confirmed cases of the disease will also be essential to reopening society, he added.
2. New York state will give 100 ventilators to Michigan and 50 to Maryland, the governor said April 15. Since New York has stabilized and the curve has flattened, the state is in a position to help other states that are seeing surges in COVID-19 cases.
3. On April 14, New York added 3,700 people to its coronavirus death toll after officials decided to include people who had not tested positive for the virus but were presumed to be victims of it, The New York Times reports. As of 7:25 a.m. CDT April 15, the death toll in the state stands at 10,842.
In addition, the pandemic may be causing an indirect rise in deaths among residents who do not have the virus, in part due to the fact that the healthcare system is overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients. Oxiris Barbot, MD, commissioner of the New York City health department, told the Times that 3,000 more people died in the city between March 11 and April 13 than would have been expected in the same time period in a year without a health crisis such as the one the world is currently facing.
4. New York will receive $12,000 per COVID-19 case from the first $30 billion in emergency funding designated for hospitals in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. But this figure is far below what some other states are getting, an analysis by Kaiser Health News shows. States such as Minnesota, Nebraska and Montana — with far fewer COVID-19 patients than New York, the hardest-hit state in the country — are getting more than $300,000 per reported COVID-19 case. This is because HHS is distributing the emergency funding based on providers' historical share of Medicare revenue rather than COVID-19 burden.
5. The Navy ship Comfort, deployed to New York, has treated 120 people so far, the Department of Defense told Business Insider. About half of those patients had the new coronavirus. The ship is currently treating 70 patients and has 34 people in intensive care.
Four crew members aboard the ship tested positive for the coronavirus, of whom three have recovered fully and the fourth is in quarantine.
Read more about how New York is fighting the coronavirus here.
New Jersey (68,824 confirmed cases as of 7:25 a.m. CDT April 15)
1. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is advocating for more testing to reopen the state after its highest single-day death toll due to complications associated with COVID-19 was recorded on April 13, NBC Philadelphia reports.
The state's previous highest single-day spike came on April 7, when 232 COVID-19-related deaths were recorded.
New Jersey currently has 66 testing sites, but is calling for federal support to expand testing, which is critical to reopening the state, Mr. Murphy said during an April 13 media briefing.
"We need reliable, safe, quick access to testing for everyone and we need it everywhere," Mr. Murphy said.
2. New Jersey is expected to hit its peak in COVID-19 hospitalizations on April 25, New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli, BSN, RN, said during a media briefing.
New data is projecting that 15,922 patients will be hospitalized at the new peak in the next 10 days, with 3,821 expected to be in critical care and 3,503 on ventilators.
"If this is the worst case, I think our hospitals are very prepared to take care of these individuals," Ms. Persichilli said.
As of 9 p.m. CDT April 14, 8,270 patients in New Jersey had been hospitalized due to COVID-related complications, with the state running at 58.1 percent of its ventilator capacity at 1,705.
3. New Jersey is prohibiting admissions to 123 nursing homes that cannot cohort and maintain the appropriate infection prevention interventions, Ms. Persichilli said, according to NJ.com.
"[Long-term care] continues to be our greatest concern," she said in an April 14 media briefing.
Facilities that could not meet state requirements, including cohorting patients on a separate wing, placing residents in private rooms, and providing adequate staffing and personal protective equipment, are banned from accepting new residents.
At least 342 of New Jersey's 375 long-term care facilities have at least one patient with COVID-19, according to Ms. Persichilli, with at least 5,945 people of the 60,000 living in those homes testing positive for the virus.
Read more about how New Jersey is fighting the coronavirus here.
Massachusetts (28,164 confirmed cases as of 9:25 a.m. CDT April 15)
1. Massachusetts is expanding COVID-19 data available to the public, including the bed capacity in each city.
The state has a total of 17,600 beds suitable for COVID-19 patients, with 6,900 of those beds in Boston. As of 4 p.m. CDT April 13, 8 percent of Massachusetts' intensive care unit beds were occupied and 37 percent of its non-ICU beds were occupied.
2. Hyannis, Mass.-based Cape Cod Healthcare will staff and manage a 94-bed field hospital at the Joint Base Cape Cod in Bourne.
The field hospital, set to open April 20, has the capacity to care for 125 COVID-19 patients, according to WHDH.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker toured the facility April 14 and announced plans for two additional field hospitals in the Merrimack Valley and on the South Coast.
"We certainly hope we don't need to use these beds, but we wanted to plan ahead in case we need to," Mr. Baker said.
3. Mr. Baker warned that there are "difficult days and weeks ahead" in the state, as Massachusetts has yet to hit its peak of COVID-19 cases, according to NBC Boston. Mr. Baker said data is indicating that the peak will hit Massachusetts closer to April 20, and the state is expected to see about 2,500 new cases confirmed each day surrounding the peak.
Read more about how Massachusetts is fighting the coronavirus here.
Michigan (27,011 confirmed cases as of 7:25 a.m. CDT April 15)
1. Michigan is expanding testing criteria for COVID-19 to include people with mild symptoms.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services published a COVID-19 test site finder to help residents locate a testing facility near them.
"Expanded testing is needed to learn more about how COVID-19 is spreading in our state," said Joneigh Khaldun, MD, CMO and chief deputy director of MDHHS. "We want to make sure people know that if they have symptoms, they should work with their medical provider to be tested."
2. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer extended an executive order April 14 that loosens hospital regulatory requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic.
MDHHS now has the ability to waive certain requirements to boost the operational capacity and efficiency of hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
The order, initially set to expire April 15, has been extended through May 12.
3. As of April 14, TCF Center in Detroit is treating eight COVID-19 patients, Click On Detroit reports.
The field hospital has about 970 beds and was designed to care for patients recovering from the virus to ease the burden on hospitals. It will not feature an ICU or provide care to patients who need ventilation.
Construction is underway to transition the Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi into a field hospital, which is set to be completed on April 20.
Read more about how Michigan is fighting the coronavirus here.
California (25,779 confirmed cases as of 9:25 a.m. CDT April 15)
1. California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled six key indicators April 14 that will be used to decide when and how to gradually modify the state's stay-at-home order. The indicators focus on expanded testing and contact tracing; infection prevention for at-risk populations; ensuring health systems can handle surges; development of COVID-19 therapies; the ability for public businesses to support physician distancing; and the ability to reinstate a stay-at-home order if necessary.
2. In California, 2,599 healthcare workers have tested positive for COVID-19 as of April 14. This is an increase of 98 from April 12. The confirmed case number includes individuals who tested positive after on-the-job exposure, as well as travel and close family contact, according to data from the California Department of Public Health.
3. About 116 medical personnel were removed from the Navy hospital ship Mercy, which is docked in Los Angeles, after seven crew members tested positive for COVID-19, according to ABC News. The 116 personnel were taken to a nearby naval base and are in quarantine. There are more than 1,000 personnel onboard the ship.
Pennsylvania (25,591 confirmed cases as of 7:25 a.m. CDT April 15)
1. Lawmakers in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives passed a bill April 14 that will allow businesses to reopen, provided they follow CDC guidelines on social distancing, according to CBS Philly. The bill passed 107-95, with all Democrats voting no.
Republican lawmakers said that the order closing nonessential businesses in the state is the most restrictive in the country and has resulted in the "highest number of [unemployment] claims in the entire United States," Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai said, CBS Philly reports.
2. At a press briefing April 13, Gov. Tom Wolf said that he sees the fight against the new coronavirus as a three-stage process, according to Trib Live. The state is currently in the first phase, where it is fighting to reduce the rate of infection by using mitigation efforts, such as staying at home and social distancing.
The second phase will only be possible when widespread, accurate testing is available. Reopening society can only happen in the second phase, but when the state will reach this stage is "far from perfectly clear," Mr. Wolf said.
The third stage is reaching a new normal in society, and Mr. Wolf said he hopes to reach that stage "in a reasonable time frame."
3. The Pennsylvania Department of Health secretary has finalized interim guidance for hospitals to help them navigate a situation in which patient care needs dramatically exceed the supply of resources available.
"As we have seen in Italy and New York, the rapid spread of COVID-19 can quickly overwhelm the healthcare system," said Secretary of Health Rachel Levine, MD. "We hope that our hospitals never have to use crisis standards of care to make treatment decisions. The only way we can prevent a worst-case scenario from happening is to stay home and practice social distancing."
Read more about how Pennsylvania is fighting the coronavirus here.
Editor's note: Two updates were added after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave his daily briefing April 15, increasing the number of total updates from 18 to 20.