March 30 coronavirus news

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin suggested there will be a fourth stimulus package to handle the effects of coronavirus, which could include hazard pay for first responders, as the President suggested earlier today.

The negotiation team is not yet working on a fourth bill, he said, noting that the Treasury Department is “working around the clock” to get the third stimulus programs up and running, but “We’re ready to work with Congress if we need more enhancements or additional funds.”

He added, “If we run out of money and this is a huge success, we will absolutely go back to Congress and ask for more money.”

Mnuchin reiterated that this will be a rough quarter and the administration is “sympathetic” to those who have lost their jobs. 

“I think we’re going to have a rough quarter because we’ve shut down major parts of the economy,” he said.

He said loans through the Small Business Administration should be available starting on Friday, and documents and instructions will be released “later today,” calling it a “very simple process.”

US markets opened solidly in the green on Monday, building on last week's spike.

Here's how the markets opened today:

Some context: The rally comes after the markets fell sharply Friday but still enjoyed historic gains for the week. The Dow skyrocketed 12.8% last week — its best since June 1938. The S&P 500 finished up 10.3%, the strongest since March 2009.

The oil market remains in disarray. US oil prices tumbled 6% to $20.25 a barrel, leaving them on track for the lowest close since 2002. 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the US Navy Hospital Ship Comfort — which is expected to dock in the city today — will be provide a “morale boost” to the people.

“The fact the Navy is here, the military is here to help new York City in our hour of need, that is amazingly important to this city” he told Alisyn Camerota on “New Day.”

About the Comfort: The ship will help ease the burden on hospitals treating coronavirus patients. It will be used to relocate shore-based patients undergoing treatments that are not coronavirus-related.

It contains 12 fully-equipped operating rooms, 1,000 hospital beds, radiology services, a medical lab, pharmacy, optometry lab, a CAT-scan and two oxygen producing plants, according to the Navy.

Watch more:

Federal, state and local governments have the responsibility of ensuring that hospitals are receiving the supplies they need to respond to the US coronavirus crisis, Dr. Deborah Birx, White House coronavirus response coordinator, said Monday morning. 

She continued: "What's really important here is to look at all aspects of the supply chain. What does each hospital have and how are they being supplied? Are they being supplied by the private sector or are they relying on the pre-movement of the stockpile that went into warehouses."

"The hospitals are too busy to define what they need," she said.

At least 93 people have died of coronavirus in the Netherlands in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 864, according to the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. 

Some context: This is a decrease in the trend from recent days. 

Construction of Los Angeles’ SoFi Stadium, the future home of the NFL’s Rams and Chargers teams, will continue after a worker tested positive for coronavirus.

The indoor, 70,000-seat venue is expected to open this July.

President Trump said the White House is evaluating how to provide some health care workers hazard pay, given that some of them don’t qualify for a stimulus check. 

He added that “the percentage of them having a problem is relatively high, even when they have the equipment … these are really brave people. Actually they are warriors in a sense. No, we are looking at different ways of doing it, primarily through the hospitals.” 

A 68-bed field hospital is being constructed in New York City's Central Park to accommodate additional coronavirus patients, Mayor Bill de Blasio said yesterday.

It will be operational by tomorrow.

The Central Park Conservancy is also working with Mt. Sinai Hospital and Samaritan’s Purse to build the hospital, de Blasio said.

Here's what it looks like:

New York State has more than 1,000 coronavirus-related deaths as of this morning, a state official tells CNN. That is up from 965 deaths on Sunday, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced.

The governor’s call for "all hands on deck" in the state experiencing the worst of the coronavirus pandemic in the US has turned out more medical staff, a surge in medical supplies and a hospital in Central Park expected to be operational tomorrow.