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April 23 coronavirus news

By Julia Hollingsworth, Ben Westcott, Adam Renton, Rob Picheta and Zamira Rahim, CNN

Updated 2:40 p.m. ET, April 26, 2020

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10:17 p.m. ET, April 22, 2020

7 more big cats at the Bronx Zoo test positive for coronavirus

From CNN's Laura Dolan

A guard stands at the entrance to the Bronx Zoo on April 6, in New York City. Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Seven additional big cats at New York's Bronx Zoo have tested positive for Covid-19, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, the non-profit organization that runs the zoo.

That makes a total of eight big cats who contracted coronavirus at the famed zoo in New York City.

Some context: Three tigers and three African lions exhibited symptoms in early April when the zoo announced a 4-year-old Malayan tiger, named Nadia, tested positive for the virus. Testing on these six cats now confirm they have Covid-19. One more tiger also tested positive despite showing no symptoms.

The zoo says all eight animals are behaving normally and eating well.

The cats were infected by a staff member, although it is unclear how the infection occurred.

Preventive measure are now in place for all staff who are caring for cats in the four zoos run by the Wildlife Conservation Society in New York. They include the Bronx Zoo, the Central Park Zoo in Manhattan, the Prospect Park Zoo in Brooklyn and the Queens Zoo.

The zoos have been closed since March 16.

8:40 p.m. ET, April 22, 2020

Social distancing measures to remain until there's a vaccine or treatment, says English medical expert

From CNN's Mick Krever and Milena Veselinovic in London

The UK will have to rely on social distancing measures until there is a vaccine or a treatment for coronavirus, England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty said during the daily Downing Street briefing on Wednesday.

“In the long run, the exit from this is going to be one of two things, ideally. One of which is highly effective vaccine, and there are a variety of ways vaccines can be deployed. They can be deployed for dampening down epidemics, they can be deployed to protect vulnerable people. Or, and or, highly effective drugs so that people stop dying of this disease even if they catch it, which can prevent this disease in vulnerable people," Whitty said.

Whitty cautioned that achieving that goal will take time and that the outbreak will have to be managed through social distancing measures until then.

“Until we have those, and the probability of having those anytime in the next calendar year are incredibly small, and I think we should be realistic about that, we’re going to have to rely on other social measures, which of course are very socially disruptive, as everyone is finding at the moment. But until that point, that is what we will have to do," Whitty said.

"But it's going to take a long time and I think we need to be aware of that," he added.

9:21 p.m. ET, April 22, 2020

Fauci says the US must "carefully consider how we get back to normal"

Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci championed the mitigation efforts implemented across the US and considers them the "basis for our being able to say that we can now think seriously about reopening America."

Fauci's comments come after numerous states, including Georgia and Tennessee, have said they would reopen parts of their economies soon.

"So what has happened is that the mitigation that we put in with the first 15 days and then the 30-day mitigation program of physical distancing worked. So it got us to where we are today. It is a successful formula. It is the basis for our being able to say that we can now think seriously about reopening America," Fauci said at the White House's coronavirus task force briefing today.

Fauci concluded his remarks with a request for lawmakers around the country to be careful to avoid a "rebound" of coronavirus cases.

"I plead with the American public, with the governors, with the mayors for the people with the responsibility, although I know one has the lead to leapfrog over things, don't do that. Do it in a measured way. This is a successful formula. The problem is if we don't do that, there is a likelihood that we'll have a rebound. And the one way not to reopen the economy is to have a rebound that we can't take care of," he said.

9:26 p.m. ET, April 22, 2020

Trump says he signed immigration executive order before briefing

US President Donald Trump arrives at the daily coronavirus briefing at the White House in Washington, on April 22. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

US President Donald Trump said he signed his immigration executive order before the coronavirus press briefing on Wednesday.

The order is expected to temporarily halt the issuance of new green cards and work visas -- steps that had already effectively been in place amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"In order to protect our great American workers, I've just signed an executive order temporarily suspending immigration into the United States. This will ensure that unemployed Americans of all backgrounds will be first in line for jobs as our economy reopens. Crucially, it will also preserve our health care resources for American patients," he said.

"We have to take care of our patients, we have to take care of our great American workers and that's what we're doing," he added. "So I just signed it just before coming into the room, and very important."

9:09 p.m. ET, April 22, 2020

CDC director clarifies comments about the second wave of coronavirus in the US

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention clarified comments he made to the Washington Post about how the second coronavirus outbreak could emerge this winter in conjunction with the flu season to make for an even more dire health crisis.

"There's a possibility that the assault of the virus on our nation next winter will actually be even more difficult than the one we just went through," CDC Director Robert Redfield said in a story published Tuesday. "And when I've said this to others, they kind of put their head back, they don't understand what I mean."

Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Redfield said that the second wave "could be more difficult, more complicated" and not "worse."

"When I commented yesterday that there was a possibility of the fall/winter -- next fall and winter it could be more difficult, more complicated," Redfield said. "When we had two respiratory illnesses circulating at the same time, influenza and the coronavirus, but I think it's really important to emphasize what I didn't say. I didn't say this was going to be worse. I said it was going to be more more difficult and potentially complicated because we'll have flu and coronavirus circulating at the same time. I want to emphasize we continue to build the nation's public health infrastructure to ensure that we have the capacity to stay in the containment mode."