NY governor calls on other states for help

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called on nurses and doctors from across the country, if the situation in their home states isn’t urgent, to travel to New York to mitigate the outbreak.

“In this battle, the troops are our health care professionals,” Cuomo said. “We need relief. We need relief for nurses working 12-hour shifts. We need relief for doctors. Help us now and we will return the favor.”

Cuomo also faced questions about the state’s stockpile of personal protective equipment like face masks after President Donald Trump rhetorically asked on Sunday if masks were “going out the back door.”

Cuomo said that while he’s not “unwilling to tangle” with Trump on other issues, he would rather keep the focus on the coronavirus and asked that Trump “just tell the truth” about the federal response.

“I am not engaging the president in politics,” Cuomo said. “My only goal is to engage the president in partnership.”

North America’s largest conference center to become temporary hospital

Officials in Illinois announced plans Monday to convert Chicago’s McCormick Place Conference Center into an Alternate Care Facility with a capacity for up to 3,000 COVID-19 patients.

The temporary facility will be set up at three locations on the McCormick Place Campus.

The build-out will take place in phases over the next several weeks, officials said. Gov. JB Pritzker has activated 30 airmen from the Illinois National Guard to assist with the general labor associated with the project, according to the governor’s office. Construction will be supported by $15 million in federal funding from FEMA to support the Army Corps’ construction plan, the office said.

Illinois is seeing a surge of coronavirus cases, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

“The cases that I report do not capture all of the cases in Illinois of COVID-19,” Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike said in a press conference Monday. “We know that we’re not testing everyone.” – Grace Hauck

Prince Charles no longer in self-isolation

Prince Charles was out of self-isolation after testing positive for the coronavirus, his royal residence, Clarence House, confirmed.

The heir to the British throne, 71, was under selfisolation for seven days and is now operating under the current standard government and medical restrictions that apply nationwide in accordance with the United Kingdom’s National Health Service. In the U.S., the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends 14 days of self-isolation. – Anika Reed

Nursing homes report scores of positive test

Seventy-four residents of a Tennessee nursing home and 66 at a Maryland facility have tested positive for the coronavirus, authorities say. In Nashville, two of the residents have died. In Mount Airy, Maryland, one resident has died.

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said multiple state agencies and Pleasant View Nursing Home workers are taking “urgent steps to protect additional residents and staff ” who may have been exposed. Carroll County Health Officer Ed Singer said the victim was a man in his 90s with underlying health conditions.

In Tennessee, 33 Gallatin Center for Rehabilitation and Healing staff members also tested positive for the coronavirus and are isolating at home, Gov. Bob Lee’s office said.

Outbreaks in nursing homes raise critical concerns because the elderly and those with underlying health issues are considered most at risk from the virus. One of the most lethal outbreaks took place in Kirkland, Washington, where more than 30 deaths have been linked to the Life Care Center. – Holly Meyer, The Tennessean

Israel’s Netanyahu, staff temporarily isolate

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his staff will temporarily isolate themselves pending an epidemiological study that is expected to reveal that he was not exposed to the coronavirus, his office said.

Netanyahu’s office denied reports that a decision had been made to quarantine him for a week after his parliamentary adviser, Rivka Paluch, was diagnosed with the virus. Israel had more than 4,300 confirmed cases and 16 deaths as of Monday.