Nebraska Crossing Outlets says it will fully open its doors on April 24 for brick and mortar shopping.
The outlets will allow its more than 80 tenants to invite customers to shop in what it called a “soft opening.”
Nebraska Crossing Outlets, near Omaha, would become one of the first malls to fully open back up across the country.
Owner and developer Rod Yates told CNN his tenants, which include several global retail brands, asked to use his outdoor outlet as a case study to see what best practices are necessary to start opening storefronts across the country and globe.
“At some point here, we got to start thinking about how brick and mortar is going to interact with retailers and customers and so we found an opportunity here to kind of do that,” Yates said in an interview with CNN.
“We’ll experiment, we're going to walk, we're going to be very, very cautious,” he added.
The mall has largely been open for individual stores to fulfill curbside pick-up orders but haven’t let customers actually inside the stores. This soft opening would change that. The outlet mall is home to retailers like Nike, Adidas, Polo Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade among others.
The state’s peak is expected around May 2, eight days after the outlet mall reopens.
Yates said he’s communicated with Ricketts about the outdoor mall opening, saying the governor cautioned against creating any mass opening events — leading to the “soft opening” that will gradually transition to a full opening in May, according to a letter sent to stores.
As a precaution, Yates said the mall bought 100 of infrared forehead thermometers to give to each store, encouraging them to take the temperatures of employees and possibly even customers. But the use is not mandatory. Covid-19 can be contagious even when those infected don’t have fevers.
Yates said he will also leave crowd size regulation up to individual stores. The outdoor mall sits on more than 40 acres of land, Yates said, but shop sizes vary so creating a one-size fits all mandate for stores isn’t ideal. He does not expect all stores will participate in the opening.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Tuesday that the state will have access to 1 million N95 masks.
"Today, in consultation from the White House, we have received or will receive a total of 1 million N95 masks, those are probably the most sought after piece of PPE right now, there's obviously been a worldwide run on that. Working with the White House, they've earmarked us a million," DeSantis said at a news conference Tuesday.
He said Florida's Emergency Management Department will also be delivering 1.2 millionprocedure masks, 100,000 face shields, 500,000 gloves, 60,000 containers of hand sanitizer, and 35,000 gowns.
In total, DeSantis said the state will have distributed:
President Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro appeared on Fox News after the White House briefing to defend the President’s WHO funding halt and discuss how it could impact US-China relations.
“The World Health Organization is a single failure during this epidemic. They basically hid information from the public, they failed to call this a pandemic long after others had rightfully done so. There is blood on their hands. I think President Trump is absolutely correct to have a full investigation of how that happened and what China’s role might’ve been to that," Navarro said.
Pressed on how this could impact future trade negotiations with China, he called those “interesting questions” but went on to talk about supply chains.
Asked again later in the interview how coronavirus will impact the US-China relationship, Navarro said, “We have to find out where it originated. We have to understand why China did not tell us for six weeks in which we lost precious time preparing for a pandemic.”
Honolulu will begin requiring people to wear facial coverings when visiting essential businesses starting Monday.
Mayor Kirk Caldwell said the new requirement applies to businesses like grocery stores. People will not be required to have a commercially-produced mask, he said.
The mayor said the order does not apply to people working in offices that are not open to the public, although facial coverings are still recommended at those businesses. People also must cover their faces when riding public transportation.
To avoid confusion, Caldwell said there is one major exception to the rule: no one should wear a mask in a bank.
“Usually when people go into a bank with a mask, it's not a good outcome,” Caldwell said.
The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW), which represents over 900,000 grocery workers, said today that 30 union members have died from coronavirus.
UFCW said another nearly 3,000 food and grocery workers “have been directly impacted by COVID-19,” based on reports from local unions.
“The coronavirus pandemic represents the greatest health and safety crisis that America’s grocery and food workers have ever faced. Since the beginning of the outbreak, these workers have been on the front lines of this terrible pandemic,” UFCW International President Marc Perrone said in a statement.
The directly impacted workers include those who have tested positive for Covid-19, missed work due to self-quarantine, are awaiting test results, have been hospitalized or are symptomatic, the union said.
The UFCW says it representing 1.3 million people in grocery stores, meatpacking, food processing, retail shops and other industries and has members in all 50 US states, Canada and Puerto Rico.
The largest professional association of physicians, the American Medical Association, labeled President Trump’s announcement that he will put a hold on funding for the World Health Organization as “dangerous.”
AMA President Dr. Patrice A. Harris issued a statement today in response to Trump's announcement.
“During the worst public health crisis in a century, halting funding to the World Health Organization (WHO) is a dangerous step in the wrong direction that will not make defeating Covid-19 easier.
Fighting a global pandemic requires international cooperation and reliance on science and data. Cutting funding to the WHO – rather than focusing on solutions – is a dangerous move at a precarious moment for the world. The AMA is deeply concerned by this decision and its wide-ranging ramifications, and we strongly urge the President to reconsider.”
Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker praised President Trump for saying during the White House press briefing that it was up to the states to decide when to reopen their economies.
"Well, it's a good thing that the President finally recognized that it's the Constitution that authorizes the governors to have the power to reopen their states. And so I appreciate that," he said.
On the issue of acquiring supplies, Pritzker said he isn't relying on the federal government for help.
"We've gotten very little help from the federal government," he said. "It's fine. I've given up on any promises that had been made. I hope something will get delivered from the federal government, but I don't expect it anymore."
The surgery chair of a New York City hospital says more patients are departing than arriving.
Dr. Craig Smith of the New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Irving Medical Center also said the number of patients in the Intensive Care Unit and on ventilators appears to be leveling off at two hospitals who are bearing the brunt of those cases.
Smith wrote these details in a daily note to faculty and staff.
“We have very little idea why Covid-19 is so lethal and resistant to treatment in certain patients,” Smith said. “Autopsy in Covid mortalities has a relatively high probability of contributing to the advancement of medical science."
He added: "Because phone consent is not considered acceptable—a significant hurdle when visitors are not allowed. We are pursuing solutions to that unintended consequence of an administrative policy that was less often objectionable pre-pandemic.”