Logo Image
|Articles|April 16, 2020

Contagion Live News Network: Coronavirus Updates for April 16, 2020

Stay up to date on the latest COVID-19 news from Thursday, April 16, 2020.

Welcome to the Contagion Live News Network I’m Michaela Fleming and this is your coronavirus update for Thursday April 16th.

There are now more than 2 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide. Six hundred thousand of those cases are in the United States.

Social distancing may be far from over in New Jersey — the headquarters of Contagion®. Governor Phil Murphy recently said that he would not be shocked if social distancing continued into June or even July. Cases in the Garden State have been rising by the thousands each day and have surpassed 70,000. According to Murphy, when social distancing is lifted a new reality may include decreased capacities in restaurants and places where gatherings are held along with symptom screening prior to entry.

Be sure to check out Contagion®’s updated listicle on COVID-19 clinical trials that has been adapted from clinicaltrials.gov.

Last night we featured an article on Abbott Laboratory’s launch of a COVID-19 serology test and 2 emergency use authorizations for COVID-19 antibody tests.

New COVID-19 articles also zero in on the potential impact that COVID-19 can have on mental health. A new study has found that health care workers treating COVID-19 face a higher risk of insomnia. Additionally, a letter included in the CDC’s Emerging Infectious Diseases examined the emergency psychological crisis interventions that were implemented in China in the wake of COVID-19 spread. Finally, a viewpoint in JAMA Internal Medicine breaks down guidance on psychological first aid which can help offset short and longer-term mental health consequences of social distancing.

Also be sure to check out our latest expert interview. In this interview we were joined by Dr. Jeannette Bouchard, an infectious diseases pharmacy fellow at the University of South Carolina and Prisma Health.

For other stories relevant to COVID-19 and the latest infectious disease news, visit ContagionLive.com. To track the spread of the pandemic in the United States and abroad, be sure to use the Contagion® Outbreak Monitor.

For the Contagion Live News Network, I’m Michaela Fleming. Thanks for tuning in.

Related to this article

View more
Measles Update: October 16, 2026
Measles Update: October 16, 2026
The latest CDC numbers show an 8.1% increase in measles cases from week-to-week, bringing the 2026 US total to 4410 confirmed cases. A CDC disease detective is going to Pennsylvania to aid in the state's massive outbreak, and the agency reports on a rare measles complication that is uniformly fatal.
Read more
NFID Survey Finds Respiratory Vaccine Gap Driven by Lack of Clarity, Not Hesitancy
NFID Survey Finds Respiratory Vaccine Gap Driven by Lack of Clarity, Not Hesitancy
The National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID) recently held its respiratory season kick-off, which included the release of its annual respiratory disease survey. This year, the survey revealed the gap between vaccine support and uptake. Robert Hopkins Jr, MD, medical director of NFID delves deeper into the findings of the survey and the vaccine uptake challenges associated with certain immunizations.
Read more
Measles Update: October 9, 2026
Measles Update: October 9, 2026
The latest CDC numbers show a 5.0% increase of measles cases from week-to-week. The US total reached 4080 confirmed cases, 78% above all of 2025.
Read more
FAQ: What You Need to Know About Measles in 2026
FAQ: What You Need to Know About Measles in 2026
With US measles cases nearing 3,900 this year and Pennsylvania reporting its fifth measles-related death, here is a review of how the virus spreads, how it is prevented and managed, and what severe disease looks like.
Read more
FAQ: Pneumonic Plague
FAQ: Pneumonic Plague
A laboratory technician at a Siberian anti-plague institute has died of pneumonia of unknown cause, prompting quarantines and contact monitoring while Russian officials stop short of confirming plague.
Read more