Coronavirus deaths in nursing homes doubled in one week

Thursday, April 16, 2020 Good morning, NBC News readers.    As President Donald Trump looks to reopen the economy, the U.S. death toll from coronavirus has climbed to more than 32,000 people.   Here's what we're watching this Thursday morning.   Coronavirus deaths in nursing homes more than doubled in a week. Families fear the actual number could be way higher. The number of reported coronavirus deaths in long-term care facilities has more than doubled to 5,670 since last week, according to state health data gathered by NBC News.   Amid the high mortality rate, families with loved ones in nursing homes are worried they are being left in the dark, as the federal government does not keep track of the deaths or require these facilities to report outbreaks to other residents.    The news comes as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases around the world topped 2 million on Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.   The United States has the highest global death toll, with  COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, killing more than 32,000 people in the country as of late Wednesday, according to NBC News' tally.    Amid those statistics, President Donald Trump said that the pandemic may have reached its peak in U.S.   "The battle continues, but the data suggests that nationwide we have passed the peak of new cases," Trump said during Wednesday's coronavirus briefing in the White House Rose Garden. "These encouraging developments have put us in a very strong position to finalize guidelines for states on reopening the country."    Here are some other developments:    Trump threatened Wednesday to adjourn Congress so he can unilaterally install nominees to federal positions that he said are pertinent to the coronavirus crisis, an unprecedented move that critics likened to a dictatorship. "Perhaps it's never been done before. Nobody's even sure if it has. But we're going to do it," he said. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced an executive order mandating that everyone in the state must wear a mask or face-covering in public when social distancing is not possible. New York is the hardest hit state in the country, with more than 15,000 COVID-19 deaths as of late Wednesday. Check out our live blog for the latest updates.   See maps of where the virus has spread in the U.S. and worldwide. Video: Families fear for loved ones in nursing homes as coronavirus toll grows White House drafts patchwork plan to ease social distancing and reopen economy A draft plan to reopen the economy being circulated by the Trump administration would advise areas with low numbers of coronavirus infections to begin pulling back on social distancing measures after May 1, with harder-hit areas possibly having to wait an additional month or more.   Public health experts have warned that easing restrictions too soon could cause a resurgence in infections just as there are signs of leveling off in certain places.   The plan acknowledged the risk of a resurgence and called for large-scale hiring of public health workers to support testing, contact tracing and data entry.   Trump has repeatedly predicted a quick economic recovery once the restrictions put in place to stem the spread of the pandemic start to ease.    But economists and other key financial figures say that the recovery won't be immediate, and that the repercussions of the pandemic will be felt for months and maybe years to come.   Look out for another major economic indicator at 8:30 a.m.ET when the weekly unemployment claims report is released. The number of claims over the last three weeks brought the cumulative total to over 16 million.   Earlier this week Trump read a long list of business titans who would be part of a new advisory group to lead the country's economic revival.    But while happy to participate, the vast majority of those on the list were not informed that they would be named by the president and not told in advance what their roles might be.   Video: $350 billion fund for emergency small business loans could soon run out 'Lock her up!': Anti-Whitmer lockdown protestors swarm Michigan Capitol, some carrying firearms Demonstrators, some carrying firearms, descended on the state capitol in Lansing, Michigan, on Wednesday to protest Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's restrictive stay-at-home order, clogging the streets with their cars while scores ignored organizers' pleas to stay inside their vehicles. "Stay in your dam[n] car and put the freaking rifles away ... You're going to ruin this for everyone!" a commenter posted amid fierce social media reaction to the gathering.   And one Michigan health worker blasted the "idiots" protesting the stay-home who were preventing him from getting to the hospital to treat coronavirus victims.  Video: Thousands at the Michigan State Capitol blasted the governor's stay-at-home order 'We can't run away': Medical residents thrust into crisis balance pride and fear Medical residents in New York City described their fears and hopes to NBC News and said they never imagined they would have to bear witness to so much death this early in their careers.     "I never in a million years thought that I would ever be in this situation," Daniela Tello, a medical resident in Brooklyn, said. "I wake up every day and I feel like I'm living a nightmare."  Video: EMS workers speak out from front lines of coronavirus crisis: 'You're coming to work to deal with death all day' Want to receive the Morning Rundown in your inbox? Sign up here. Plus   Elizabeth Warren says she would be Joe Biden's vice presidential running mate if she was asked.  Privacy is a right, but it may not be free. How does $3 a month sound? Baseball Hall of Famer Roy Halladay was on drugs and doing stunts before fatal plane crash, NTSB report says. THINK about it  Trump's "total authority" boast reveals the paradox — and perils — of Trumpism, Charlie Sykes, editor-at-large of the Bulwark and MSNBC contributor, writes in an opinion piece.  Shopping   Got cabin fever? Here are some activities that might help you and your kids keep busy and entertained. One fun thing With many senior living facilities across the country on indefinite lockdown, one company has made it their mission to provide virtual entertainment for the isolated residents. Video: Virtual bingo and livestream concerts: The show goes on for senior communities Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown.     Please send me any comments or questions you have on the newsletter: petra@nbcuni.com   And if you find the Morning Rundown helpful, please share it. Newcomers can sign-up here.   Be safe and stay healthy, Petra Cahill Download the NBC News Mobile App Follow NBC News Privacy Unsubscribe

New Funding Opportunity Available for Training Energy Professionals

Two New Tutorials for Energy Planning Tools

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. State and Local Spotlight April 16, 2020 News New Funding to Help Train Professionals Managing Distributed Energy Technologies  The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced $4.5 million in funding for education and training programs to help first responders, safety officials, and building managers and owners who are newly interacting with distributed energy resources, such as solar energy systems, energy storage systems, efficient building technologies, and alternative-fuel vehicles. This program will provide professionals with educational materials and training that prepare them to work safely and effectively with new energy technologies. The Education Materials for Professional Organizations Working on Efficiency and Renewable Energy Developments (EMPOWERED) funding program is a collaborative effort across three Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy offices: Solar Energy Technologies Office, Vehicle Technologies Office, and Building Technologies Office. Learn more on EMPOWERED. Request for Information on Potential Funding for Grid-Interactive Efficient Buildings in Connected Communities DOE is seeking public input on a potential funding opportunity to demonstrate and evaluate the capacity of energy-efficient buildings to interact with one another and the grid to provide greater degrees of demand flexibility at scale. "Connected Communities" —groups of grid-interactive efficient buildings that collectively work to maximize efficiency—leverage smart technology, distributed energy resources, flexible loads, and grid integration to cost-effectively reduce energy use and peak demand while improving the occupant experience. These services can be especially beneficial to public-sector stakeholders managing critical infrastructure and providing community services. The Request for Information (RFI) allows a wide range of stakeholders to work with DOE on issues related to Connected Communities and help design and shape the goals of a potential Connected Communities funding opportunity. DOE anticipates awarding 4–6 projects of up to $7 million each in the form of cooperative agreements, or up to $42 million, and intends to issue the funding opportunity in summer 2020 via the EERE Exchange. Responses to the RFI must be submitted electronically to CCPilotsRFI@ee.doe.gov no later than Tuesday, May 12, 2020, at 5 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time (EDT). Read and respond to the full RFI. Learn more about the Connected Communities program. Funding Available for Rural Energy Savings Program The U.S. Department of Agriculture is now soliciting letters of intent for loan applications under the Rural Energy Savings Program (RESP), which assists rural families and small businesses achieve cost savings by providing loans to eligible entities that agree to make loans to qualified consumers to implement durable cost-effective energy efficiency measures. To be considered for financing, submit an electronic letter of intent to resp@usda.gov by May 18, 2020. For more information, visit the funding announcement. Solar Energy Innovation Network Team Round Two Selections DOE and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) selected eight teams for the Solar Energy Innovation Network, a collaborative research effort to develop new solar energy applications in two areas: rural communities and commercial-scale settings. The teams will have access to critical technical expertise and facilitated stakeholder engagement so that their replicable innovations can make their way into the real world. The teams are listed below: Commercial-Scale Solar Groundswell, Inc. Sustainable CUNY of the City University of New York Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council Reno, Nevada Solar in Rural Communities Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources and Rhode Island Division of Public Utilities and Carriers UMass Clean Energy Extension at University of Massachusetts Amherst Cliburn and Associates, LLC East River Electric Power Cooperative and University of Minnesota. This round of the Innovation Network will end in spring 2021, and the teams will present their findings to other entities facing similar challenges. Sign up for the Innovation Network mailing list to stay informed of their progress. New: 2020 U.S. Energy & Employment Report The Energy Futures Initiative and the National Association of State Energy Officials published the 2020 U.S. Energy & Employment Report, the fifth annual in-depth survey of the U.S. labor force and skills trends in five energy sectors across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The survey found that the U.S. Energy and Energy Efficiency sectors currently employ 6.8 million workers, and added 120,300 new jobs in 2019, over 7% of all newly created jobs nationwide. The report tracks employment trends in fuels; electric power generation; transmission, distribution, and storage; energy efficiency; and motor vehicles. To download the full report, state reports, and Executive Summary, visit the report website. Now Available: SLOPE Platform Beta Demonstration On February 20, DOE and NREL demonstrated and answered questions about the State and Local Planning for Energy (SLOPE) Platform Beta, which featured an introduction to SLOPE Beta's components: Electricity and natural gas consumption Energy efficiency potential Renewable energy technical generation potential Levelized cost of energy. The demonstration also highlighted example use cases for state and local governments to effectively leverage SLOPE's capabilities. Access the SLOPE demo recording. The SLOPE Platform, a collaboration between eight DOE technology offices and NREL, is a tool to enable more data-driven state and local energy planning by integrating dozens of distinct sources of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and (coming soon) sustainable transportation data and analyses into an easy-to-access, online platform that supports state and local decision making. Access SLOPE Beta. For more information on the Beta, please view the SLOPE fact sheet. New Tutorial Videos for REopt Lite™ Have you heard about REopt Lite, but need some guidance on how to use the tool? Or have you never heard of it, but are you looking for a web tool that allows users evaluate the economic viability of distributed energy technologies, identify system sizes and battery dispatch strategies to minimize energy costs, and estimate how long a system can sustain critical load during a grid outage? Look no further – users can now view a series of short tutorial videos for REopt Lite. The videos provide an overview of REopt Lite inputs, plus in-depth reviews of the tool's load profile, advanced utility rate, and resilience inputs, along with overviews of the tool's financial and resilience optimization outputs. CAISO Shows Wind Can Play a Major Role in Renewable Integration NREL, California Independent System Operator (CAISO), Avangrid, and General Electric recently demonstrated the capability of large utility-scale wind plants to provide essential reliability services to the electricity grid. Partially funded by DOE's Wind Energy Technologies Office, the testing was conducted in late 2019 over several days at Avangrid's 131-megawatt Tule Wind Farm, east of San Diego. The testing covered a range of the wind plant's capabilities to provide frequency and voltage support, including ramping, regulation up and down following CAISO's dispatch signals, primary frequency response, and reactive power and voltage control even when wind is not blowing. The testing was successful, and the resulting CAISO report concludes that many existing wind plants have the necessary hardware to provide the full suite of essential grid services, provided some simple changes are made in how they operate. Access the report for more information. New Website on Optimizing Solar PV Performance for Longevity The federal government alone has increased the amount of on-site solar photovoltaic (PV) systems tenfold in the last eight years. The performance of PV systems for any building owner can be optimized throughout their 20- to 30-year lifespans by conducting proper operations and maintenance (O&M). This new website offers an overview of PV performance, how to measure it, and how to optimize it with an O&M plan. Check out Optimizing Solar PV Performance for Longevity. Webinars Opportunities for ESPCs in Data Centers May 21, 1:00–2:30 p.m. EDT This webinar will present an overview of opportunities for using energy saving performance contracts (ESPC) and what makes data center efficiency improvements uniquely positioned and well-suited for an ESPC. Join the webinar on Thursday, May 21 from 1:00–2:30 p.m. EDT. Register now. Infrastructure Investments in the News Church in Fairfax, Virginia to be state's first C-PACE project: The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Fairfax will be the first property in Virginia to take advantage of the new commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) program to upgrade its aging heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system. Connecticut Green Bank Surpasses 300 Closed C-PACE Projects at the End of 2019: According to the Connecticut Green Bank, the state's C-PACE program surpassed 300 closed projects at the end of 2019, reaching a total of more than $163 million in clean energy financing investment in local businesses. Available Grants and Funding Opportunities Learn about what types of EERE funding are available for state and local governments. To view all open funding opportunity announcements, access: EERE Funding Opportunity Exchange Grants.gov State and Local Solution Center WIP's mission is to enable strategic investments in energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies through the use of innovative practices across the United States and a wide range of stakeholders, in partnership with state and local organizations and community-based nonprofits. The State and Local Solution Center is WIP's online technical assistance portal containing tools, resources, and best practices to help public-sector stakeholders develop an energy plan, design and implement energy programs, pay for energy initiatives, and access and use energy data to achieve their energy goals.

DOE Facebook EERE Facebook Energy Saver Facebook DOE Twitter EERE Twitter Daniel R Simmons' Twitter DOE YouTube DOE LinkedIn EERE LinkedIn Update your subscriptions, modify your password or email address, or stop subscriptions at any time on your Subscriber Preferences Page. You will need to use your email address to log in. If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact support@govdelivery.com. This service is provided to you at no charge by DOE's Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy (EERE). Visit the website at energy.gov/eere.

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