Today’s coronavirus update: Kawasaki-like condition found in NYC kids, new airline rules

More than 80 New York City children have now been sickened with a baffling inflammatory condition potentially linked to the coronavirus, authorities said Wednesday.

The mystery disease — formally known as pediatric multi-system inflammatory syndrome, or PMIS — affects blood vessels and organs and has symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease and toxic shock.

It has already resulted in the deaths of two young children and a teenager in the state — though one Queens 8-year-old who survived was able to return home to a parade of well wishers Tuesday.

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Here’s what else we learned today: 

New York crisis:

• New York Attorney General Letitia James said she’s probing whether the NYPD’s social-distancing enforcement is targeting minorities.
• NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea got heated when responding to the accusations, saying, “I will also not have my Police Department called a racist police department.”
• Meanwhile, Mayor Bill de Blasio revealed that he has never been tested for the coronavirus, despite making regular visits to hospitals across the city.
• And Gov. Andrew Cuomo made the eyebrow-raising claim that the state “did everything we could” to protect nursing home residents, despite nearly 5,400 people dying from the virus in the facilities across the Empire State, and growing calls for a probe into policies that forced them to take COVID-positive patients.

Research continues:

• Researchers in the US and the UK found that loss of taste and smell are better indicators of COVID-19 than fever and cough.
• Under lockdown, most Americans get confused about what day it is five times every week, according to this study.

School’s in:

• Most college students said they would go back to classes if their schools reopened in the fall — even if there is no coronavirus vaccine or cure.
• In France, where schools have reopened, preschool students were forced to play in sectioned-off areas at recess to maintain social distancing.

Air travel:

• Yet another traveler has ripped American Airlines for operating a packed flight amid the crisis.
• Reports of crammed flights and lack of protective face masks have prompted several major airlines to lay out new safety guidelines.
• But this seems to be taking it a little far. Low budget UK carrier Ryanair will now require passengers to ask permission to go to the bathroom.

Meanwhile …

• A 28-year-old Japanese sumo wrestler became the first known athlete to die of COVID-19.
• New York City’s Department of Sanitation has launched a cooking show, declaring “No New Yorker should go hungry because of this crisis.”
• And could porn help save Hollywood? As Tinseltown gears up to restart production, it could turn to the adult entertainment industry for tips on how to keep performers safe.