Tag: cdc

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

Read Time: 7 Minutes

  • The U.S. reported 42,401 new cases and 1,032 additional deaths.
  • At least 37 states are reporting positive cases at colleges or universities – infecting more than 25,000 students and campus staff.
  • As the White House coronavirus task force privately warned state officials that they faced dire outbreaks over the summer, Trump and his administration publicly downplayed the threat of Covid-19, documents released Monday by the House Select Subcommittee on Coronavirus show.

The subcommittee published eight weeks of internal White House coronavirus reports, which are prepared by the task force and sent privately to governors. The newly published reports begin on June 23 and the most recent report that’s published is from Aug. 9. The White House has declined to make all the reports public.

“Rather than being straight with the American people and creating a national plan to fix the problem, the President and his enablers kept these alarming reports private while publicly downplaying the threat to millions of Americans,” subcommittee Chairman James Clyburn (D-SC) said in a statement.

  • A panel of experts convened by the National Institutes of Health said that there is no evidence that a treatment for coronavirus touted by President Trump works. 

The treatment in question, known as convalescent plasma, was issued an Emergency Use Authorization by the FDA in August, a move highlighted by Trump at a White House press conference.  

  • The Trump administration said it will not join a global effort to develop, manufacture and equitably distribute a coronavirus vaccine, in part because the World Health Organization is involved, a decision that could shape the course of the pandemic and the country’s role in health diplomacy.

More than 170 countries are in talks to participate in the Covid-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, which aims to speed vaccine development and secure doses for all countries and distribute them to the most high-risk segment of each population.

  • Top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci is calling on Americans to follow public health guidelines during Labor Day weekend festivities, urging people to prevent coronavirus outbreaks in the coming weeks resulting from large parties and gatherings for the holiday. He cautioned it could determine the fate of a resurgence of the virus this fall.
  • Admiral Brett Giroir said that if Americans do what they are supposed to during the Labor Day weekend, the U.S. should be in “really good shape going into the fall.”

“Labor Day is coming up and we need to stress personal responsibility,” said Giroir, who is leading the Trump administration’s Covid-19 diagnostic testing efforts. “So avoiding crowds, outdoors for family gathers are much — much better than indoors —wearing the mask and protecting the vulnerable.”

  • The CDC issued an order banning landlords from evicting tenants from properties they can no longer afford to rent due to income lost to the coronavirus pandemic.

The order would make it illegal to evict any individual who expects to make less than $99,000 or a joint-filing couple that expects to make less than $198,000 in 2020.

  • More than $3 billion in loans issued through the coronavirus emergency relief program for small businesses may have gone to firms that already received support or should have been excluded from the program.

The report from the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis examined the Trump administration’s dissemination of more than 5.2 million PPP loans totaling $525 billion since April. It found that:

– Some 10,000 loans totaling more than $1 billion went to companies that received more than one PPP loan, a violation of the program.

– More than 600 loans totaling about $96 million were given to firms that have been excluded from doing business with the government because they’ve been “debarred or suspended” from receiving federal contracts.

– More than 350 loans totaling $195 million were awarded to businesses that have been flagged for “significant performance and integrity issues.”

– More than 11,000 loans totaling about $3 billion were given to companies that did not include complete information from applicants.

  • FEMA officials said the agency will end federal funding for cloth face masks in schools around the country because they do not apply to direct emergency protective measures.
  • Nurses across the country are still struggling to get the personal protective equipment they need to safely treat patients during the coronavirus pandemic, a new survey shows. Many are still re-using PPE, even though it’s not safe to do so,
  • Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is facing criticism from Republicans over her recent visit to a San Francisco hair salon, whose owner claimed the visit violated citywide COVID-19 restrictions prohibiting indoor service at the establishments.
  • People who regularly watch Fox News or listen to conservative talk radio are significantly less likely to wear face masks than the population at large, a new poll from the University of New Hampshire found.
  • A study from West Health and Gallup found that half of all U.S. adults are concerned that a major health event among those in their household could lead to bankruptcy.
  • The number of jobless people saying that unemployment insurance does not cover basic expenses including food, clothing, and housing nearly doubled after key benefits expired in July. According to a new poll, 50 percent of unemployed people said their benefits fell short of them covering basic expenses, up from 27 percent in July.
  • Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt blasted the “failure of leadership” in America’s coronavirus response and warned of more hardship to come, unless dramatic steps are taken to crush the virus.

“People have died unnecessarily because government was slow to react to common and simple things like mask wearing and social distancing.”

  • Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie has criticized the US government’s handling of the issues of systemic racism and the coronavirus pandemic, labeling them a “tragic embarrassment.”
  • Politico reported that the U.S. Health and Human Services Department is planning to offer a $250 million contract to a communications firm to help it “defeat despair and inspire hope” about the pandemic.
  • The NFL reported four new confirmed positive tests among players and six new confirmed positive test results among team personnel.
  • MLB postponed another Oakland Athletics game. The team has had four games postponed since a reported Covid-19 positive test. 
  • Foster Farms temporarily closed its main poultry processing plant in Livingston, California on Tuesday night following an outbreak that led to nearly 400 coronavirus infections and accounted for eight deaths, as health officials say the plant failed to follow its advice on coronavirus earlier in the year.
  • James Madison University reported 138 new cases among its students and employees since Monday.
  • At least 1,017 students at the University of South Carolina currently have Covid-19, according to the university’s latest update.
  • The University of Missouri has at least 424 active student Covid-19 cases. 
  • Utah State University found elevated amounts of Covid-19 in sewage samples collected from four residence halls on campus.

The university issued a safety alert on Sunday calling for mandatory testing and quarantine of all 287 students living in those four dorms.

  • Rhode Island Gov. Gina M. Raimondo (D) announced her extensive coronavirus testing plan to reopen schools to in-person learning. Nearly every school district in Rhode Island will reopen on Sept. 14 to in-person learning except for the Providence and Central Falls school districts.
  • New York City’s schools will delay the start of in-person classes until Sept. 21, averting the threat of a teacher strike — and putting the nation’s largest school district on track to be the only major urban district in the country to start the fall term with kids in classrooms.
  • Maryland will allow indoor theaters and outdoor venues to reopen Friday with capacity restrictions. 
  • White House tours, which were suspended on March 12, are set to resume September 12. Face coverings will be required.
  • Gyms and museums in North Carolina can open starting Friday. 
  • South Carolina will allow limited, outdoor visitation at select long-term care facilities in the state.
  • The Florida Department of Health and the Florida Division of Emergency Management are severing all ties with Quest Diagnostics after Quest’s failure to follow Florida law and report all COVID-19 results in a timely manner.
  • More than 600 students and staff members in two Florida counties are in quarantine or isolation.
  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) announced that he will lift the state’s ban on visiting nursing homes that has cut off vulnerable seniors from family since mid-March over fears of spreading the new coronavirus.
  • A White House coronavirus task force report sent to officials in the state of Iowa warned of dire new case increases across rural and urban areas and called for a mask mandate, the closure of bars, and a plan from universities as the pandemic intensifies in the Midwest.
  • Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) has extended the Covid-19 state of emergency in Oregon until November 3. 
  • San Francisco will relax restrictions on businesses under the state’s new four-tiered coronavirus reopening system. 

The classification allows hair salons, nail salons, and massage parlors to resume operations outdoors on Tuesday, according to Mayor London Breed, and outdoor gyms will be allowed to reopen as early as Sept. 9.   

Breed also announced the immediate reopening of indoor shopping malls in the city.

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Forbes,  Fox News,The Hill, Independent, MSNBC, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

Read Time: 4 Minutes

  • The U.S. reported 46,546 new cases and 1,023 additional deaths.
  • A model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington that previously has been cited by the White House now forecasts that more than 317,000 people in the U.S. will die from Covid-19 by December. 
  • Several states are not heeding new federal health officials’ calls to reduce COVID-19 testing, joining a broad rebuke of the Trump administration by public health leaders.

Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey and New York all plan to continue to test asymptomatic people who have been exposed to COVID-19, despite new guidance from the CDC.

  • Groups representing local health departments asked the CDC to reverse a change to coronavirus testing guidance that they argue would hurt their ability to slow the spread of the disease.

“CDC’s own data suggest that perhaps as many as 40 percent of COVID-19 cases are attributable to asymptomatic transmission. Changing testing guidelines to suggest that close contacts to confirmed positives without symptoms do not need to be tested is inconsistent with the science and the data.”

NOTE: The Trump administration’s moves pressuring science agencies to take controversial steps on the coronavirus are threatening to undermine public confidence in health experts.

  • Top FDA spokeswoman Emily Miller has been removed from her position after just eleven days on the job. Her ouster comes amid the backlash the agency is facing for issuing an emergency authorization for convalescent plasma to treat COVID-19 patients.
  • The FDA extended emergency use authorization for remdesivir to all patients hospitalized for coronavirus, regardless of the severity of their disease.
  • Operation Warp Speed, the White House’s race for a Covid-19 vaccine, will likely continue if Donald Trump loses the presidential election in November, Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the US Department of Health and Human Services said.
  • Pharmacists will be able to administer the Covid-19 vaccine to children and adults once a vaccine becomes available, Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the CDC said.
  • The coronavirus pandemic has had an especially harsh impact on people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and they need special support. Many have lost the critical support they need and cannot advocate for themselves.
  • White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said that President Trump would be willing to sign a coronavirus relief package totaling $1.3 trillion, an increase over the $1.1 trillion proposed by Senate Republicans but well short of the $2.2 trillion relief package House Democrats have demanded.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has stood firm in her demand for a $2.2 trillion relief package.

  • A senior White House official told CNN that “everybody” in America will get COVID-19. The White House statement is consistent with Trump’s reported desire to execute a “herd immunity” pandemic response. Experts say such a plan would kill millions.
  • Children and young people are far less likely than adults to get severe cases of COVID-19 infection, and death from the pandemic disease among children is rare, according to a new UK research study.
  • Researchers for the first time have identified a 25-year-old man living in Reno, Nevada, who tested positive for the virus in April after showing mild illness. He got sick again in late May and developed more severe COVID-19.
  • Dozens of Secret Service agents who protect President Trump and Vice President Pence have either contracted the coronavirus or were benched after coming in contact with people infected with COVID-19.
  • Two attendees and two event support staff at the Republican National Convention in North Carolina tested positive for COVID-19. 
  • Singer-songwriter Van Morrison is launching a campaign encouraging his fellow artists to fight against “pseudo-science” surrounding the coronavirus pandemic, warning that false claims are delaying efforts to slow its spread.
  • French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday his government was doing everything possible to avoid another nationwide coronavirus lockdown but added it would be dangerous to rule out any scenario.
  • German Chancellor Angela Merkel said the coronavirus pandemic was likely to worsen in coming months, and that life would not return to normal until a vaccine to combat it had been developed.
  • Texas Christian University in Fort Worth is reporting 447 active cases of Covid-19 among students and university employees.
  • About 65% of all K-12 Vermont students will participate in remote learning at least three or four days a week.
  • Health officials in Massachusetts and Rhode Island confirmed a bachelorette party that occurred last month in the Ocean State is now linked to nearly 20 COVID-19 cases. “Everyone who went to that wedding except one person tested positive for COVID,” Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R) said.
  • New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said schools are still on track to start in-person learning on Sept. 10.

Youth sports will also return on or around Sept. 15, with a permit required to restart leagues. Leagues receiving permits will be given three strikes of violating health and Covid-19 guidelines before having their play suspended.

  • A 1-year-old African-American boy from Covid-19 in Cobb County, just outside of Atlanta, became the youngest Covid-19 death reported in the state.
  • The Colorado Supreme Court declined to hear a case challenging Gov. Jared Polis’ (D) statewide mask order.

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Forbes,  Fox News,The Hill, Independent, MSNBC, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So

Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

Read Time: 4 Minutes

  • The U.S. reported 44,264 new cases and 1,129 additional deaths. 
  • A forecast published by the CDC now projects more than 200,000 coronavirus deaths in the U.S. by September 19.
  • An ensemble forecast published by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now projects more than 200,000 coronavirus deaths in the US by September 19.
  • The American Medical Association, the country’s largest doctors group, sharply criticized the Trump administration’s new guidance that asymptomatic people do not need to be tested. 

“Months into this pandemic, we know COVID-19 is spread by asymptomatic people. Suggesting that people without symptoms, who have known exposure to COVID-positive individuals, do not need testing is a recipe for community spread and more spikes in coronavirus.”

  • CDC Director Robert Redfield announced that people who come into contact with confirmed or probable COVID-19 patients but do not have symptoms can receive tests, reversing a change that had sparked protests from the scientific and medical communities.
  • Several large U.S. states including Texas are not heeding new federal health officials’ calls to reduce COVID-19 testing of some exposed to the virus, joining a broad rebuke of the Trump administration by public health leaders.
  • President Trump announced that the administration has struck a $750 million deal to acquire 150 million rapid coronavirus tests to be deployed in nursing homes, schools and other areas with populations at high risk.
  • A new report has added to the growing body of evidence that the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine does not help coronavirus patients get better. In fact, combining it with an antibiotic actually raises the risk of death by 27%, the study found.
  • Democrats and the Trump administration made little to no progress Thursday during renewed negotiations over a COVID-19 relief package, as the two sides remain far apart on hundreds of billions of dollars in emergency aid for states, renters, the unemployed and the hungry.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- CA) said she offered White House chief of staff Mark Meadows a concession by proposing a $2.2 trillion price tag for the entire package, down from the Democrats’ most recent demand of $2.4 trillion floated earlier this month.

  • A school district in Salem County, NJ has canceled its remaining summer sports practices after a student-athlete tested positive for the coronavirus following a party with other teenagers at the Jersey Shore.
  • Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) announced he will authorize all counties in the state to reopen schools for in-person classes, citing a decrease in coronavirus cases in most areas.
  • Administration officials at the University of Alabama reportedly instructed professors to keep quiet about the outbreak of more than 500 coronavirus cases, instructing them in an email not to tell their students if someone in a class tests positive.

“Do not tell the rest of the class,” the email to the politics department reads, with the word “not” underlined.

  • Eight players from the University of Nebraska football team are suing the Big Ten Conference, requesting an order to invalidate the Big Ten’s decision to not play football this fall because of the coronavirus pandemic.
  • North Carolina State University is asking students who live on campus to move out of their housing by Sept. 6, following what the University Chancellor referred to as a “rapid spread” of coronavirus cases.
  • The University of Southern California reported 104 positive cases in the last three days. 
  • Florida reported 3,269 new cases and 135 additional deaths – at least the third day in a row that the number of reported deaths have declined. 
  • Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey extended mandatory mask requirements for another 5 weeks.
  • New cases of Covid-19 in Ohio are continuing to move to rural counties, Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said. 

DeWine said the counties with the highest increases in the last two weeks all have a population of under 60,000.

  • Minnesota recorded its first back-to-back days of double-digit coronavirus deaths since the third week of June.
  • Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) announced that she is closing all bars, taverns, breweries and nightclubs in six counties because of an uptick in Covid-19 cases.
  • New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D) issued a new public health order effective Saturday that will relax certain occupancy restrictions, she announced today.

Houses of worship may operate at 40% capacity up from 25% in enclosed buildings and can still have services outside. 

Food and drink establishments can operate indoor dining service at 25% capacity. All tables, indoors or outdoors, can have no more than six people and must be at least six feet apart.

  • Hawaii Governor David Ige (D) has approved Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s (D) emergency order requiring individuals on Oahu to both stay at home and work from home for two weeks

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Forbes,  Fox News,The Hill, Independent, MSNBC, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

Read Time: 3 Minutes

  • The U.S. reported 43,440 new cases and 1,249 additional deaths.
  • The number of Americans newly diagnosed with the coronavirus is falling — a development experts say most likely reflects more mask-wearing but also insufficient testing — even as the disease continues to claim nearly 1,000 lives in the U.S. each day.

About 43,000 new cases are being reported daily across the country, down 21% from early August. 

  • Moderna Inc said its experimental COVID-19 vaccine induced immune responses in older adults similar to those in younger participants, offering hope that it will be effective in people considered to be at high risk for severe complications from the coronavirus.
  • Health care workers should be the first to get vaccinated against coronavirus if and when a vaccine becomes available, vaccine advisers suggested Wednesday.
  • Abbott Laboratories received emergency use approval from the FDA for its rapid coronavirus tests, which can render results in 15 minutes as opposed to several days and are priced at about $5 each.
  • The CDC was instructed by higher-ups within the Trump administration to modify its coronavirus testing guidelines this week to exclude people who do not have symptoms of Covid-19 — even if they have been recently exposed to the virus, according to two federal health officials.

One official said the directive came from the top down. Another said the guidelines were not written by the CDC but were imposed.

  • The Trump administration’s coronavirus testing coordinator Adm. Brett Giroir is denying reports that political officials pressured the CDC into narrowing its guidelines about who should be tested for COVID-19.
  • Dr. Anthony Fauci said he was undergoing surgery during the task force meeting when the CDC discussed updating coronavirus testing guidelines. He said he was  “concerned about the interpretation of these recommendations” and was “worried it will give people the incorrect assumption that asymptomatic spread is not of great concern.”
  • More than 26,000 coronavirus cases have been reported at U.S. universities since the beginning of the pandemic, according to a new survey. At least 64 deaths have been identified at more than 750 institutions.
  • Airbnb is the latest company to signal that it is bracing for a long pandemic, telling employees they can work from home through next summer, even if their offices reopen before then.
  • New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday that he will be signing an executive order to allow New Jersey gyms to reopen on Tuesday, with a maximum indoor capacity of 25%. 

Additionally, fitness classes must adhere to one customer for every 200 square feet, all members and staff must wear masks, logs must be kept of all gym members and staff, six feet distance must be kept between all gym equipment and all equipment needs to be sanitized.

  • Democratic State Legislators in Georgia issued a press release Wednesday morning to “urge Gov. Brian Kemp (R) to issue a statewide mandate requiring masks or face coverings in public.”
  • The North Texas Poison Center said it has received 46 calls related to people ingesting bleach since August 1. Health officials are attributing the troubling increase to inaccurate and misleading information circulating online related to COVID-19 treatment.
  • California will not abide by new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that do not recommend Covid-19 testing for those without symptoms, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news conference.

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Forbes,  Fox News,The Hill, Independent, MSNBC, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

Read Time: 3 Minutes

  • The U.S. reported 36,679 new cases and 1,147 additional deaths.
  • The scientific community warned that the Trump administration “grossly misrepresented” its claim that convalescent blood plasma curtails COVID-19 deaths by 35%. Experts were perplexed by the source of that figure since it does not appear in any of the documents issued by FDA or by the Mayo Clinic, which led the study on which emergency authorization was based. 

The brunt of the criticism was leveled at FDA Commissioner Stephen M. Hahn, MD, who said that 35 out of 100 COVID-19 patients “would have been saved because of the administration of plasma.” Several statisticians and scientists criticized what they said was a gross overstatement of the benefits, with some calling for him to walk back his comments. Hahn did so on Monday.

  • The World Health Organization warned that the use of plasma from recovered coronavirus patients as a treatment for COVID-19 does not provide “conclusive” results and remains experimental despite President Trump issuing emergency authorization and touting it as a “breakthrough.”
  • Since August 6, when the last report came out, there have been 74,160 new cases in children in the U.S., bumping the total from 358,469 to 432,629, an increase of roughly 21% in only 14 days.
  • Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, is warning against prematurely distributing a potential coronavirus vaccine through emergency use authorization, saying it could negatively harm the testing for other vaccines.
  • State and local government officials say FEMA has indicated it might no longer provide reimbursements for personal protective equipment and other supplies needed to fight coronavirus.
  • As part of new guidance for workplace safety, the CDC said employees at retail and service industry jobs should not attempt to force customers to follow COVID-19 prevention policies, such as wearing a mask, if the customers appear to be upset or violent. 

“Don’t argue with a customer if they make threats or become violent,” the CDC said.

  • The North Dakota Department of Health says COVID-19 cases linked to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally earlier this month in South Dakota have been confirmed in eight states. Cases linked to the massive rally have quickly climbed, initially starting with a dozen cases reported to now more than 100.
  • Iowa State University announced it has 130 reported cases of Covid-19 on campus after the school’s first week of class. 
  • Los Angeles Chargers, Los Angeles Rams and SoFi Stadium announced that Rams and Chargers games will be held without fans in attendance until further notice.
  • Three Republicans in the Ohio House have prepared articles of impeachment against GOP Gov. Mike DeWine, alleging he violated residents’ civil liberties by issuing a stay-at-home order and requiring them to wear masks, claiming the face-covering rule “promotes fear, turns neighbors against neighbors, and contracts the economy by making people fearful to leave their homes.”
  • Georgia reported 2,236 new cases and 107 additional deaths.
  • For the second week in a row, Georgia is among the worst in the nation for new coronavirus cases. Georgia is currently third in the country for the seven-day average of new cases per 100,000, with 23.40 cases per 100,000.

Governor Brian Kemp (R) remains unwilling to mandate masks statewide, something public health officials say would help improve the state’s abysmal standing.

  • Florida confirmed nearly 9,000 new COVID-19 cases among children within 15 days in August as schools reopen, according to state data released Tuesday.

The Florida Department of Health recorded a total of 48,730 confirmed coronavirus cases among children, according to a report with data through Monday. The data shows an increase of 8,995 confirmed cases since the previous report, which included data from 15 days earlier, on Aug. 9.

  • Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Giménez (R) announced that restaurants can resume indoor dining at 50% capacity starting Monday.
  • Mississippi reported 801 new cases and 67 additional deaths.

There were 144 new cases involving teachers and 292 involving students in Mississippi during the week of Aug. 17 to 21. There were 31 outbreaks last week and 584 teachers and 3,913 students are currently quarantined due to Covid-19 exposure. 

  • Shelters in Texas will be stocked with PEE, use social distancing to separate people and have testing available, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) said in a press conference as the state prepares for Hurricane Laura.
  • San Francisco International Airport will become the first U.S. airport to provide free on-site rapid coronavirus testing for its employees. SFO announced Monday that it will use Dignity Health’s GoHealth Urgent Care to administer testing inside the airport, with results in about 15 minutes.
  • Los Angeles County reported 989 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus Tuesday — the first time since June it has reported fewer than 1,000 new cases in a day.

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Forbes,  Fox News,The Hill, Independent, MSNBC, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus.COVID-19 Update

Read Time: 4 Minutes

  • The U.S. reported 47,146 new cases and 1,134 additional deaths.
  • At least 175,204 Americans have died from the coronavirus, according to the latest data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
  • Covid-19 deaths in the U.S. should start dropping around parts of the country by next week, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said, as Americans stick to mitigation efforts that help curb the spread of the virus.

Mitigation measures like controlling crowds and shutting down bars work, Redfield said, but it takes time until they’re reflected in the numbers.

  • The death toll from the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. could spike to as high as 6,000 people a day by December in the worst-case scenario, according to Dr. Chris Murray, the chair of the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington.

Researchers predict the more likely scenario of the number of daily deaths will decrease slowly in September – then rise to nearly 2,000 a day by the start of December.

  • The number of serious mortgage delinquencies rose to a 10-year high in July, according to a report released Friday by financial data firm Black Knight.

The number of homes with mortgage payments more than 90 days past due but not in foreclosure rose by 376,000 in July to a total of 2.25 million. 

  • A new analysis of 194 countries, published by the Centre for Economic Policy Research and the World Economic Forum, has definitively shown that countries led by women had “systematically and significantly better” COVID-19 outcomes, often locking down earlier and therefore suffering half as many deaths on average as those led by men.

“Our results clearly indicate that women leaders reacted more quickly and decisively in the face of potential fatalities.”

  • The Infectious Diseases Society of America has revised its coronavirus treatment guidelines, recommending that anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine not be used for COVID-19 patients at all.

“IDSA’s expert guidelines panel concluded that higher certainty benefits (e.g., mortality reduction) for the use of these treatments are now highly unlikely even if additional high quality data would become available,” the group said in a statement obtained by Bloomberg News.

  • Dr. Anthony Fauci weighed in on the national debate to reopen schools, saying a unilateral approach will not work, and recommending each area shape their plans for virtual or in-person classes around the local coronavirus positive test rates.
  • Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden said he would shut down the U.S. to blunt the spread of the coronavirus if scientific advisers said such a move was necessary.

“I will be prepared to do whatever it takes to save lives because we cannot get the country moving until we control the virus,” Biden said.

  • Thirty-six students at Purdue University in Indiana have been suspended by school officials after taking part in a gathering held by the Circle Pines Cooperative, a fraternity-like organization unique to Purdue’s campus. The students were suspended over violations of the school’s coronavirus guidelines, while the Circle Pines Cooperative itself had been ordered to suspend operations.
  • Vanderbilt University athletics program has revealed that an unspecified number of members of the football team have tested positive for Covid-19.
  • Public schools in Boston will start the year remotely on Sept. 21 with a phased in approach to returning students to the classroom. 
  • The Dallas Independent School District will start the academic year with full remote learning through at least Oct. 6.
  • Just over a week after announcing the Kentucky Derby would allow fans in the stands to witness the 146th edition, organizers have changed their minds. The rescheduled Run for the Roses will now be held without spectators.
  • Major League Baseball has announced two additional New York Mets games – the team’s games this weekend versus the New York Yankees have been postponed due to Covid-19 concerns. 
  • Over 700 participants are slated to take part in the reenactment of the historic Civil War Battle of Gettysburg this weekend.

When asked about whether masks will be enforced for the event, Kirk Davis of the Gettysburg Battlefield Preservation Association said “some men will be wearing masks, some will not. They’ll be absolutely at least six feet apart.”

Due to the volume and crowd size of the event, organizers will place particular emphasis on social distancing even during the reenactment.

He added that anyone going inside buildings or in the museums would be required to wear masks, and room occupancies cannot exceed 15 people.

  • At least 26 people spread across three states have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in connection to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, and one has been hospitalized. The event drew hundreds of thousands of people despite fears of the pandemic.
  • New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu tweeted Friday that effective immediately, all restaurants in the state can go to 100% capacity for indoor dining.
  • Arkansas reported 887 new cases and 22 additional deaths. This is the largest number of deaths recorded since the pandemic began, and the fourth highest day of Covid-19 cases in the state, Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) said.
  • A federal judge in Louisiana has ruled that the governor’s order mandating the closure of bars due to COVID-19 concerns was constitutional, shutting down a challenge from several bar owners in the state.
  • Covid-19 hospitalization rates in Los Angeles County are the lowest since April, Mayor Eric Garcetti (D) announced at a press conference.

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, Independent, MSNBC, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus COVID-19 Update

Read Time: 5 Minutes

Coronavirus/COVID-19 

  • The U.S. reported 46,436 new cases and 1,356 additional deaths. Test Positivity Rate has increased every day this week – from 5.531% on Sunday to 6.802% on Thursday.
  • Thanks to safety protocols like masks and social distancing, new case trends are now “going in the right direction,” said Adm. Dr. Brett Giroir, the Trump administration official overseeing US coronavirus testing.

Despite the hopeful signs, now isn’t a time to let up or ease measures, he cautioned.

“This could turn around very quickly if we’re not careful,” Giroir said. “We saw that early on after Memorial Day and the couple weeks afterward that sort of started the current outbreak.”

  • Superspreading events – when one or a few infected people cause a cascade of transmissions – may be especially important in driving the coronavirus pandemic in rural areas.

Health officials across the country have reported superspreading events related to birthday parties, funerals, conferences and other large gatherings. “About 2% of cases were directly responsible for 20% of all infections,” researchers wrote in their report, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

  • The Trump administration appears to be reversing course and giving COVID-19 hospital data collection duties back to the the CDC, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing comments from White House Coronavirus Task Force Coordinator Deborah Birx.

Last month, the administration abruptly informed hospitals that they were to stop submitting COVID-19 data to the CDC, and instead begin logging it with TeleTracking, a private firm based in Pittsburgh, rather than the CDC. The rapid change and lack of clear communication from the administration led to weeks of chaos.

  • Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research who will help decide the fate of a coronavirus vaccine has vowed to resign if the Trump administration approves a vaccine before it is shown to be safe and effective.
  • At a campaign stop in Old Forge, PA, Trump criticized the Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf (D) for not having already totally reopened the state, “You’re governor has you in a shutdown. Like, what’s going on? Shutdown Wolf – he’s gonna destroy your soul.” He then claimed that public health measures to slow the spread of coronavirus are “more dangerous than the virus”
  • Trump again compared the U.S. to New Zealand saying, “They had a massive breakout yesterday.” New Zealand reported 5 new cases Wednesday – bringing their total active cases to 101. The U.S. had over 45,000 new cases. 
  • U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) tested positive for coronavirus and has decided to self-quarantine for 14 days. The senator is contacting those with whom he may have had contact. 
  • The White House has formally declared that teachers are essential workers as part of its effort to encourage schools around the country to reopen for in-person learning.

The move is just the latest in the administration’s campaign to pressure districts into bringing back students this fall. The essential worker designation provides guidance for educators that is only voluntary; it calls on teachers to return to the classroom even after potential exposure.

  • MLB announced that because of two positive tests for Covid-19 in the New York Mets’ organization, Thursday’s Mets game against the Miami Marlins at Marlins Park has been postponed.

Additionally, Friday’s scheduled game between the Mets and New York Yankees at Citi Field has been postponed “out of an abundance of caution.”

  • East Carolina University has paused football activities indefinitely. A news alert on the university’s website said the school has identified a cluster of Covid-19 cases within the university’s football team and Clement Hall, which is a university residence hall.
  • North Carolina State University will move all undergraduate classes online starting Monday because of Covid-19 clusters from large parties.

University officials have received “reports of large parties in off-campus apartments,” and identified “three Covid-19 clusters in off-campus and greek village houses” in the last two days.

  • Florida State University has confirmed 42 students on campus have tested positive for COVID-19 over a two-week period.
  • Boston University issued a new policy that allows students who die while attending the school to receive their degree posthumously. 
  •  Laurie Santos, head of Yale University’s Silliman College, has warned students to “emotionally prepare” for people to die from COVID-19 when in-person classes begin this month.

In an email, Santos wrote, “We all should be emotionally prepared for widespread infections — and possibly deaths — in our community. You should emotionally prepare for the fact that your residential college life will look more like a hospital unit than a residential college.”

  • Just over one week into the school year, more than 300 students and teachers have had to quarantine in Martin County, Florida. 
  • Connecticut is currently trending at a 0.8% positivity rate for Covid-19 and is well within the self-imposed metrics to reopen schools in two weeks, Gov. Ned Lamont (D) said. 
  • New York City teachers threatened to strike or bring legal action unless the largest U.S. school district implements a more rigorous COVID-19 testing plan and other safety measures before reopening schools next month.
  • Philadelphia will permit indoor dining to resume Sept. 8, under specific restrictions.

Restaurants cannot be filled to more than 25% capacity and no more than four diners are allowed per table. There will be no bar service and alcohol can only be served with a meal.

  • Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said there has been a significant decrease in coronavirus cases in urban areas, but the state has experienced an increase in cases in rural areas.
  • Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves (R) has issued social distancing measures for college and university outdoor stadiums and game day events. 

Everyone 6 years old and up must wear a mask. Everyone must practice social distancing with people not in their household. Stadium capacity is limited to 25%. No pregame tailgating or rallies outside the stadium are permitted.

  • A teenage girl in Southern California has died from the coronavirus, Orange County health officials announced. 

The girl had “significant underlying medical conditions,” officials said in a news release without providing further details about the child or her health conditions.

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, Independent, MSNBC, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

Read TIme: 4 Minutes

  • The U.S. reported 40,458 new cases and 1,195 additional deaths.
  • More than 22 million coronavirus cases have now been recorded globally, including nearly 800,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
  • The CDC launched a new program that will help monitor the spread of Covid-19 using sewage testing.
  • Testing is “still not completely fixed” across the entire nation, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a town hall with Healthline.com.

“The other thing that’s a problem – still not completely fixed, but fixed in many areas of the country, but not all – is the delay between the time you do the test and you get the result back,” he said. 

  • In the Early stages of the pandemic, the U.S. forced major manufacturers to build ventilators. Now they’re piling up unused in a strategic reserve. Months into a $3 billion U.S. effort, the vast majority of ventilators are going unused. The Department of Health and Human Services said it had handed out 15,057 ventilators by Friday, and there were 95,713 ventilators in the federal stockpile. Of those, 94,352 came from contracts signed since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hit back at President Trump’s comments calling her country’s surge in Covid-19 cases “terrible.”

“I don’t think there’s any comparison between New Zealand’s current cluster and the tens of thousands of cases that are being seen daily in the United States,” Ardern told reporters.

  • CNN’s Anderson Cooper got into a heated on-air clash with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, an ardent President Trump supporter, for pushing an unproven therapeutic treatment for coronavirus.

“You really are a snake oil salesman. I mean, you could be in the Old West standing on a box telling people to drink your amazing elixir that there’s no proof,” Cooper told Lindel.

“I do what Jesus has me do,” he told Cooper.

  • MLB announced that Tuesday’s Cincinnati Reds game against the Royals in Kansas City, Missouri, has been postponed. The Reds previously said a player on the team had tested positive for Covid-19, forcing the postponement of two weekend games.
  • The Chicago Bears will not play home games in front of fans when the 2020 NFL season begins.
  • Eight members of the Greek life system have tested positive for Covid-19 at North Carolina State University. 
  • The University of Notre Dame suspended in-person classes for two weeks, eight days after the school’s fall semester began and after 146 students and a staff member tested positive for the coronavirus. 
  • Michigan State University will conduct the fall semester as online-only instruction, its president announced Tuesday afternoon, days before students were set to move in for the fall.
  • Iowa State University said in a news release that 175 students living in residence halls and campus apartments have tested positive for Covid-19.
  • Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (R) said that all sports will go forward this fall.
  • The University of Alabama announced that spectators will be allowed at home football games.

Approximately 20% of the seating capacity at Bryant-Denny Stadium (approximately 20,000 fans) could be filled, but school officials have prohibited tailgating on campus.

  • New York City’s public schools plan to open their doors to students for some in-person learning when the school year starts in just a few weeks, but more than 300,000 students are opting to stay home for all online learning instead.
  • Pennsylvania will roll out a Covid-19 contact tracing app for residents in September, Health Secretary Dr. Rachel Levine announced Tuesday. 

The app, COVID Alert PA, will use Bluetooth technology and notify Pennsylvanians if they spent 15 minutes or more in close proximity to another person who later tested positive for the virus.

  • Florida reported 3,838 new cases and 219 additional deaths.
  • On a phone call with school district superintendents, Florida Education Commissioner Richard Corcoran told them not to close a school without calling state officials first to discuss it.

“Before you get to that point of closing a classroom or closing a school, we want to have that communication with you because we want to be as surgical as possible,” Corcoran said.

One district leader, who was on the call and who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisal from the state, said some district leaders would now be reluctant to shut down a school and send all students home for remote learning.

  • The board of directors of the Florida High School Athletic Association voted late last week to allow schools to start fall sports Aug. 24 — a decision that ignores a recommendation from the organization’s own medical advisory panel, which had called for delaying fall sports until at least the end of September.
  • Louisiana reported 664 new cases and 28 additional deaths. 
  • The positivity rate in Louisiana has dropped below 10%, Gov. John Bel Edwards said at a news conference.

The positivity rate for the state is 9.4%, Edwards said, dropping the state to the “yellow zone” as classified by the White House coronavirus task force.

  • Hawaii reported 134 new cases on Tuesday, with most in Oahu. The rate of daily new cases is seven times higher than it was a month ago.
  • Honolulu tightened its restrictions on public gatherings as coronavirus cases surge in Hawaii.

“There can be no social gatherings — indoors or outdoors — on the island of Oahu,” Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced in a news briefing Tuesday.

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, Independent, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus, Protests/Racial & Social Justice, Trump Administration, and Presidential Campaign Updates

Read Time: 7 Minutes

Coronavirus/COVID-19

  • The U.S. reported 56,729 new cases and 1,229 additional deaths.
  • The WHO reported 294,237 new Covid-19 cases and 9,985 additional deaths worldwide.
  • President Trump said he disagreed with an assessment from CDC Director Robert Redfield that the United States could face the “worst fall” from a public health perspective if Americans do not follow guidelines to ease the spread of the novel coronavirus.
  • Leaders at the CDC were blindsided this week when President Trump announced that the agency could deploy teams to assist schools with safely reopening in the fall.

The announcement left CDC officials scrambling this week to train staff to be able to deploy if they are called upon, a senior official said. 

The surprise statement by Trump was reminiscent of early on in the pandemic when the CDC Task Force regularly learned about assignments during presidential briefings, finding out in real time along with the public, a senior official said.

The CDC official said the agency is expected to come up with a vaccine plan for schools in at least four states by October, even though there is no realistic expectation that a vaccine would be ready by then.

  • The FDA has granted emergency use authorization to a Covid-19 diagnostic test that uses a new, inexpensive method of processing saliva samples. 

The molecular diagnostic test can yield results in under three hours, researchers said, and up to 92 samples can be tested at once.

  • Covid-19 rates in children are “steadily increasing,” according to nCDC. Children make up more than 7% of all coronavirus cases in the U.S. with the number and rate of child cases “steadily increasing” from March to July.
  • Russia has started manufacturing its new vaccine for COVID-19, the Interfax news agency reported. 
  • The American Heart Association recently warned that coronavirus can cause “devastating” and lasting cardiac complications. 

“These aren’t the patients that are elderly and immunocompromised. They’re patients that are surviving this virus, but now they’re going to have a new chronic medical condition related to surviving this virus that we need to recognize and treat.”

  • President Trump said that Clemson University quarterback Trevor Lawrence told him that players do not want to see the football season cancelled or postponed, after two major athletic conferences have done so already amid the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Three women were arrested in connection with an attack on a 17-year-old Baton Rouge, Louisiana Chili’s hostess after the employee refused to seat a party of 13 diners together, citing company COVID-19 social distancing policy.
  • Conservative pundit Bill Mitchell has been permanently suspended from Twitter, the social media platform.

“[Mitchell] has been permanently suspended for violating the Twitter Rules by using one account to evade the suspension of another account,” a Twitter spokesperson said in an email.

Mitchell confirmed the suspension in a post on the social media app Parler, though he asserted he was booted from Twitter over his stance on wearing a mask amid the coronavirus pandemic.

  • MLB postponed two games between the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates this weekend after a player on the Reds tested positive.
  • The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has identified a third cluster of coronavirus cases since students returned to campus for the fall semester.
  • Georgia Gov. Brian P. Kemp (R) issued a new Covid-19 executive order extending the shelter-in-place order for the medically fragile, continuing the ban on large gatherings and maintaining health and safety protocols for Georgia businesses.

The order says local governments “who choose to impose a Local Option Face Covering Requirement” must not fine businesses, fine violators more than $50, or enforce masks at polling places.

  • A 15-year-old boy from metro Atlanta became the second youngest person to die due to complications from Covid-19 in Georgia. 
  • Florida reported 6,352 new cases and 204 additional deaths – the 53rd consecutive day Florida has reported more than 4,000 cases in a single day.
  • 7,234 children have tested positive in Alabama. Three children have died. 
  • The Wabash, IL County Health Department is looking for people who attended a “mini-prom”  on August 4 and may have been exposed to multiple confirmed cases of coronavirus.
  • Nine Oklahoma Sooners football players tested positive for COVID-19 after returning from a break that began on August 8. “A relatively small number” of other players are also being isolated because of contact tracing.
  • An Oklahoma State University sorority is being quarantined after 23 sisters tested positive for COVID-19.

Officials were alerted Friday night and immediately put the house in quarantine, prohibiting anyone from leaving the facility, which is located off-campus

  • Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has convened a team of public health experts, bioscience executives, government leaders and philanthropists to push for accelerated research, development and production of low-cost, do-it-yourself diagnostic kits based on paper-strip designs that can be used frequently and produce results in minutes, similar to home pregnancy tests. No lab equipment or special instruments would be required.

Trump Administration

  • Trump expressed support for actions taken by his new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and denied that his administration was seeking to create delays in mail ahead of the November election and attempted to shift blame to Democrats for a lack of funding for the Postal Service.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and House Democratic leadership are considering returning from August recess as early as next week to consider legislation addressing issues at the U.S. Postal Service. 

  • Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs (D), the state’s top election official, has accused President Trump of trying to derail November’s general election by hamstringing the United States Postal Service.

“In Arizona, it’s against the law to ‘delay the delivery of a ballot.’ I’ve asked [Arizona] Attorney General [Mark] Brnovich to investigate recent changes at USPS, and whether or not the Trump administration has committed a crime,” Hobbs tweeted.

  • A small group of demonstrators held a noisy protest outside the Washington condo of Postmaster General Louis DeJoy amid growing concerns that he is gutting the U.S. Postal Service to help President Donald Trump win reelection in November.
  • President Trump will withdraw William Perry Pendley’s nomination to lead the Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management, a White House official confirmed to The Hill.

Pendley was a controversial choice for the role because he has previously advocated for selling off public lands. He has also been criticized for comments he made about Islam, the Black Lives Matter movement and undocumented immigrants as well as skepticism about climate change.

  • Following a catastrophic chemicals explosion in Beirut, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale said Lebanon will only receive financial support when its leaders enact reforms to finally respond to their people’s demands for good governance and to end corruption.
  • The U.S. is tracking the situation in Belarus after last weekend’s disputed election then a crackdown on protests, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.
  • The White House said President Trump’s younger brother, Robert Trump, died on Saturday.

Protests/Racial and Social Justice

  • A rally by the far-right group Proud Boys turned violent in downtown Kalamazoo, MI. The chanting, mostly mask-less Proud Boys marched toward Arcadia Creek Festival Place waving American, Trump, and Gadsden flags and other symbols. Violence broke out soon after, with Proud Boys attacking counter-protesters with pepper spray, fists, kicks, and shoves.
  • At Stone Mountain, Georgia, police in riot gear dispersed right-wing demonstrators, some waving the Confederate battle flag and many wearing military gear, and groups supporting the Black Lives Matter movement, after fights erupted between the groups, some of whose members were armed.
  • A Georgia state trooper was arrested and charged with murder on Friday after he fatally shot a 60-year-old Black man who allegedly tried to flee during a rural traffic stop.

Jacob Gordon Thompson, 27, was booked on felony murder and aggravated assault charges stemming from the Aug. 7 death of Julian Edward Roosevelt Lewis.

Presidential Campaign

  • In a move that marks a shift from previous nominating events when candidates are showcased and make a speech on the final night, President Trump will have a role in each day of the Republican National Convention later this month, the Wall Street Journal and Washington Post reported.

The president has also said he plans to accept the nomination from the White House, another unusual move for a party convention.

  • Newsweek has apologized after an op-ed it published about Sen. Kamala Harris drew an avalanche of criticism that it perpetuated a racist conspiracy theory about her eligibility to be vice president.

In the editorial, Chapman University law professor John Eastman suggested Harris, who was born in Oakland, was not a natural-born citizen because her parents were immigrants.

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, Independent, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post

The Past 24 Hours or So – Coronavirus/COVID-19 Update

Read Time: 5 Minutes

  • The U.S. reported 51,998 new cases and 1,181 additional deaths. 
  • Adm. Brett Giroir, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said people should not get “hung up on a number,” when asked if there were a number of tests that the U.S. should be doing.

“We are doing the appropriate amount of testing now to reduce the spread, flatten the curve, save lives – because it’s not the number,” Giroir said.

  • Dr. Anthony Fauci said Americans need to think about returning to some sort of normalcy as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

It is a challenge, but “you can’t interrupt your life, totally, indefinitely. You’ve got to try to safely get back to normal,” he said.

  • Fauci said, “You can’t run away from the numbers of people who’ve died, the number of people getting hospitalized, the surges we’re seeing.”

“How long we’re going to have to be doing this depends totally on us.”

  • Regarding the state of the pandemic, Fauci said, “Bottom line is, I’m not pleased with how things are going.”
  • CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield asked Americans to do “four simple things” for “their country right now and for the war that we’re in against” coronavirus:

Wear a mask

Social distance

Wash your hands

Be smart about crowds

“I’m not asking some of America to do it,” Redfield said. “We all gotta do it.”

  • Joe Biden advocated that a mask mandate be instituted nationwide. 

“Every single American should be wearing a mask when they’re outside for the next three months, at a minimum. Every governor should mandate mandatory mask wearing,” Biden said, adding that experts advised it could save over 40,000 lives over the same time span. 

Biden said, “It’s about your responsibilities as an American. Be a patriot. Protect your fellow citizens.”

  • A new survey by the CDC found that almost 41% of respondents are struggling with mental health issues stemming from the coronavirus pandemic – both related to the pandemic itself and the measures put in place to contain it, including physical distancing and stay-at-home orders.
  • The Senate left Washington, D.C. on Thursday until September — the latest sign that a deal on a fifth coronavirus relief package is, at least, weeks away.
  • Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA.) said that talks between the White House and Democrats on coronavirus relief will resume only when Republicans come to the table with at least $2 trillion.

“When they’re ready to do that, we’ll sit down,” Pelosi told reporters in the Capitol.

  • Another 963,000 Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week on a seasonally adjusted basis – the first time in five months that fewer than 1 million have filed for first-time jobless benefits.
  • Since the Trump administration directed hospitals to report its data directly to the Department of Health and Human Services, the Covid Tracking Project has found the data to be “erratic,” “spotty and difficult to interpret.”
  • Bill Gates predicted in an interview that the first coronavirus vaccine “won’t be ideal in terms of its effectiveness against sickness and transmission. It may not have a long duration, and it will mainly be used in rich countries as a stopgap measure.”
  • Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, said the United States should not expect to see an approved vaccine by October – a reference to speculation that President Trump could prematurely rush a vaccine through the regulatory process prior to Election Day.
  • Russian officials in Moscow said they have offered “unprecedented cooperation” with the U.S. to accelerate access to effective Covid-19 vaccines and treatments. But the officials said that the “U.S. is not currently open” to the Russian medical advances.
  • The World Health Organization said there is not “sufficient information at this point to make a judgement” on the Russian vaccine that was announced this week.
  • Confronted on Fox News with polling showing public support slipping for in-person school amid the coronavirus pandemic, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos pushed a conspiracy theory: “Well, we know that it’s a coordinated effort and a campaign to sow fear.”
  • A group of parents are suing California Gov. Gavin Newsom over in-person school restrictions. Christine Ruiz has two sons with autism, and she said that without specialized learning, they are falling behind.

The lawsuit alleges that students will not receive equal access to education.

  • 47-year-old Yolanda Yarbrough was arrested this week after she allegedly hit an American Airlines employee at an airport in Arizona after she was barred from boarding for refusing to comply with the airline’s mask policy.
  • New York City’s “Tribute in Light” that honors victims of the September 11, 2001, attacks has been canceled due to coronavirus concerns, the 9/11 Memorial & Museum announced Thursday. “The health risks during the pandemic were far too great for the large crew required to produce the annual Tribute in Light.”
  • Stanford University is canceling almost all in-person classes this fall.
  • East Carolina University police have already had to shut down 20 student parties, one of which was packed with about 400 students. Classes started at ECU on Monday.
  • Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) is withdrawing his lawsuit against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (D) and the City Council regarding restrictions Atlanta put in place over coronavirus, including a citywide mask mandate.
  • Illinois has surpassed 200,000 total Covid-19 positive cases, with an additional 1,834 new cases being reported Thursday.
  • Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas (D) is extending the city’s coronavirus state of emergency until at least Jan. 16, 2021, requiring most people to continue wearing face coverings while in public places and capping crowds at bars to 50% capacity.
  • St. Louis’ order that limits capacity of bars, restaurants and nightclubs to 50% occupancy and institutes an 11:00 p.m. closing time went into effect Thursday. There were no previous restrictions.
  • Shelby County, TN health officials say they won’t recommend closing schools or returning to a stay-at-home order until 25% of coronavirus tests in the community come back positive — a threshold dramatically higher than other cities across the nation.

By contrast, New York City’s mayor has said school buildings must shutter if the positivity rate exceeds 3%, and other school districts have vowed to limit in-person learning when the rate hits 5%.

  • Colorado Gov. Jared Polis (D) is extending the state’s mask order. 
  • California’s coronavirus case count topped 600,000 on Thursday, the first state in the country to reach the grim milestone.
  • The number of people dying from Covid-19 every day in California remains high, despite a decline in cases and hospitalizations. The 14-day positivity rate has also dropped to under 6% for the first time since June 28. The state reported another 160 fatalities Thursday. 
  • A Los Angeles megachurch that has remained open, despite state guidelines ordering indoor worship services closed, is suing the state over what they believe are unfair Covid-19 restrictions. The suit accuses the state government officials of selectively restricting gatherings and interfering with their religious freedom.
  • Hawaii reported its highest single-day case count of Covid-19 with 355 cases.

Sources:  ABC News, Associated Press, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Chicago Tribune, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, Independent, NBC News, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post