Tag: cdc

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

Read Time: 6 Minutes

  • New data from the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests 1.47 million education professionals could face serious cases of coronavirus if schools resume. In response, some teachers are choosing early retirement, or leaving the field altogether.
  • People who have recovered from COVID-19 may lose their immunity to the virus within months, according to research released this month that found levels of antibodies that destroy the virus quickly declined and sometimes disappeared completely after peaking several weeks after patients exhibited symptoms.
  • Many people who suffered supposed “mild” cases of coronavirus and the health experts who treated them are warning people not to assume “mild” means an easy case of the virus, as many find themselves suffering long-term consequences such as lung problems among other painful issues.
  • A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control analyzed the impact a single traveller with no symptoms can have. A woman in China carrying coronavirus but not showing a single symptom took a 60-second trip in an elevator on her own which led to the infection of 71 people.
  • Drugmakers partnered with the U.S. government are on track to begin actively manufacturing a vaccine for COVID-19 by the end of the summer, an unidentified  senior administration official said on Monday.
  • Anthony Fauci blamed the surge in U.S. coronavirus cases to the country’s failure to shut down completely, then a rush to reopen too soon, and urged a commitment to guidelines to snuff out the disease.

He stressed basic protections including physical distancing, wearing masks, avoiding crowds and washing hands. “Those things, as simple as they are, can turn it around. I think we can do that and that’s what we’ve got to do,” he said.

  • Top White House aide Dan Scavino publicly attacked Anthony Fauci, sharing a cartoon of the nation’s top infectious disease expert depicted as a faucet spewing statements like “indefinite lockdown,” and “no NFL season” and also accusing him of “cowardly” voicing disagreement through leaks in the media.
  • President Trump retweeted a message from game show host Chuck Woolery that attacks the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and claims the agency and others are lying about the coronavirus pandemic, the latest example of Trump undercutting the guidance of his administration’s own public health organizations.
  • The White House is insisting that it is not sidelining Anthony Fauci after it was revealed that the nation’s top infectious disease expert has not briefed President Trump about the coronavirus pandemic in two months, even as cases surge in many parts of the country.
  • Nearly 60 public and private universities have filed a legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration rule announced by ICE last week that would strip foreign students of visas and threaten to deport them if their colleges choose to hold virtual over in-person classes this fall due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  • The World Health Organization announced it would launch a massive investigation analyzing the global response into the coronavirus pandemic: “The magnitude of this pandemic, which has touched virtually everyone in the world, clearly deserves a commensurate evaluation.”
  • The coronavirus pandemic is raging out of control in the U.S. and will continue unless “proven measures” are taken against it, according to the World Health Organization: “If the basics aren’t followed, there is only one way this pandemic is going to go: It is going to get worse, and worse, and worse.”
  • The coronavirus pandemic stripped an estimated 5.4 million Americans of their health insurance between February and May, a stretch in which more adults became uninsured because of job losses than have ever lost coverage in a single year.
  • More than 930 employees of private contractors running U.S. immigration detention centers have tested positive for the novel coronavirus
  • Case numbers are rising in all but a handful of states. Hospitals are running out of beds. And some of the country’s biggest urban centers — Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, Jacksonville, Fla. — have seen out-of-control growth with few concrete signs of progress.
  • New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he’s issuing an emergency health order that requires out-of-state travelers from states with rising coronavirus cases to give local authorities their contact information when they arrive.
  • Monday, Florida added more than 12,600 additional cases, its second-highest total recorded for a single day in the pandemic.
  • Florida has 47 hospitals with no open ICU beds. Each of 25 other hospitals have just one available ICU bed. 
  • In Miami-Dade County, six hospitals have reached capacity as virus cases spike. The increase in cases caused the mayor there to roll back reopening plans by imposing a curfew and closing restaurants for indoor dining.
  • Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) admitted there are serious risks in reopening schools as coronavirus cases in the state breaks records. Rubio looked at the situation from a “cost-benefit analysis” perspective, and said while students eventually need to go back to in-person classes, right now: “The risks in reopening schools are not insignificant, but the costs of not doing so are extraordinary.”
  • As new cases continue to mount in the Southeast and West, troublesome signs are emerging elsewhere in the country. The county that includes Oklahoma City has been averaging twice as many cases as it was just two weeks ago.
  • Texas reported a small drop in COVID-19 hospitalizations on Monday, the first decline in two weeks as health officials scramble to slow the spread of the disease.

The state reported 10,405 people hospitalized with confirmed infections, down from a high of 10,410 on Sunday. While the dip itself may seem insignificant, the growth of hospitalizations has been slowing for several days now, a possible sign that it is nearing a peak.

Confirmed deaths and total cases were also down Monday; the state reported 43 deaths and 5,655 new cases.

  • “Providers in our region have urgently requested additional staffing and a myriad of medical supplies including oxygen, ventilators, personal protective equipment, and dialysis machines” Texas lawmakers wrote in a dire plea for federal help as the state battles climbing coronavirus cases. “The rapid deployment of federal resources would go a long way to alleviate and augment the local response as we continue to experience increases in COVID-19 cases.”
  • Hard-hit Houston has hit a 25.2% positivity rate, according to city health director Dr. David Persse.
  • Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner announced 1,544 new cases on Monday, bringing the city’s total to 30,965.
  • In Arizona, ICUs are 90% full, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.
  • Arizona reported 1,357 new cases on Monday, bringing the state’s total cases to 123,824. Arizona’s positivity rate stands at 21.7%.
  • With cases surging in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced one of the most sweeping rollbacks of any state’s reopening plans, saying Monday that he would move to close indoor operations statewide for restaurants, wineries, movie theaters, zoos and card rooms, and bars.
  • Los Angeles and San Diego school districts will start the school year next month offering only virtual classes, a decision that comes as President Trump and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos push for classes to be in-person and have threatened to withhold funds.
  • Ontario will ease coronavirus restrictions further in most regions excluding Toronto on July 17, moving to stage three of reopening in Canada’s most populous province, Premier Doug Ford said. 
  • Hong Kong Disneyland will reclose on Wednesday to comply with a government-directed rollback of public activities in the region following an increase in coronavirus infections

The city that seemed like one of the most successful places in controlling the virus, announced Monday evening that it would close gyms and cinemas and ban public gatherings of more than four people in response to a new wave of locally transmitted infections.

Sources: ABC News, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, 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: 6 Minutes

  • A group of 239 scientists representing 32 countries is reportedly preparing to ask the World Health Organization to revise its recommendations for the novel coronavirus due to evidence that they say supports the claim the disease is airborne.

The scientists are expected to publish an open letter making the request in a scientific journal next week, according to The New York Times. The letter is set to offer evidence that supports the position that smaller particles of the coronavirus can travel through the air and infect people.

  • Stephen Hahn, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, said on Sunday it was not clear whether it will be safe to hold the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville next month, as Florida sees record numbers of coronavirus cases.
  • The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Sunday reported 2,841,906 cases of new coronavirus, an increase of 52,228 cases from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 271 to 129,576.
  • Public health experts and officials on Sunday disputed President’s Trump’s characterization of the seriousness of the coronavirus.

In an Independence Day speech on Saturday at the White House, Mr. Trump sought to dismiss widespread criticism of his administration’s slow and ineffective response to the virus. He repeated his false claim that an abundance of testing made the country’s cases look worse than they were, and he asserted that 99 percent of the nation’s cases were “totally harmless.”

  • Mr. Trump and other administration officials have also highlighted the country’s declining death rate.

Dr. Ashish Jha, the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, said improvements in care may have caused the decline, but also described deaths as a “lagging indicator.”

“By the time somebody gets infected, it takes a couple weeks before they get hospitalized and get really sick, and another week or 10 days before they die, ” he said.

  • Broadway star Nick Cordero died on Sunday at age 41 after battling coronavirus and subsequent health problems for several months, his family said Sunday.
  • Penn State University announced 21-year-old student Juan Garcia died of respiratory failure from coronavirus complications last month.

The university is now contact tracing anyone who may have been around Garcia while he was sick.

  • Houston’s mayor, Sylvester Turner, issued the same two-week warning in an appearance on the CBS program “Face the Nation,” noting that roughly one in four virus tests in the city was now positive and that the demand for testing was exceeding capacity.
  • Austin, Texas Mayor Steve Adler on CNN on infection numbers in his city: “If we don’t change the trajectory, then I am within two weeks of having our hospitals overrun. And in our ICUs, I think we could be ten days away from that.”
  • Mr. Adler said that the most important thing about the order Governor Abbott signed on Thursday making masks mandatory in most counties was that people would now be getting the same guidance from both state and local officials.

“It’s the messaging,” he said. “It’s the singular voice from both parties saying to our community, ‘This is important, you have to do it, it works.’”

  • The State of Arizona added few deaths – four – to its total on Sunday morning, July 5, compared to its previous and regular double digits, but 3,536 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus edged the state ever closer to the 100,000 mark, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services website.
  • Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix said on Sunday that with cases and death counts soaring in Arizona, testing sites in her city and surrounding Maricopa County are overwhelmed, but the Federal Emergency Management Agency has rebuffed her pleas for help.

She raised the issue on the ABC program “This Week,” saying that it “feels like they’re declaring victory while we’re in crisis mode.”

  • Ms. Gallego also said that the pace of Arizona’s reopening indicated to some residents that the coronavirus crisis was over and, in turn, spurred a record number of new cases.

“We opened way too early in Arizona. We were one of the last states to go to stay at home and one of the first to reemerge, and we reemerged at zero to 60,” Gallego said “We had crowded nightclubs handing out free champagne, no masks. Our 20- to 44-year-olds, which is my own demographic, really led the explosion, and we’ve seen such growth in that area. We’re seeing a lot of people go to large family gatherings and infect their family members.”

  • Tokyo confirmed 111 new coronavirus infections on Sunday, the fourth straight day that the tally of fresh cases has exceeded 100
  • Visitors to the Taj Mahal will have to wear masks at all times, keep their distance and not touch its glistening marble surfaces when India’s 17th-century monument to love reopens on Monday after a three-month COVID-19 shutdown.
  • Indonesia reported 82 new coronavirus deaths on Sunday in its highest daily tally.
  • The Philippines reported its biggest single-day jump in new coronavirus cases on Sunday, adding 2,434 confirmed infections and taking the total count to 44,254.
  • Russia on Sunday reported 6,736 new cases of the novel coronavirus, raising the nationwide tally to 681,251.
  • The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Germany increased by 239 to 196,335.
  • The northwestern Spanish region of Galicia imposed restrictions on about 70,000 people on Sunday following a COVID-19 outbreak, a day after Catalonia also introduced a local lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus.
  • Britain is putting 8.4 million pounds ($10.49 million) into a new study to examine the long-term effects of COVID-19 on patients.
  • Britain will invest nearly $2 billion in cultural institutions and the arts to help a sector that has been crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Sunday.
  • People in England appear to have broadly behaved themselves as pubs reopened this weekend, Britain’s health minister Matt Hancock said on Sunday after the latest step towards a return to normality from the coronavirus lockdown.
  • Ireland will ease quarantine restrictions on people travelling from abroad on July 20, with people arriving from a “green list” of countries with low COVID-19 rates to be exempt from isolating themselves for 14 days.
  • Greece will not allow Serbian visitors to enter from July 6 until July 15, the government said on Sunday, as it moved to contain the spread of coronavirus during its peak tourism season.
  • Britain’s death toll from confirmed COVID-19 cases has risen by 22 to 44,220, the department of health said on Sunday.
  • A military plane carrying Canadian troops to Latvia as part of a NATO mission turned around midflight after the military learned that someone who might have come in contact with the passengers tested had positive for the virus.
  • Iran recorded its highest number of deaths from COVID-19 within a 24-hour period, official health ministry figures showed on Sunday.

The 163 deaths reported on Sunday exceed the previous record from last Monday.

  • Saudi Arabia’s coronavirus infections have passed 200,000 and neighbouring United Arab Emirates passed 50,000, with the number of new cases climbing after the Arab world’s two largest economies fully lifted curfews last month.
  • Bolivia’s Health Minister María Eidy Roca has tested positive for COVID-19.
  • Coronavirus cases and deaths are surging along Colombia’s Caribbean coast as the region becomes the epicenter of the pandemic in the Andean country, with doctors warning many deaths are going undetected.
  • Chilean President Sebastian Pinera announced on Sunday a new $1.5 billion package of measures to help keep the country’s ailing middle class afloat as the coronavirus pandemic continues to ravage the economy of the world’s top copper producer.
  • El Salvador’s presidential office on Sunday postponed the second phase of the economy’s reopening by two weeks, citing a still-rising number of coronavirus infections.

Sources:  ABC News, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, NBC News, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 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: 7 Minutes

  • The U.S. hit another daily record in coronavirus cases — the 6th time in 9 days. For the first time, single day COVID-19 infections topped 55,000 in the U.S.
  • Herman Cain, a 2012 Republican presidential candidate and businessman, has tested positive for COVID-19 more than a week after attending President Donald Trump’s Tulsa rally, a statement posted to his official Twitter account on Thursday.

The day before being admitted into the hospital, regarding the president’s upcoming appearance in South Dakota, Cain Tweeted: “Masks will not be mandatory for the event, which will be attended by President Trump.  PEOPLE ARE FED UP!” 

  • Vice President Pence’s trip to Arizona this week had to be postponed by a day after several Secret Service agents who helped organize the visit either tested positive for the coronavirus or were showing symptoms of being infected.

Pence was scheduled to go to Phoenix on Tuesday but went on Wednesday instead so that healthy agents could be deployed for his visit

  • Senate appropriators on Thursday expressed concern about whether the government was doing enough to ensure that coronavirus vaccines developed with federal assistance are made affordable.
  • CDC Director Robert Redfield estimates the number of people in the United States who have been infected with the coronavirus is likely to be 10 times as high as the 2.4 million confirmed cases.
  • The U.S. is no longer “flattening the curve” of the COVID-19 epidemic, Adm. Brett Giroir, the assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Service told members of Congress Thursday. 

“We are not flattening the curve right now. The curve is still going up,” Giroir said during a House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing. “There is no question the more testing you do the more you will uncover, but we do believe this is a real increase in cases because the percent positive [tests] is going up,” he said.

  • The coronavirus delayed the arrival of seasonal immigrants who normally help harvest U.S. wheat, causing farmers and harvesting companies to have a hard time finding and keeping workers to run machines that bring in the crop.
  • In an interview with The Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned Thursday that a new strain of the coronavirus found to be dominant around the world may contain a mutation that allows it to spread from person-to-person with more ease.

The new, prevalent virus strain is thought to have first been seen in Italy.

  • Treatment with hydroxychloroquine cut the death rate significantly in sick patients hospitalized with COVID-19 – and without heart-related side-effects, according to a new study published by Henry Ford Health System.

In a large-scale retrospective analysis of 2,541 patients hospitalized between March 10 and May 2, 2020 across the system’s six hospitals, the study found 13% of those treated with hydroxychloroquine alone died compared to 26.4% not treated with hydroxychloroquine. None of the patients had documented serious heart abnormalities.

  • More than three dozen U.S. states were seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases, according to a Reuters analysis on Thursday, the latest grim sign that the coronavirus pandemic, once thought to be waning, was again spreading rapidly.
  • Florida reported 10,109 new COVID-19 cases Thursday morning, the first time Florida has recorded more than 10,000 cases in a 24 hour period.
  • GOP Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has issued an order making it mandatory for all Texans to wear a face covering of some kind while out in public as the state faces a surge in coronavirus cases.
  • Vanilla Ice is still slated to hold an Independence Day concert in Austin, Texas on Friday, even as the state reimposes certain coronavirus restrictions amid an uptick in COVID-19 cases.

UPDATE: Vanilla Ice has indefinitely postponed his concert that drew fierce criticism due to the coronavirus pandemic.

  • The Executive Committee of the Texas Republican Party on Thursday voted to push ahead and have their state convention in person this month, despite a surge in coronavirus cases in Houston, where it will take place.
  • The committee voted 40 to 20 to host the meeting that about 6,000 people are expected to attend in Houston’s George R. Brown convention center in just over two weeks.
  • A 1,500-member church in Mobile that resumed in-person, social-distanced worship with weekly attendance of about 350 people has had more than 20 members test positive for COVID-19 the past two weeks, and has moved back to online services only.
  • Students in Alabama threw COVID-19 parties where infected students were invited and there was a contest over who would get it first, according to officials.
  • Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday that New York City schools would open in some form come September — only for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office to describe the mayor’s announcement as “premature.”

“We value the opinion of local politicians and the state’s 700 local school districts as to what should be done, but the public should not be confused on this important decision that has practical consequences for many,” Dani Lever, Mr. Cuomo’s spokeswoman, in a statement.

  • In New York City, twenty-two streets, some already closed to car traffic, will be dedicated to outdoor dining on Friday nights and weekends.
  • Five of the nine Atlantic City casinos reopened Thursday but with new rules: Gamblers must wear masks, and won’t be allowed to smoke, drink or eat inside.
  • Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly told legislative leaders that a desire to reopen schools is a key reason for her executive order requiring Kansas residents to wear masks in public and their workplaces. The order took effect at 12:01 a.m. Friday, with a fine of up to $2,500 possible for violators.
  • The powerful Nevada union that represents more than 60,000 casino workers in the Las Vegas area filed a lawsuit against several of the city’s casino operators, accusing them of failing to properly protect employees from the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham modified her public health order to tighten travel restrictions by requiring all out-of-state travelers to quarantine for 14 days, including New Mexicans who traveled out of state and are returning home.
  • Noting what was probably his last chance to reach residents before the July 4th holiday, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California on Thursday implored residents to refrain from gathering with people outside their household — no matter how great the temptation — and to wear masks.
  • Striking California nurses picketed outside Riverside Community Hospital and demanded the proper protective equipment and better conditions to fight COVID-19.
  • A group of Oregon State Police troopers appeared to defy Gov. Kate Brown’s statewide mask order while in uniform Wednesday, entering a Corvallis coffee shop without wearing required face coverings, video obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive shows.

The store’s assistant manager, Travis Boss, said he told the first trooper who arrived that the trooper needed to wear a mask.

“Governor Brown has no authority to take our civil liberties. We aren’t going to wear masks,” the trooper allegedly said, according to a written statement from Boss provided to the newsroom. 

Three other law enforcement officers entered the business moments later and also refused a request to wear masks, Boss said. Boss said he felt compelled to fulfill their drink orders because they were in uniform, even though he said he had sent other patrons away earlier for not wearing masks.

  • A spokesperson for Oregon State Police told Oregon Live that the trooper who appeared to be speaking to the manager had been placed on administrative leave and was under investigation. The four officers are all assigned to Oregon State University, according to the agency.
  • COVID-19 testing supplies distributed by the federal government have failed quality checks and are arriving late, Washington state’s top health official said in a letter to a senior administration official, warning of problems as cases spike.
  • Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced Thursday that the city is issuing an emergency travel order directing all residents and travelers entering Chicago from states experiencing an uptick in coronavirus cases to quarantine for 14 days in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.
  • The Treasury Department on Wednesday approved a $700 million loan from CARES funds to YRC Worldwide, a financially-troubled trucking company that is also being sued by the Defense Department for overpricing shipping costs.
  • The European Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged European Union countries to step up testing and contact tracing, and asked governments to communicate to their citizens that “the pandemic is not over.” The warning comes as Europe’s reopening has brought a resurgence of cases in some pockets.
  • The Palestinian Authority announced plans to reimpose virus restrictions throughout the West Bank following a sharp rise in the number of new cases in the territory.
  • Scots have been ordered to wear face coverings in all shops starting July 10. Those who don’t comply face a £60 fine. 
  • Mexico posted a record 6,741 new cases.
  • Nearly six weeks after Tokyo lifted a state of emergency and declared the virus contained in the Japanese capital, new cases spiked to 107 on Thursday, up from 67 just a day earlier and the highest level since May 2.
  • Tesla is building mobile molecule printers to help make the potential COVID-19 vaccine being developed by CureVac in Germany, the electric-car maker’s CEO Elon Musk tweeted.

Sources:  ABC News, The Atlantic, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, NBC News, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 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: 9 Minutes

  • GOP South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem said that residents attending the state’s Independence Day event at Mount Rushmore will have the option to not wear masks despite the renewed surge of the coronavirus pandemic across the country.

“We told those folks that have concerns that they can stay home, but those who want to come and join us, we’ll be giving out free face masks, if they choose to wear one. But we will not be social distancing.”

  • The European Union will open its borders to visitors from 15 countries as of Wednesday, but not to travelers from the United States, Brazil or Russia.
  • The United States saw a 46% increase in new cases of COVID-19 in the week ended June 28 compared to the previous seven days, with 21 states reporting positivity test rates above the level that the World Health Organization has flagged as concerning.

Nationally, 7% of diagnostic tests came back positive last week, up from 5% the prior week, according to a Reuters analysis of data from The COVID Tracking Project, a volunteer-run effort to track the outbreak.

The World Health Organization considers a positivity rate above 5% to be a cause for concern because it suggests there are more cases in the community that have not yet been uncovered.

Arizona’s positivity test rate was 24% last week, Florida’s was 16%, and Nevada, South Carolina and Texas’ were all 15%, according to the analysis.

  • Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told The Journal of the American Medical Association, “We are not even beginning to be over this,” Schuchat said, saying there are a lot of worrisome factors about the surge of the outbreak over the past week or so. 

“What we hope is that we can take it seriously and slow the transmission,” Schuchat said in the interview. 

“We’re not in the situation of New Zealand or Singapore or Korea where a new case is rapidly identified and all the contacts are traced and people are isolated who are sick and people who are exposed are quarantined and they can keep things under control,” she said.

“We have way too much virus across the country for that right now, so it’s very discouraging,” she added. 

Schuchat said there was a lot of “wishful thinking” around the country that the pandemic would be over by summer.

  • Officials in Wildwood have canceled one of New Jersey’s biggest July 4 fireworks shows over concerns the large crowds wouldn’t follow social distancing guidelines.
  • More than 46,000 coronavirus cases were announced across the U.S. on Tuesday, the most of any day of the pandemic.

Alaska, Arizona, California, Georgia, Idaho, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas announced single-day highs.

  • Savannah, GA Mayor Van Johnson said Tuesday he’s issuing an executive order to require face masks in public.

“Savannah is experiencing thousands of visitors on our streets, in our establishments and most of them are not wearing face coverings,” Johnson said in a letter Tuesday to Gov. Brian Kemp.

  • In Alabama, more than 10,000 new cases of the coronavirus have been confirmed just in the last two weeks, state health officer Dr. Scott Harris said Tuesday.

Alabama’s safer-at-home order was set to expire on July 3, but Gov. Kay Ivey said Tuesday she is extending the order to July 31.

The state is not “overwhelmed yet,” but “we are still in the thick of this virus,” Ivey warned.

She pleaded with residents to wear masks and said social distancing must apply to 4th of July celebrations.

  • Donald Trump’s campaign has reportedly cancelled plans for the president to appear at a rally in Alabama next week after local officials expressed concerns about a mass gathering in the state amid soaring coronavirus infections.
  • New Jersey, New York and Connecticut are asking travelers from 16 states with high coronavirus numbers to self-quarantine when they arrive back in the tri-state.

The states on the list are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

  • Florida has topped 150,000 cases of the coronavirus  according to the state’s Department of Health. That marks an increase of 6,012 cases in one day — and an increased positivity rate to 14%.
  • “The minute that we opened, it was like COVID didn’t exist and people just forgot and, in some cases, are still forgetting,” Miami, FL Mayor Francis Suarez told ABC News chief anchor George Stephanopoulos in an interview Tuesday on “Good Morning America.”

Miami, the hardest-hit city in Florida, has now made it mandatory for people to wear face masks in public at all times.

  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the budget for a package of online education programs that have played key roles for students and educators during the coronavirus pandemic. 
  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that his state is “not going back” on reopening as thousands of new COVID-19 cases continue to be reported every day. 

DeSantis told reporters that the state will not follow Texas’ move to pause reopening. 

“We’re not going back, closing things,” he said. “I don’t think that that’s really what’s driving it. People going to a business is not what’s driving it. I think when you see the younger folks — I think a lot of it is more just social interactions, so that’s natural.”

  • The woman seen in a viral video intentionally coughing into the face of a Jacksonville cancer patient has been identified by police as Debra Hunter, 52, of Fernandina Beachand, FL and has been charged with battery.
  • Texas breaks record with nearly 7,000 coronavirus cases in one day.
  • Leaders of Texas’ most populous counties have been imploring Gov. Greg Abbott to allow them to issue stay-at-home orders amid the rapidly spreading outbreak.
  • Local union officials have asked General Motors to close its plant in Arlington, Texas, to protect workers until the surge in virus cases in the state subsidies.
  • Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said that he will not listen to the advice of Dr. Anthony Fauci after the health expert warned Congress that the rate of new infections could more than double if current outbreaks in the South and West are not contained
  • California breaks daily record with over 8,000 new coronavirus cases.
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom warned during a press conference today that additional statewide coronavirus restrictions could be coming ahead of the holiday.

Newsom said. “If you’re not gonna stay home and you’re not gonna wear masks in public, we have to enforce.”

  • Current hospitalizations due to the coronavirus in the state of Georgia have risen by 223 in the last 48 hours which is an increase of 18.04%. Current hospitalizations are at 1459 which is the highest since May 1st.
  • Savannah became the first major city in Georgia to require the use of masks, setting up a potential showdown with Gov. Brian Kemp over whether local officials can take more sweeping steps than the state to contain the coronavirus.

Mayor Van Johnson’s emergency order requires people to don masks when in many public places starting at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Violators will be offered a face covering before they are cited, Johnson said, and fined $500 if they disregard the requirement.

  • Tennessee reported more than 3,000 new #COVIDー19 cases in the past 3 days.

Hospitalizations are also at an all-time high with an average of 47 patients each day admitted.

  • Massachusetts reports zero new coronavirus deaths for the first time in months.
  • Hospitals in Arizona are reaching capacity amid a surge in coronavirus cases.

A FEMA memo states that both Flagstaff Medical Center and Little Colorado Medical Center have had zero “medical-surge availability” since June 24. Patients are being directed to hospitals in Yavapai and Maricopa counties.

  • Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is ordering bars across the state to close their doors amid a surge in coronavirus cases among the state’s younger population: “There is not a way that we have found for them to be a reasonably safe part of people’s lives during the month of July.”
  • Joe Biden repeated his call for all Americans to wear masks during COVID-19 pandemic: “Wear a mask. It’s not just about you. It’s about your family… it’s about keeping other people safe.” “We absolutely need a clear message from the very top of our federal government that everyone needs to wear a mask in public. Period.”
  • Donald Trump Jr. said that masks should be worn during the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, FL.
  • Surgeon General Jerome Adams implored young Americans in particular, to wear masks as lawmakers and public health officials increasingly seek to break down partisan barriers about the use of face coverings.

“Wear a face covering when you go out in public. It is not an inconvenience. It is not a suppression of your freedom. It actually Is a vehicle to achieve our goals,” Adams said.

  • Testifying before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said, “We can’t just focus on those areas that are having the surge, it puts the entire country at risk.” “We’re now having 40-plus thousand new cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around and so I’m very concerned.”

Fauci also warned, “What we saw were a lot of people who maybe felt that because they think they are invulnerable, and we know many young people are not because they’re getting serious disease, that therefore they’re getting infected has nothing at all to do with anyone else, when in fact it does.”

  • Airbus says it may be 2025 before air travel rebounds from the coronavirus pandemic. To survive the thin years ahead, the European aircraft manufacturer is eliminating 15,000 jobs.
  • The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expressed “substantial disappointment” with a decision by American Airlines to start booking its flights to their capacity. “We don’t think it’s the right message, as you have pointed out.”
  • The Minor League Baseball season has been canceled.
  • The United States is at risk of losing its COVID-19 testing capacity.

The American testing supply chain is stretched to the limit, and the ongoing outbreak in the South and West could overwhelm it, according to epidemiologists and testing-company executives. Demand for tests is outpacing supply.

Any plan to contain the virus depends on fast and accurate testing, which can identify newly infectious people before they set off new outbreaks. Without it, the U.S. is in the dark.

  • Tuesday evening the president Tweeted: “As I watch the Pandemic spread its ugly face all across the world, including the tremendous damage it has done to the USA, I become more and more angry at China. People can see it, and I can feel it!”
  • The Senate cleared legislation to extend the deadline for businesses to apply for coronavirus aid under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP), which will expire at the end of Tuesday.

There’s approximately $130 billion in unspent money under the Paycheck Protection Program.

  • The Economist reported that when mass protests against police brutality broke out earlier this month, public-health experts worried they would lead to a surge in infections. Anthony Fauci called the protests “the perfect set-up” for the spread of the virus.

But the available evidence suggests that this month’s Black Lives Matter protests have not contributed to a surge in COVID-19 cases. Researchers from Bentley University, the University of Colorado, and San Diego State University used mobile-phone data and COVID-19 case data from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention to determine whether the protests were associated with less social-distancing behaviour and more covid-19 cases. They found that the protests had no significant effect one way or the other on the incidence of covid-19.

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

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

Read Time: 7 Minutes

  • Gilead Sciences, the maker of the drug, remdesivir, that has been shown to shorten recovery time for severely ill COVID-19 patients says it will charge $2,340 for a typical treatment course for people covered by government health programs in the United States and other developed countries.

The price would be $3,120 for patients with private insurance. The amount that patients pay out of pocket depends on insurance, income and other factors.

  • In a May report, Public Citizen, a non-profit consumer rights advocacy group, estimated that U.S. taxpayers contributed at least $70.5 million to the development of remdesivir.
  • The Trump administration has secured 500,000 doses of remdesivir, the first drug shown to be effective at treating hospitalized coronavirus patients.
  • Global monitoring of the coronavirus shows that it has not mutated, a good sign for vaccine research and development.
  • A new University of Virginia School of Medicine study has shown that doctors can identify, via blood samples, those at greater risk of severe illness after being diagnosed with coronavirus, including those who may need a ventilator.
  • The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)  has come out with a strong statement in favor of bringing children back to the classroom this fall wherever and whenever they can do so safely. AAP “strongly advocates that all policy considerations for the coming school year should start with a goal of having students physically present in school.”

AAP argues that remote learning is likely to result in severe learning loss and increased social isolation. Social isolation, in turn, can breed serious social, emotional and health issues: “child and adolescent physical or sexual abuse, substance use, depression, and suicidal ideation.” Furthermore, these impacts will be visited more severely on Black and brown children, as well as low-income children and those with learning disabilities.

  • Coronavirus cases linked to crowds who visited a Michigan bar after it reopened have risen to 85, according to health officials.

The Ingham County Health Department is asking anyone who visited Harper’s Restaurant & Brewpub, outside of Michigan State University in East Lansing, between June 12 and 20, to self-quarantine for two weeks.

  • Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar on Monday appeared to blame a rise in coronavirus cases across several U.S. states on a lack of “personal responsibility” during an appearance on “CBS This Morning.”

Azar, in a response to a question over whether some U.S. states reopened too quickly, said that Americans must practice smart procedures to stop the virus from spreading, including social distancing and wearing masks.

  • Health officials in Allegheny County, PA, say a surge in novel coronavirus cases recently reported around Pittsburgh has been tied to bars, not protests. 
  • The Broadway League has announced that all productions will remain closed through at least January 3, 2021.
  • “We must have no stigma — none — about wearing masks when we leave our homes and come near other people,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said calling people to wear face masks as outbreaks spread. “Wearing simple face coverings is not about protecting ourselves. It is about protecting everyone we encounter.”
  • More than 10 million people across the globe have tested positive for the coronavirus, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Monday, nearly 180,000 of whom tested positive in the last 24 hours.

“The reality is this is not close to being over,” Tedros told reporters. “Globally, the pandemic is actually speeding up.”

About half the cases, and nearly half the deaths across the globe, have come in the Americas. The United States, which accounts for about 4 percent of the global population, has nearly a quarter of the total confirmed cases, 2.4 million.

  • India reported close to 20,000 fresh novel coronavirus cases for the second day running on Monday, as the financial hub of Mumbai extended its lockdown by a month.
  • Prime Minister Boris Johnson acknowledged Monday that the coronavirus pandemic has been a “disaster” for Britain. “This has been a disaster,” Johnson acknowledged Monday. “Let’s not mince our words. I mean, this has been an absolute nightmare for the country and the country’s gone through a profound shock.” 
  • Scotland has recorded no new deaths from coronavirus for the fourth day running.
  • The coronavirus is spreading too rapidly and too broadly for the U.S. to bring it under control, Dr. Anne Schuchat, principal deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Monday.

The U.S. has set records for daily new infections in recent days as outbreaks surge mostly across the South and West.

  • GOP Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey has ordered the closure of bars and gyms, a ban on mass gatherings and has delayed the start of in-person schooling as the state faces record-breaking cases in coronavirus ahead of the Fourth of July weekend.
  • A group of bar owners in Texas is suing after the governor ordered closures to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the state, which is facing one of the toughest outbreaks in the country. In the lawsuit, restaurants accuse Gov. Greg Abbott of acting “like a king,” and “unilaterally destroying our economy and trampling on our constitutional rights.”
  • Just minutes after the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors closed local beaches for the long holiday weekend, a somber Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti took to his podium.

He then announced that, along with the beach closures, Fourth of July firework displays would be prohibited in hope of keeping Angelenos from gathering in groups.

Also, he said, “Gatherings of people you do not live with are not allowed.”

  • Effective Tuesday, Riverside County, CA is ordering all bars to close down again to help slow a new surge in coronavirus cases.
  • Officials warn hospital beds in Los Angeles County may not meet demand in coming weeks as coronavirus cases surge.
  • Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly says she will issue an executive order mandating the use of masks in public spaces starting Friday to stop the spread of COVID-19.

“The evidence could not be clearer — wearing a mask is not only safe, but it is necessary to avoid another shutdown.

  • The Monongalia County (West Virginia) Health Department warned more than 200 Planet Fitness users that they could have been exposed to the coronavirus if they visited the gym last Wednesday.
  • In a statement, Oregon Governor Kate Brown said, “Keeping Oregonians safe is my top priority. Over the last month, COVID-19 spread at an alarming rate in both urban and rural counties. That’s why I’m requiring face coverings in indoor public places in ALL counties, effective 7/1. We can and must reduce the spread of this disease.”
  • Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf Tweeted: “Masks are required in Pennsylvania businesses. No mask = no service.

The importance of mask-wearing to reduce the spread of #COVID19 and protect people and businesses cannot be overstated.”

  • Jacksonville, Florida created rules requiring face masks both indoors and in public as the coronavirus spreads rapidly throughout the state, creating a serious question as to whether President Trump and GOP voters will wear a mask and follow guidelines when the Republican convention is held in the city in August.

Trump has specifically expressed a desire to hold the convention without masks or social distancing.

  • Experts and officials in Florida are warning that house parties are the “largest problem” driving the spike in coronavirus cases in the greater metropolitan area of Miami, with private gatherings leading to the rapid spreading of the virus.

“The law does not enable us to enforce the rules we use on public spaces on private property. So, our current option is to appeal to the common sense and decency of our citizens. This danger comes directly from within.”

  • An IRS watchdog says in a new report that coronavirus has led to major delays in the processing of tax filings this year, warning there is a backlog of 4.7 million paper filings that could result in those who filed paper tax returns waiting a considerable amount of time for their refunds. The report also reveals a slew of other problems facing taxpayers due to coronavirus-related delays and errors.
  • Americans say they trust information on the coronavirus pandemic from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention the most — and President Trump the least — according to a Pew Research Center survey released Monday. 

The majority of respondents to the survey, 64 percent, said the CDC and other public health organizations get the facts right almost or most of the time regarding COVID-19. Only 30 percent said the same about Trump and his administration.

  • A strain of flu that has become prevalent in pigs in China that can be passed to humans could become another pandemic and needs to be closely monitored, according to researchers behind a new study.

Sources:  ABC News, Axios, Bloomberg, CBS News, CNN, Financial Times, Fox News,The Hill, NBC News, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, NJ.com, NPR, NY Times, Politico, Reuters, Salon, Slate, Vanity Fair, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post