Tag: pandemic

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

Read Time: 8 Minutes

  • The United States on Friday reached 60,000 new cases for the first time, and then the number soared to more than 68,000 — setting a single-day record for the seventh time in 11 days. 
  • The daily number of deaths from the coronavirus has risen recently in some of the nation’s most populous states, signaling a possible end to months of declining death totals nationally.

The seven-day death average in the United States reached 608 on Thursday, up from 471 earlier in July, but still a fraction of the more than 2,200 deaths the country averaged each day in mid-April, when the situation in the Northeast was at its worst.

  • Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, is warning that she expects to see an increase in coronavirus-related deaths after the number of cases in the U.S. has been trending upward over the past several weeks.
  • As European nations have cut their number of reported cases to a few hundred a day, in the United States the spread of the virus is accelerating alarmingly: The nation reported more than 59,880 cases on Thursday, setting a single-day record for the sixth time in 10 days.
  • Two-thirds of Americans disapprove of how President Trump has handled the coronavirus pandemic, the latest ABC/Ipsos poll reveals. 67 percent of respondents said that they disapproved of how the president has handled the pandemic, which has killed more than 130,000 people across the country.
  • White House trade adviser Peter Navarro is leading an effort to demand the FDA reverse course and grant a second emergency authorization for hydroxychloroquine to treat covid-19.
  • A federal judge in Boston said on Friday that a challenge to new Trump administration rules stripping visas from foreign students who planned to study entirely online in the fall was likely to succeed. But she put off any decision until next week. Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology seeking a court order to protect foreign students from losing their visas.

After the hearing, President Trump said he was ordering a review of universities’ tax-exempt status.

  • Mr. Trump said in a speech on July 4. “We show cases, 99 percent of which are totally harmless.”

In an interview with The Financial Times that was published Friday, Dr. Fauci said he was not sure of the source of the data the president was referencing.

“I’m trying to figure out where the president got that number,” Dr. Fauci said. “What I think happened is that someone told him that the general mortality is about 1 percent. And he interpreted, therefore, that 99 percent is not a problem, when that’s obviously not the case.”

“Even if it doesn’t kill you, even if it doesn’t put you in the hospital, it can make you seriously ill,” Dr. Fauci said. And he called the pandemic “the big one.”

  • Dr. Fauci revealed he last saw Trump in person at the White House on June 2 — and said he has not briefed the president for at least two months.
  • In a joint statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association and The School Superintendents Association, said that schools in places with a high community spread of the virus should not be pushed to reopen, especially if local public health officials have advised otherwise.
  • White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters that it was important for schools to reopen in the fall despite risks.

Kudlow told reporters. “Just go back to school, we can do that.” “And you know, you can social distance, you can get your temperature taken, you can be tested, you can have distancing — come on, it’s not that hard.”

  • House Education and Labor Committee Chairman Bobby Scott is calling on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Robert Redfield to testify before the committee later this month on how teachers, staff and students can safely return to classrooms across the country amid the coronavirus pandemic.
  • Scientists warn of a potential wave of coronavirus-related brain damage as new evidence suggests COVID-19 can lead to severe neurological complications, including inflammation, psychosis and delirium.
  • Autopsies of patients who have died from COVID-19 have shown a “dramatic” increase in the number of blood clots affecting major and minor blood vessels as well as “almost every organ” in the human body, according to a top New York pathologist.
  • In one month, cases in the U.S. military have more than doubled, according to Pentagon data, a disturbing surge that mirrors a similar trend seen across the country.
  • At least six states reported single-day records for new cases: Georgia, Utah, Montana, North Carolina, Iowa and Ohio.
  • Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) announced the state will require all residents to wear masks in public for 30 days, citing an “explosion” of cases of COVID-19. The mask mandate will apply to most forward-facing businesses such as retailers and restaurants, and as outdoor spaces where social distancing is impossible.
  • South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said that the sale of all alcoholic drinks in restaurants and bars would be banned beginning Saturday night, saying he was concerned about spread among young people. 
  • Alabama state Sen. Del Marsh (R) told reporters that he would “like to see more people” contract COVID-19 in order to create herd immunity in the state. Marsh made the comment when asked about Alabama setting a new daily record for COVID-19 cases after the state reported 2,164 cases on Thursday.

“I’m not as concerned as much as the number of cases — and in fact, quite honestly — I want to see more people, because we start reaching an immunity as more people have it and get through it.”

  • Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms announced she’s rolling back her city’s reopening, saying the state, “reopened in a reckless manner and the people of our city and state are suffering the consequences.”
  • Florida officials on Friday announced 11,433 new cases, nearing the single-day record for new cases the state reported on July 4. The state also reported on Friday that there were 93 new deaths, a day after setting a single-day reporting record with 120 deaths.
  • Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) disagreed with Dr. Anthony Fauci, saying he doesn’t think his state reopened too early.

“I think there was really no justification to not move forward,” DeSantis said according to The South Florida Sun Sentinel while discussing reopening phases of the state.

His defense comes amid criticism of the state as it sees climbing coronavirus cases, and also follows Fauci saying on FiveThirtyEight’s weekly “PODCAST-19” that he thought the state rushed through reopening phases.

“Despite the guidelines and the recommendations to open up carefully and prudently, some states skipped over those and just opened up too quickly,” Fauci said on the podcast. “Certainly Florida … I think, jumped over a couple of checkpoints.”

  • Louisiana has been seeing an average of more than 1,000 new cases a day this month for the first time since April.
  • On Friday, Ohio reported 1,525 new cases, exceeding the previous single-day record it had set back in April.

Gov. Mike DeWine (R) called the state’s recent increase in cases and hospitalizations “significant” and ordered people in hard-hit counties to wear masks. The average number of new cases a day in the state this month is twice what it was last month.

  • Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) signed an order requiring people in the state to wear masks in indoor public spaces and in crowded outdoor areas, and requiring businesses to turn away people without masks. It is punishable by a $500 fine.
  • Iowa is reporting an average of more than 400 cases a day this month for the first time since May.
  • In a move that could set up a clash with Gov. Kristi Noem (R) who has fought against coronavirus checkpoints on tribal lands, The Oglala Sioux tribe is locking down its South Dakota reservation for a 72-hour period as it seeks to prevent spikes in coronavirus cases.
  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) signaled that he might impose a new economic “lockdown” if the state is unable to reverse the caseloads and hospitalizations that have made it a leading U.S. hot spot in the pandemic.

Mr. Abbott bluntly predicted that “things will get worse” and said that he may take steps even more drastic than his statewide face-mask requirement, which has angered members of his own party.

  • Nevada’s governor Steve Sisolak (D) said that as of 11:59 p.m. on Friday, the state will close bars in some counties. Bars in Las Vegas and Reno that don’t serve food will be affected by the restrictions.
  • The Arizona Department of Health Services announced the state broke another daily coronavirus case record on Friday with more than 4,200 more cases reported, with health officials also revealing that 89 percent of intensive care units in the state are full.
  • As coronavirus cases spike in Arizona, morgues are reporting that they are nearing capacity and some are even requesting refrigerated trucks.
  • The Los Angeles teachers union called on the Los Angeles Unified School District on Friday to keep campuses closed when the semester begins on Aug. 18 and to focus on preparing for distance learning in the fall, the union said in a statement.
  • The New York Times tracked over 200 ICE deportation flights from March to June — and confirmed that hundreds of detainees with Covid-19 were returned to 11 countries around the world.
  • Hong Kong, which has been lauded for its aggressive handling of the outbreak, is confronting a third wave of infections, and on Friday shut down its school system.
  • A large takeout order from a KFC in Australia led the police to more than a dozen people hiding at a house party and more than 26,000 Australian dollars in Covid-19 fines, the authorities said Friday.

Chief Commissioner Shane Patton of the Victoria police announced the hefty fine at a news conference, saying that 16 people had broken coronavirus restrictions by attending a surprise birthday at a home in Dandenong, a suburb of Melbourne.

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: 8 Minutes

  • The U.S. saw its largest number of new cases in one day Friday, coming in at 56,566 confirmed cases.
  • An increasing number of U.S. COVID-19 patients are surviving after they are placed on mechanical ventilators, a last-resort measure that was perceived as a signal of impending death during the terrifying early days of the pandemic.

In April and May, Covid-19 led to as many as 3,000 deaths per day, and claimed the lives of roughly 7 to 8 percent of Americans known to have been infected. The number of daily deaths is now closer to 600, and the death rate is less than 5 percent.

Roughly 20 percent of symptomatic COVID-19 patients require hospitalization and about 5 percent end up in the ICU. Most of those in intensive care require ventilators.

  • Trump administration officials say the White House plans to adopt a new message on the coronavirus pandemic in the coming weeks, with the overall tone summing up as “we need to live with it.”

President Trump wants to acknowledge that the virus is not going away in the near future and will likely be a lingering problem through the November election.

Promoting pharmaceuticals and current treatments for the virus will reportedly be emphasized as part of the White House strategy.

  • Surgeon General Jerome Adams offered a Fourth of July message promoting that wearing a mask to Independence Day gatherings means “we will actually have more independence and more freedom” amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Adams told NBC host Craig Melvin on “Today” that the most important thing a person who may be going to a public gathering can do is wear a face mask or covering.

“As we talk about Fourth of July and independence, it’s important to understand that if we all wear these, we will actually have more independence and more freedom because more places will be able to stay open. We’ll have less spread of the disease,” the surgeon general said.

  • “There is a general anti-science, anti-authority, anti-vaccine feeling among some people in this country – an alarmingly large percentage of people, relatively speaking,” Anthony Fauci said warning that such attitudes have led to people ignoring social distancing and mask requirements and a spike on coronavirus cases.
  • Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar appeared to blame a rise in coronavirus cases across several states on a lack of “personal responsibility” by young people, but added that the American economy needed to “get back to work.”

“We’re seeing surges and new cases especially in counties in the southern United States… the majority of these cases are under age 35 and are asymptomatic,” he said. “We all have got to practice social distancing. We’ve got to wear facial coverings… If we don’t act responsibly, we’re going to see governors … pull back on those reopenings.”

  • At least 16 states are heading into the holiday weekend with record high coronavirus statistics and fears that mass gatherings in the coming days could spark further outbreaks.
  • Five states set single-day case records on Friday: Alabama, Alaska, Kansas, North Carolina and South Carolina. 
  • More than 100 students living in 15 different fraternity houses near the University of Washington campus have reported testing positive for coronavirus, with hundreds of tests from other residents still pending.
  • North Carolina reported 951 hospitalizations and 2,099 cases, both record highs.
  • Wilmington, North Carolina, Mayor Bill Saffo asked citizens to wear their masks and practice social distancing this weekend. He said he expects a spike in coronavirus cases in two weeks due to Independence Day celebrations.
  • An Ohio state representative Candice Keller (R) claimed that she was asked to leave the Gettysburg Visitor Center and Museum in Pennsylvania after refusing to wear a mask.

“We were asked to leave the Gettysburg Welcome Center because we refused to wear a face mask,” Keller continued. “This is not the law in Pennsylvania, nor yet in Ohio where I’m from, and it is an unconstitutional idea that our leaders have come up with.”

  • Florida had 9,488 new cases on Friday, according to the state health department. Florida’s 10,109 cases on Thursday set a record for the state and was more than any European country’s daily peak at the height of the outbreak there.
  • The surge is not simply due to expanded testing. The percentage of tests coming back positive in Florida has hit 16%, up from 4% a month ago, according to a Reuters analysis. The World Health Organization says a rate over 5% is concerning.
  • Hospitalizations in Florida went up by 341 — the third-largest increase in a single day since the pandemic’s start. Only April 29 and May 16 had larger jumps, with the highest in May of 400. Thursday’s increase was 329.
  • Miami-Dade County in Florida is imposing a curfew heading into the July 4 weekend to try to curtail the growing coronavirus outbreak in the state. 

The curfew, starting Friday night at 10 p.m. and lasting until 6 a.m., will be implemented “until further notice,” said Carlos Gimenez, the county’s mayor.

“During curfew hours no one shall use streets or sidewalks for any purpose, except first responders, medical personnel & essential workers going to/from work,” he tweeted.

  • Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease specialist, is warning that Florida is “heading a million miles an hours in the wrong direction” on its handling of the coronavirus pandemic. 

She added that people are not properly following the rules and it’s playing a role in rising cases of COVID-19 in the area.

“It’s absolutely the saddest thing, the most unnecessary situation that we’re finding ourselves in,” Marty said. “And it’s behaviorally driven.”

  • Mississippi reported more than 900 new coronavirus cases Friday — the second-highest single day total recorded by the state. Gov. Tate Reeves’s executive orders will allow indoor gatherings of up to 20 people. Bars and restaurants can offer indoor dining as long as they stay below 50 percent capacity. Backyard BBQs can have up to 100 people so long as guests remain socially distanced. And outdoor stadiums will also be allowed to remain open at 25 percent capacity.
  • Arkansas, Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) signed an executive order allowing local officials to pass mask ordinances on Friday. Mr. Hutchinson, never implemented a statewide stay-at-home order, instead opting to close high-contact businesses like gyms and personal care services. More than 540 new cases were announced in the state on Friday, just a day after a record 878 cases were reported.
  • Sheriff’s deputies in the Southern California city of West Hollywood will issue citations to people who are not wearing masks in public, ramping up enforcement of a rule that previously had been imposed largely without penalties.

The non-criminal citations come with a fine of $250 for a first offense, as well as a $50 fee.

  • The European Commission said on Friday it had given conditional approval for the use of antiviral remdesivir in severe COVID-19 patients following an accelerated review process, making it the region’s first authorised therapy to treat the virus.
  • England will drop its mandatory 14-day quarantine for visitors from more than 50 countries, including France, Italy, Spain and dozens of others, but keep the restrictions in place for travelers coming from the United States.
  • The United Kingdom’s death toll from confirmed cases of the coronavirus rose by 137 to 44,131, government figures showed on Friday.
  • North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un claims North Korea’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic is “a shining success.”
  • Brazil, which has more coronavirus cases than any country but the United States, topped 1.5 million total infections on Friday, just two weeks after reaching a million cases.
  • Local authorities are digging mass graves at cemeteries across Bolivia to receive a new wave of victims from COVID-19, unnerving Bolivians as the outbreak rips across the Andean nation.
  • Mexico on Friday reported 6,740 new coronavirus infections, taking the country’s total to 245,251 cases, more than Italy and the ninth-highest tally worldwide. 
  • The Northern Mexican state of Sonora — which borders Arizona and a small portion of New Mexico — is toughening border restrictions this weekend as both regions experience a surge in coronavirus cases.  

In anticipation of the Fourth of July weekend, the state government announced plans to place filters at Sonora’s main border cities to turn back tourists and those traveling for nonessential purposes.

  • Australia’s second most-populous state, Victoria, reported its biggest jump in coronavirus cases since late March on Saturday, forcing the expansion of stay-at-home orders to more Melbourne suburbs and the complete lockdown of nine public housing towers.
  • President Juan Orlando Hernández of Honduras has been discharged from the hospital after receiving more than two weeks of in-patient treatment for Covid-19 and related pneumonia.
  • Results of Major League Baseball’s first round of widespread coronavirus testing were released on Friday, as preseason training resumed in full after being shut down for more than three months. Out of 3,185 tests, 38 were positive (31 players and seven staff members). The league plans to open a 60-game season on July 23, with no fans in the stands.
  • SAG-AFTRA issued a do-not-work notice to its members for a pandemic-themed independent film starring Demi Moore and Craig Robinson, saying producers had “not been transparent about their safety protocols.” 
  • Kimberly Guilfoyle, a top fundraising official for the Trump campaign and the girlfriend of Donald Trump Jr., tested positive for coronavirus, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to The Hill on Friday.

Less than a week ago, Guilfoyle and Trump Jr. attended a packed party in Bridgehampton that looked “as if COVID had never happened.”

There were about 100 partiers, who a source says were maskless, at the bash at the 51 Sandpiper Lane mansion, hosted by famed Hamptons builder Joe Farrell.

  • A White House pool report from inside the Mount Rushmore amphitheater: We are in place at the amphitheater with an estimated crowd of about 3,700. It is shoulder to shoulder with no attempt at social distancing. The seats here are packed and the vast majority of the audience is unmasked.

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

Coronavirus/COVID-19

  • Austin, Texas Mayor Steve Adler on Friday panned Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s order to pause the reopening of the state’s economy, arguing that additional mitigation measures need to be imposed to stamp out a spike in coronavirus cases.

“Pausing will not make things better,” Adler, a Democrat, told CNN’s “New Day.”

“The path we’re on right now is the path that right now has us in danger,” he said. “We need to do something that’s different than that. We need our people in our community here to act differently. The status quo will not protect us.”

  • Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on Friday morning ordered bars to close once again in an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus as the number of infections mount across the state. Abbott initially allowed bars to reopen at limited capacity on May 22.
  • California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that if need be, the state will pause its reopening in a bid to quell the coronavirus spread. 

“To the extent we do not see progress being made, and we’re not advancing the cause of public health and public safety, then we certainly reserve the right to put a pause in terms of advancing into the subsequent phase,” Newsom warned.

KTLA reports that the state’s positivity rate has risen to 5.1 percent over the past two weeks, and 5.6 percent during the last week. 

Hospitalizations due to coronavirus infections have similarly risen by 32 percent over the last two weeks.

“We’ve got Fourth of July coming up,” Newsom said. “We have rules of the road — expectations — that we believe need to be met, and cannot impress upon people more important at this critical juncture, when we are experiencing an increase in cases that we had not experienced in the past, to take seriously this moment.”

  • President Trump on Thursday night said that he was merely joking when he said over the weekend that less testing would mean fewer confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

“Sometimes I jokingly say, or sarcastically say, if we didn’t do tests we would look great,” Trump told Sean Hannity during a televised Fox News town hall event. “But you know what? It’s not the right thing to do.”

  • Chuck E Cheese announced that it will file for bankruptcy as the coronavirus pandemic has limited dine-in restaurant service and children’s birthday parties at the entertainment chain. At one point during the outbreak, several locations took to offering food delivery through apps under the name “Pasqually’s Pizza & Wings.”
  • Florida is shutting down bars in an effort to slow the spread of coronavirus, after the state reported a single-day record of new infections.

Halsey Beshears, the secretary of the agency that regulates Florida bars, announced that on-premise alcohol consumption will stop immediately. 

Florida shattered its single-day record of new coronavirus cases reported on Friday, adding an additional 8,942 cases, according to the Department of Health.

  • Before Tuesday of this week, New York was the only state to ever report more than 5,000 new Covid cases in one day.

Since then, California, Texas, and Florida have all seen several 5,000+ case days each. And Florida is rapidly nearing 10k per day.

  • The Florida Department of Health reported 8,942 new cases of Covid-19 today. That’s a huge spike and the highest single day reporting of coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic.
  • Vice President Pence claimed on reopening that “all 50 states and territories are moving forward.” 

NOTE: Texas and Florida just announced new restrictions in the wake of surging case numbers.

  • “Arizona is in a state of crisis right now,” Tucson Mayor Regina Romero said about the rise in coronavirus cases. She says the city only has ten ICU beds available.
  • New daily coronavirus cases are now rising in 29 states, an NPR analysis shows. 

The Top 10 states with increased cases: 

Idaho 160 new cases/day +310%

Oklahoma 370 new cases/day +259%

Florida 4,013 new cases/day +216%

Texas 4,757 new cases/day +175%

West Virginia 39 new cases/day +144%

Arizona 2,834 new cases/day +137%

Kansas 193 new cases/day +105%

Mississippi 554 new cases/day +101%

Nevada 384 new cases/day +100%

Georgia 1,455 new cases/day +99%

  • President Donald Trump on Friday morning canceled his scheduled weekend trip to his private golf club in Bedminster, N.J.

The trip had drawn criticism as Trump said he would not follow New Jersey guidelines and would ignore a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers coming from states with coronavirus spikes. Trump visited Arizona on Tuesday amid a rapid rise in cases there.

  • President Trump said in a Twitter post Friday that he’s staying in Washington, D.C., instead of going to his golf club in New Jersey over the weekend “to make sure LAW & ORDER is enforced” in the nation’s capital. 

“I was going to go to Bedminster, New Jersey, this weekend, but wanted to stay in Washington, D.C. to make sure LAW & ORDER is enforced,” he said in a tweet. “The arsonists, anarchists, looters, and agitators have been largely stopped. I am doing what is necessary to keep our communities safe — and these people will be brought to Justice!”

  • During the coronavirus press briefing, a reporter asked Vice President Pence,  “Can you tell me…why the campaign continues to hold these rallies?”

Pence replied, “The freedom of speech. The right to peacefully assemble is enshrined in the Constitution of the United States and we have an election coming up this fall.”

  • Dr. Deborah Birx said Orlando, Tampa and Miami are among the metro areas the federal government is watching. She also noted that the counties that are showing the largest daily case increases in the state are Miami Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.
  • “We are facing a serious problem in certain areas,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease doctor, said. “So what goes on in one area of the country ultimately could have an effect on other areas of the country.”
  • Fauci said, “You have an individual responsibility to yourself but you have a societal responsibility, because if we want to end this outbreak — really end it, and then hopefully when a vaccine comes and puts the nail in the coffin — we’ve got to realize that we are part of the process.”
  • The Trump administration will grant five community-based coronavirus testing sites in Texas a 14-day funding extension, after pushback from federal and local officials who criticized the end of funding as the state sees skyrocketing cases.
  • The E.U. will bar most travelers from the U.S., Russia and Brazil, which have been excluded from a list of countries deemed to have curbed the coronavirus.

Europe will allow outsiders to begin entering again on July 1, but the U.S. and Russia are among the nations considered too risky because they have not controlled the coronavirus outbreak.

  • AstraZeneca’s experimental COVID-19 vaccine is probably the world’s leading candidate and most advanced in terms of development, the World Health Organization’s chief scientist said on Friday.

The British drugmaker has already begun large-scale, mid-stage human trials of the vaccine, which was developed by researchers at University of Oxford.

  • Tomas Philipson, who said this week he will resign as acting chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, confirmed in an email to The Wall Street Journal that he tested positive for the coronavirus earlier this month. He said he experienced a “very mild case of one day of fever” and that the White House had a “very capable medical team that managed my case exceptionally well during the infection.”
  • A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration must release immigrant children being detained with their parents in U.S. immigration jails during the coronavirus pandemic.

In the order, U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee swiped at the administration for detaining families during the pandemic and said that all children held for more than 20 days at detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement must be released.

  • The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has added three new possible symptoms for COVID-19. 

The new symptoms are congestion or runny nose, nausea, and diarrhea. These symptoms join the federal agency’s list that already included fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, and loss of taste or smell and sore throat.

  • Paul Monies, a reporter for Oklahoma Watch, who covered President Trump’s rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma last week, announced Friday he has tested positive for the coronavirus.

Monies was in the BOK Center last Saturday to cover Trump’s rally and said he wore a mask and practiced social distancing. He was never close to the president.

  • Speaker Nancy Pelosi accused President Trump of being “cowardly” for not wearing a mask amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and said she would support a policy to make wearing the face coverings mandatory in public. 

“I totally agree with Joe Biden. As long as we’re faced with this crisis, masks should be mandatory,” Pelosi said Friday on NPR’s “All Things Considered.

  • Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) on Friday sent cease and desist letters to Glendale-based Clean Air EXP and Phoenix-based Dream City Church, the megachurch  where President Trump held a campaign rally earlier this week, demanding that they stop claiming that Clean Air EXP’s air filtration systems can purify air of 99 percent of the virus that causes COVID-19.
  • An uptick in in-restaurant spending can predict an increase in COVID-19 cases over three weeks, according to a research note from J.P. Morgan.

“Looking across categories of card spending, we find that the level of spending in restaurants three weeks ago was the strongest predictor of the rise in new virus cases over the subsequent three weeks,” wrote Jesse Edgerton, of the bank’s economic and research department.

Restaurant purchases with cards presented in person, rather than online, were particularly predictive.

The opposite was true for supermarket spending, where an increase in credit card purchases was associated with a decline of the virus.

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