June 1 coronavirus news

Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner has declared Monday a day of mourning for all those who lost their lives due to Covid-19.

The Houston Health Department reported 7,743 cases of coronavirus and 131 deaths.

“It is more important than ever to wear your face coverings, to maintain social distancing, and to practice good hygiene,” Turner said during a news conference on Monday.

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A voluntary contact tracing app has been launched in Italy after being approved by the national body which regulates privacy, Italian Health Ministry said on Monday. 

The app, called Immuni, "respects the Italian and European privacy norms” the Health Ministry statement says, and it can be downloaded for free from the Apple and Google stores. 

Using Bluetooth technology, smartphones, which download the app, will exchange random codes, but not information that could identify devices' owners such as names, emails, phone numbers or GPS data. 

When two smartphones which have installed the app and have Bluetooth activated are in proximity, they store each other's random code, taking note of the length of the meeting and the distance among the two devices.

If the device’s owner tests positive for Covid-19, with their consent a health care operator will transfer their device's encrypted code to a server, and then those individuals who also downloaded the app and have been is close contact with the infected person will receive a notification, the Health Ministry statement explained. 

Users must be at least 14 years old to use the Immuni app, and those between 14 and 18 must have the authorization of at least one parent or legal guardian to download it.

Bending Spoons said “enormous focus” was placed on the protection of privacy. All data is encrypted and will be deleted “when no longer relevant“ and in any case “no later than December 31, 2020,” the app webpage said.

The first four regions to roll out the app starting June 8 will be Abruzzo, Liguria, Marche and Puglia, according to the Italian Health Ministry.

The city of Rio de Janeiro will begin opening some nonessential businesses and activities tomorrow, Mayor Marcelo Crivella announced on Monday.

Crivella said he expects the Brazilian city to “return to normal” in early August.

The gradual reopening will work in six phases, Crivella said. In the first phase, churches, car shops and furniture stores will be allowed to resume activities. People will also be allowed to exercise on Rio’s iconic beachside promenade and swim in the ocean.

The relaxation of social isolation rules is occurring while Covid-19 cases are still on the rise in Brazil.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the state of Rio de Janeiro has recorded more than 54,000 cases of coronavirus and 5,462 deaths. The state’s death toll surpassed that reported in all of China last week.

Brazil is second only to the United States in its number of coronavirus cases.

Washington, DC, reported on Monday a spike of coronavirus cases, pushing back the city’s timetable for moving to the second phase of reopening additional businesses and public spaces. 

In a statement, the DC Health Department confirmed a new peak in positive coronavirus cases recorded.

DC Health confirmed the spike in cases restarts phase one of the District's reopening program. DC would need to record a 14-day decline in cases of community spread in order to complete phase one and move on to phase two. 

The DC Department of Health reported 56 new positive coronavirus cases and two coronavirus deaths were confirmed on Sunday, raising the total number of cases to 8,857, and the total number of deaths due to coronavirus deaths to 468. 

The number of coronavirus cases in Peru rose to 170,039 on Monday, an increase of 5,563 from the previous day, according to the country's Health Ministry. 

The country also reported 128 new coronavirus-related deaths, raising the national death toll to 4,634, according to the Ministry. 

Peru has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in Latin America, following Brazil. 

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced that state is on track to move to stage two in the reopening process June 15.

Outdoor dining and nonessential retail will be permitted to open with limited capacity on June 15.

Personal care businesses like salons will be allowed to open June 22 and Murphy said he hopes fitness centers will be permitted to open in some capacity shortly after that. 

The governor stressed citizens should continue social distancing and face covering practices as the reopening stages continue.

Louisiana can move to phase two of its reopening on Friday, Gov. John Bel Edwards said Monday.

However, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell said that Orleans Parish will continue to stay in phase one.

For the rest of the state, under phase two, bars as well as spas will be able to reopen and restaurants and businesses that have been operating at 25% capacity, will be able to move to a 50% occupancy starting Friday.

“We still have work to do, we still have restrictions that have to be in place and as I said many times, we’re not going to be back to normal but we are moving in the right direction,” Edwards told reporters in Baton Rouge.

After more than a month of gradually easing lockdown measures, coronavirus infections continue to steadily decrease in Italy, according to data from the country's Civil Protection Service.

There were 178 new infections on Monday, the lowest recorded increase since February 26, bringing the total number of cases, including deaths and recoveries, to 233,197. 

The number of active cases stands at 41,367, a decrease of 708 compared to Sunday. The number of those in intensive care is 424, a decrease of 11 cases.

The total number of fatalities is 33,475, an increase of 60 people, according to Italy's Civil Protection Service.

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms issued an executive order to extend the hazard pay for the city’s Covid-19 frontline employees, her office said Monday.

The nearly 5,400 eligible employees will receive an additional $500 a month through Sept. 30, according to the order.