June 2 coronavirus news

Pennsylvania reported 100 new coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the total number of fatalities to 5,667, according to a statement from the Department of Health.

There were also another 612 positive cases in the state for a new total of 72,894.

She continued: “As counties move into the yellow and green phases, we must take personal responsibility to protect others. Wearing a mask, continuing to maintain social distancing, and washing your hands frequently are all steps we can take to help protect others, including our most vulnerable Pennsylvanians, our essential workers and our healthcare system.”

For the second consecutive day, there were no Covid-19 deaths reported by Spain’s Health Ministry, new data released Tuesday show. 

The total Covid-19 death toll has held steady at 27,127 since Sunday.

But, Dr. Fernando Simón, director of the Center for Health Emergencies, said “the data on the deceased are generating some problems” so the figure may have to be adjusted over the next day. Simón said one of the country’s 17 regional governments is having problems with reporting data to the central health authorities.

Speaking at the government’s daily coronavirus technical briefing, Simón stressed that while the death numbers are important, the priority right now for health authorities is to detect any new cases early, and to promptly track and isolate them.

There was an uptick of 137 new infections on Monday, bringing the total number of Covid-19 cases to 239,932, as reported by the Spanish Health Ministry.

A Brazilian study by the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) projects that Brazil could reach 1 million cases of novel coronavirus and 50,000 deaths by June 20.

The study also predicts that the number of Covid-19 cases in Brazil will double in the next 18 days.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Brazil reports 526,447 cases of coronavirus and 29,937 virus related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The study projects the peak of the epidemic in Brazil will occur in the middle of June.

UFRGS is a reputable institution in Brazil, as it ranks fourth best in the country, according to 2019 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Another study by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, projects Covid-19 deaths in Brazil will exceed 125,000 by early August, and continue increasing afterwards.

The study comes as parts of Brazil are set to reopen. Rio de Janeiro began opening some nonessential businesses and activities Tuesday after an announcement from Mayor Marcelo Crivella Monday. Crivella said he expects the Brazilian city to “return to normal” in early August.

The Federal Bureau of Prisons does not test every inmate for Covid-19, but it is their long term goal to do so.

Speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Dr. Jeffery Allen, medical director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said, “We do not yet have the strategy in place to test all inmates.”

Allen said they are working on “expanding our capabilities for testing,” but right now they only test inmates based on recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A priority system has been created and they are “testing symptomatic patients, testing exposed patients, testing new intakes — and then going beyond that — testing inmates going out to the community coming back, from the community, being released,” he said.

Allen said they are not currently testing any of their own staff, instead relying “heavily on relationships and community partnerships for the testing of staff.”

He said with the greater availability of testing supplies, “The Bureau is working diligently to expand its own testing strategies for asymptomatic populations — including all new inmates on arrival, test and test out strategies for quarantine, testing close contacts, and a number of other criteria.”

Michael Carvajal, director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said today across the US, they have about 1,400 inmates who are currently positive for Covid-19.

“We have 3,000 recovered. So, what I'm trying to say is that we have — at this point — more folks recovered, both staff and inmates. And I think that that shows that we are beginning to flatten the curve,” he said.

Carvajal added: “Prisons by design are not made for social distancing. They are on the opposite and made to contain people in one area.”

Italy has introduced mandatory temperature checks for rail passengers in an effort to contain the spread of coronavirus, the country's Transport Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

Civil Protection Agency volunteers will also manage the flow of travelers inside the stations until June 15, the statement said.

Medium and long-distance trains will have a "simplified" on board food service, with meals and drinks delivered to the seat in sealed packaging by staff wearing masks and gloves.

The new regulations come ahead of Italy relaxing some travel restrictions starting on June 3, allowing interregional travel and foreign visitors from the European Union and UK, who will no longer have to go into quarantine. 

With only one active case of novel coronavirus nationwide and none reported over the past 11 days, New Zealand's government is poised to ease coronavirus restrictions as soon as next week.

“If and only if there are no further unexpected cases over the coming days, then we could be in a position to move to alert level one that week,” Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced on Tuesday.

The prime minister added that the last remaining restrictions on physical distancing and on mass gatherings would be removed, and that strict border controls would remain to prevent new infections from arriving overseas.

Arden said further details on alert level one will be given out this week.

Some background: New Zealand confirmed its first case of coronavirus on February 28.

By March 25, New Zealand had moved to the strictest level four lockdown, with people told not to leave home except for essential exercise, while maintaining social distancing. 

Foreign nationals were banned from entering the country, nonessential businesses were closed, events and gatherings were canceled, schools were closed to all children, public transportation was reserved for essential workers, and discretionary domestic air travel between regions was banned.

"Our strategy of going hard and early has paid off, and in some cases beyond expectation and what modeling and data had predicted," Arden said. 

New Covid-19 cases is "at an all time low" in New York State, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference today.

The state reported 58 deaths yesterday, up just slightly from Sunday's total of 54, Cuomo said, saying the number is "just about as low as we have seen it."

WATCH GOV. CUOMO:

As protests over the death of George Floyd continue across the United States, there is concern that coronavirus could spread among demonstrators, US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams told Politico on Monday.

"Based on the way the disease spreads, there is every reason to expect that we will see new clusters and potentially new outbreaks moving forward," Adams said.

Many protesters nationwide have worn masks while marching — and in his interview with Politico, Adams praised Colorado Gov. Jared Polis' administration for making masks available for protesters in that state and for encouraging Covid-19 testing.

 "You understand the anger, you hope that we can find ways that really can help people channel their anger into meaningful steps forward," Adams told Politico. "There is going to be a lot to do after this, even to try and get the communities of color back to where they need to be for people to be able to recover from Covid, and for people to be able to recover from the shutdown and to be able to prosper."

The World Health Organization has raised alarm about the risk of using antibiotics to treat Covid-19, fueling a rise in antimicrobial resistance around the world.

Antimicrobial resistance occurs when microorganisms such as bacteria or viruses evolve in a way that makes them no longer affected by antibiotics or other medicines -- leading to infections that can no longer be treated with the medications commonly used today.

The overuse of antibiotics, or using them unnecessarily, can lead to harmful antimicrobial resistance.

WHO noted in a news release on Monday that new global data shows that bacterial infections across nations already are increasingly resistant to the medications used to the treat them -- and warned that the use of antibiotics during the coronavirus pandemic could drive this trend even more.

WHO last week released clinical guidance for doctors not to use antibiotic therapy or prophylaxis among patients with mild or moderate Covid-19 unless there is a clear clinical indication to do so.

"In the current Clinical Management of COVID-19, Interim Guidance, WHO has outlined the appropriate use of antibiotic therapy for medical professionals to treat patients. Therefore, both tackling antimicrobial resistance, while also saving lives," Tedros said.

Tedros added that a "record number" of countries are continuing to monitor and report cases of antimicrobial resistance, and "as we gather more evidence, it’s clear that the world is losing its ability to use critically important antimicrobial medicines all over the world."

Additionally, using antibiotics appropriately can become a complex balancing act.

 "On the demand side, in some countries there is an overuse of antibiotics and antimicrobial agents in both humans and animals. However, in many low- and middle-income countries these lifesaving medicines are out of reach for those that need them, leading to needless suffering and death," Tedros said. 

"On the supply side, there is essentially very little market incentive to developing new antibiotics and antimicrobial agents, which has led to multiple market failures of very promising tools in the past few years," Tedros said. "As well as finding new models to incentivize sustainable innovation, as seen with the Covid-19 Solidarity Trial, we must find ways to accelerate viable candidates."