Coronavirus pandemic: Updates from around the world

By Helen Regan, Jenni Marsh and Zamira Rahim, CNN

Updated 3:35 p.m. ET, June 21, 2020
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2:19 p.m. ET, June 21, 2020

New York City will enter phase 2 of reopening on Monday, officials say

From CNN's Sheena Jones

A restaurant serves drinks to customers outside on Saturday, June 20, as New York City prepares for phase two of reopening.
A restaurant serves drinks to customers outside on Saturday, June 20, as New York City prepares for phase two of reopening. Cindy Ord/Getty Images

New York City is on track to enter phase two of Covid-19 reopening on Monday, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and spokesperson Freddi Goldstein.

The state continues to be “on the right path toward defeating the virus,” the governor said in a news release, noting that the state saw less than 1% positivity rate for the virus in the tests conducted Saturday.

"The Covid-19 pandemic isn't over, and as we reopen New York safely and incrementally, the state government will continue to provide timely information so that New Yorkers can make educated decisions for themselves and their families," the governor said.

New York state added 664 coronavirus cases, had 1,142 hospitalizations and 15 deaths across the state on June 21.

1:17 p.m. ET, June 21, 2020

Oklahoma's Tulsa County reports new daily high for coronavirus cases

From CNN's Melissa Alonso

Tulsa County, Oklahoma, reported a new record for daily coronavirus infections on Sunday, according to the county's health website. 

There were 143 new coronavirus cases reported in Tulsa County in the past 24 hours, the website said. 

This is the fifth day in a row the county has reported a new daily high for coronavirus cases in the county.

On Saturday, Tulsa County reported 136 new cases in a 24-hour period.

There are now 875 current active cases and 2,349 total cases in Tulsa County, the county's health website said. 

Oklahoma State Department of Health reported 478 new coronavirus cases in the state on Sunday. The total number of the positive cases now stands at 10,515, according to the state health website.  

Trump campaign rally: President Trump held his first rally since the coronavirus pandemic began on Saturday in the Oklahoma city where the 1921 Tulsa race massacre left up to 300 Black residents dead and the Black Greenwood District in ruins.

Thousands of people, many wearing MAGA hats and waving American flags, arrived at Tulsa's Bank of Oklahoma Center arena, while a group of protesters chanted "Black lives matter" near one of the site's entrances.

Six staffers working on the Tulsa event have tested positive for the virus, the Trump campaign said Saturday.

People attending the rally on Saturday were not required to wear masks and agreed to a disclaimer that states they acknowledge the "inherent risk of exposure to COVID-19 exists in any public place where people are present."

12:39 p.m. ET, June 21, 2020

China halts poultry imports from Tyson Foods after reports of coronavirus cases among workers

From CNN’s Philip Wang and Hira Humayun

Chicken manufactured by Tyson Foods is seen at a supermarket in Shanghai in 2019.
Chicken manufactured by Tyson Foods is seen at a supermarket in Shanghai in 2019. Alex Tai/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

China halted poultry imports from top meat processor Tyson Foods on Sunday after hundreds of Tyson workers in the US tested positive for coronavirus.

On Friday, Tyson released a statement saying a total of 693 workers in the US were tested positive in coronavirus.

“Of the 3,748 team members who were tested onsite, 481 or 13% tested positive – of whom 455 or nearly 95% were asymptomatic – with wide variations among the percentage of positive cases at these facilities. This is in addition to 212 positive cases among team members identified by the Department of Health or when seeking care through their own health care providers," a statement from Tyson said.

China’s General Administration of Customs said imports of frozen chicken from Tyson Foods have been "temporarily suspended.” Products from the firm that have already arrived in China will be confiscated.

Authorities in China are moving swiftly to contain the second wave of coronavirus outbreak.

As of Sunday, Beijing has confirmed 227 coronavirus cases that have been traced to the city's Xinfadi market.

11:01 a.m. ET, June 21, 2020

More than 3,000 new Covid-19 cases reported in Florida on Sunday

From CNN's Melissa Alonso

The Florida Department of Health has reported 3,494 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the state total to 97,291, according to new data. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said cases are "shifting in a radical direction" toward populations in their 20s and 30s.

On Saturday, one day prior, reported cases were the highest for a single day in the state with 4,049, according to to the Florida Department of Health. 

10:27 a.m. ET, June 21, 2020

Ongoing issues with Covid-19 test is "not a joke," expert says 

From CNN's Wes Bruer

CNN
CNN

Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, says that President Trump’s comments on slowing down Covid-19 testing is very consistent with the White House’s policy in managing the virus, despite the administration’s claims the comments were a “joke.”

“This is incredibly frustrating for the millions of Americans who have gotten sick and have not been able to get tests. It’s got to be incredibly frustrating for people who’ve lost families in nursing homes, because we haven’t been able to test nursing home residents and workers, or meatpacking plant workers. This is unfortunately not a joke,” Jha told CNN on Sunday.

Jha said that the US death toll of more than 100,000 is largely due to the lack of Covid-19 testing infrastructure.

On Saturday: Trump, speaking at a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, said that when you increase testing for Covid-19, you find more cases.

“So I said to my people, slow down the testing, please,” Trump told the crowd.

After Trump made the comment, an administration official told CNN that the president was “obviously kidding” when he said that he asked for a slowdown in coronavirus testing.

Trump’s comments, Jha pointed out, come as many parts of the country are experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases.

“We have to remember, we are [in the] early days of this pandemic. Not only is it not fading out — this will be with us for at least another 12 months, and that’s the most optimistic scenario for having a vaccine,” Jha said. 

10:06 a.m. ET, June 21, 2020

Trump rally in Tulsa could be a "super spreader event," ER doctor warns

From CNN's Wes Bruer

CNN
CNN

Dr. Megan Ranney, an emergency physician and associate professor of emergency medicine at Brown University, said there are concerns that President Trump’s campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday could be a “super spreader event.”

“I know the arena was only about a third full last night, but unfortunately that did not seem to be because of social distancing. As you showed, those folks were packed together,” Ranney told CNN today.

Ranney pointed to the six Trump campaign staffers who reportedly tested positive for Covid-19 prior to the rally, and said that it is likely we will see new cases arise from attendees.

“If there were even a couple of cases in the arena last night, we’re most likely going to see a spread among folks that attended. And then they’re going to go back to their states and it’s going to spread further,” Ranney warned.

9:16 a.m. ET, June 21, 2020

CDC will make an updated recommendation on masks "soon," senior agency official says

From CNN’s Nick Valencia

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been conducting a scientific review about the public health benefits of masks, and will soon make an updated recommendation, a senior CDC official told CNN.

The reviews are happening even though the CDC has already published guidance on its website.

A senior official with knowledge of the review said science is being studied as to whether masks are not only “good for source control — and keeping you from giving it to others — but we’re also seeing if masks are going to protect you from getting [Covid-19] yourself.”

“We know it’s a good thing to wear a mask to protect others. We are studying if it is also potentially going to keep you safe,” the official added.

The CDC website has two separate pages of guidance on face coverings. One recommends people wear masks when they leave their home. The other recommends people wear a mask if they cannot properly social distance.

An official at the agency says recommendations from a final scientific review by its incident management “will happen soon.”

9:58 a.m. ET, June 21, 2020

More than 5,000 new coronavirus cases reported in a single day in Chile

From CNN's Elizabeth Wells and Helena DeMoura

A medical team cares for a coronavirus patient at the Military Hospital in Santiago, Chile, on June 18.
A medical team cares for a coronavirus patient at the Military Hospital in Santiago, Chile, on June 18. Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images

Chilean health officials announced 5,355 new cases of coronavirus in Chile and 202 new deaths over the last 24 hours.

This brings the total number of coronavirus cases to 236,748 and the death toll to 4,295, the officials said during a news conference Sunday.

Chile is currently the third country in Latin America with the highest number of cases after Brazil and Peru, and ranks ninth globally, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The country’s chief epidemiologist Rafael Araos said there are other people who might have also died from the virus.

"In relation to those who died due to Covid without laboratory confirmation, that is, deaths in which Covid is a possible or probable cause, the number rises by 3,069," he said.

This number of “probable” deaths from coronavirus is not included in the country’s death toll.

8:00 a.m. ET, June 21, 2020

It's 1 p.m. in London and 8 a.m. in New York. Here's the latest on the pandemic

The novel coronavirus has infected more than 8.8 million people worldwide and killed more than 464,000 people, according to Johns Hopkins University. Here's what you need to know about coronavirus:

Trump says he wanted Covid-19 testing slowed: In a shocking admission during his Tulsa, Oklahoma, rally on Saturday, President Donald Trump said he had told officials to slow down coronavirus testing because of the rising number of cases in America.

Six Trump campaign staff test positive for Covid-19 in Tulsa: The Trump campaign confirmed that the staffers had contracted the disease. The group were working on the US President's Tulsa rally on Saturday night.

India's Modi says yoga can help the world beat the virus: "Yoga helps us boost our strength and build the immunity and metabolism to defeat the pandemic," the Indian Prime Minister said.

China records 26 new cases: 22 of the cases were detected in the capital Beijing, according to the National Health Commission. All cases were considered local transmission, except for one person in Fujian who is reported to be an imported case.

UK on track to further ease lockdown: Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the British government would soon outline plans to relax restrictions.

South Korea limits visas to Pakistani and Bangladeshi citizens: The country's health minister said arrivals from the two countries accounted for a high percentage of confirmed coronavirus cases.