June 23 coronavirus news

New Jersey has seen an increase in the percentage of people testing positive for Covid-19 between the ages of 18 and 29, state Health Commissioner Judy Persichilli said Tuesday.

In April that age group represented 12% of the state’s cases. This month they represent 22% of the cases.

Persichilli noted that while some of the increase can be attributed to increased testing, the trend was still concerning, and especially in light of the videos of large gatherings over the weekend along the Jersey Shore and at a bar in northern New Jersey. 

The Oklahoma City Fire Department reported Tuesday that 10 firefighters tested positive for Covid-19 and 55 have been placed into quarantine.

In total, 13 firefighters have tested positive since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the department. Oklahoma City employs nearly 1,000 firefighters.

The department said that seven of the nearly 650 firefighters who have been tested have had a positive antibody test. 

California is breaking records again, this time setting yet another daily high for confirmed coronavirus cases with at least 5,019 recorded Monday. This is the fourth daily case record in the state over the past week, according to data provided by California Department of Public Health.

Hospitalizations are also at their highest to date for confirmed cases, with more than 3,700 people currently receiving in-patient treatment. Those in intensive care — nearly 1,200 patients — are just below the all-time high for California which was recorded in April.

More than 3.4 million people have been tested for Covid-19 in California to date, and about 4.9% of those have tested positive for the virus.

More than 183,000 people in California have contracted coronavirus and more than 5,500 have died as a result, the data shows.

Amusement parks and water parks can open at 50% capacity in New Jersey on July 2, Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Tuesday, including the rides on boardwalks along the Jersey Shore.

Face coverings will be required for all staffs and attendees at the parks where practical.

Playgrounds will also be allowed to reopen on July 2. State officials will provide their timeline for the return of indoor recreation tomorrow, the governor said. 

Murphy warned that if businesses do not take proper precautions and the numbers continue to tick up, he will respond accordingly — though he did not announce any specific actions. 

The numbers: New Jersey reported 382 new cases of Covid-19 on Tuesday. The statewide total is now 169,734.

The state reported 57 new deaths on Tuesday, bringing the statewide total to 12,914. Nearly half of those reported deaths — 6,248 — continue to be in long-term care facilities. 

England’s Chief Medical Officer, Professor Chris Whitty, says he expects a “significant” amount or coronavirus to be circulating until at least 2021.

“I would be surprised and delighted if we weren't in this current situation through the winter and into next spring,” he said Tuesday in a press conference in Downing Street.

The UK Government today announced that in England, the two-meter social distancing rule is being reduced to one meter. However Professor Whitty says people should still maintain two meters where possible.

“A lot of the changes are about emphasizing things that we can do and it is really critical that individuals and firms take these really seriously,” he said, referring to mitigation strategies like avoiding sitting face-to-face.

“Because if we don't take them seriously then chains of transmission between households will be re-established.”

The Louisiana Department of Health (LDH) reported 1,356 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the state's total to 51,595. 

There were 17 new deaths reported today, bringing the statewide total to 3,021.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said on Monday that due to the increase of positive cases, the state will stay in phase two for an additional 28 days. 

Middlebury College in Vermont will require strict testing and quarantining protocols for students upon arrival to campus as part of its initial decisions for the fall 2020 semester.

All students have to complete a 14-day quarantine at home before traveling to campus for their assigned move in date, according to a letter sent to the Middlebury community on Monday from President Laurie Patton. 

In partnership with Broad Institute, a medical research institution based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, all Middlebury students will go into "room quarantine" and will be tested for Covid-19 twice — once upon arrival to campus and a second time after seven days.

"Meals will be delivered to dorms during the quarantine period. Students will not be able to leave their rooms except to use the bathroom, get their meals from the dorm delivery point, or in case of a medical emergency," said Patton.

If students test negative, they will go from "room quarantine" to "campus quarantine," and can move around campus, while still following all physical distancing and safety protocols in place.

"However, for the health and safety of everyone, students will not be permitted to leave campus during this time," according to the plan.

The small liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, will also adjust its fall calendar to allow for a minimal amount of people coming and going from campus. The fall semester will begin on September 8, fall break will be canceled, and on-campus classes will end before the Thanksgiving holiday, with the final week of class and exams conducted remotely.

"This coming semester at Middlebury must be one of discipline and vigilance, without the same open boundaries and without many of the activities we are used to," said Patton.

Read more about the college's announcement here.  

At least 17 high school students in Ohio have tested positive for coronavirus after a recent trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Robert Sproul, deputy health commissioner of the Belmont County Health Department, tells CNN.

“We were told that 91 students from the Ohio Valley (West Virginia and Ohio) went to Myrtle Beach and returned to the Valley the weekend of the 13-14. Of that group we are being told 45 were Belmont County residents from multiple school districts. This was not a school sanctioned event,” Sproul said.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Belmont Health Department confirms 17 positive cases and two contact positives, but Sproul expects that number to increase as more people who went on the trip and the individuals they were exposed to get tested for the virus.

“We’re worried our numbers are going to be creeping up,” he said, adding none of the students have been hospitalized and all are quarantining at home while health officials conduct contact tracing to identify where the students were and who they were with. Contact tracers check in with coronavirus-positive individuals on a daily basis, he added.

Before this spike in cases, Belmont County had reduced infection rates to zero, Sproul said, attributing the county’s then-success to residents taking state-imposed restrictions seriously.

“Maybe reconsider your destination,” he cautions future travelers. “If you’re going to a hotspot and not taking precautions you’re asking for trouble … it could happen in your town”

A team of scientists at Imperial College in London has delivered the first dose of their trial Covid-19 vaccine to a human volunteer, a spokesperson told CNN on Tuesday.

The dose was administered on Friday to a volunteer, Ryan O’Hare told CNN. The vaccine will initially be trialed in 15 volunteers, he said. In the second phase, 300 volunteers will receive the vaccine.

The so-called self-amplifying RNA vaccine uses “bits of genetic code, rather than bits of the virus,” to use muscle cells to “produce copies of a protein found on the outside of the virus.” According to Imperial College, this “trains the immune system to respond to the coronavirus so the body can easily recognize it as a threat in future.”

In April, scientists called for volunteers for the human trial of the coronavirus vaccine.

“We are looking for volunteers to take part in our trial in June — they will be the first volunteers to get the vaccine,” Professor Robin Shattock told BBC radio in April.