June 23 coronavirus news

Last week, Massachusetts offered Covid-19 testing for people who recently attended large gatherings like the demonstrations and protests to honor George Floyd, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said in a press conference on Tuesday morning.

Out of 17,617 Covid-19 tests that were conducted statewide, 2.5% came back positive for Covid-19, Baker said.

Baker said that this percentage was reasonably consistent with the statewide numbers seen in daily testing for coronavirus.

Baker pointed to several factors that likely contributed to the relatively low number of positives Covid-19 cases. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin proposed raising taxes for the country's upper-middle class earners to help cover added budgetary costs brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, eliminating the flat personal income tax rate for upper-middle class.

In a televised address Tuesday, Putin said the proposed tax increase from 13% to 15% would apply those who earn more than 5 million rubles ($72,900) a year. The additional budgetary funds would be used for medical treatment of children, he said.

Russia has the third highest confirmed cases of the virus in the world, right after the United States and Brazil, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Putin said the economic fallout was a “serious challenge” for Russia.

The country has come under criticism at home and abroad for its response, but Putin claimed early measures by the government helped save “tens of thousands of lives” of Russian citizens.

The Trump administration is racing to replenish the country's national supply stockpile, despite conflicting messaging from officials about the potential severity of a second wave of the virus.

Nearly half of states are reporting a rise in new cases and some continue to break records in their daily reported cases. Behind the scenes, officials are trying to execute on a newly envisioned Strategic National Stockpile, informally called "SNS 2.0," and restock the country's supply before a possible fall resurgence.  

State officials are taking matters into their own hands and working on bolstering their own stockpiles, following the supply scramble that unfolded earlier this year. 

The Health and Human Services Department, which maintains the stockpile, has outlined efforts to replenish its coffers, but hasn't disclosed exactly much supply it currently has. The preparations underway acknowledge the looming possibility of another surge in coronavirus cases. 

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on CNN Sunday that the administration is "filling the stockpile in anticipation of a possible problem in the fall," but on Monday, White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told CNBC there won't be a second wave, saying, "there is no second wave coming. It's just, you know, hot spots."

The administration and state leaders say the rise in cases is due to more testing availability. But epidemiologists argue case numbers should go down with greater testing, because theoretically health officials should be able to trace the cases and slow the spread of the virus.

Read more here.

Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro has been ordered by a federal judge in Brasilia — the country's capital — to wear a face mask in public or face a fine.

Federal Judge Renato Borelli issued a decision Monday, ordering Bolsonaro to wear mask when in public in Brasilia. The judge’s order said failure to do so could potentially lead to a fine of up to R$2000 a day, about $386 USD.

The decision extends to all government employees in the Federal District, where the capital Brasilia is located. 

Some background: The Federal District government had issued a decree on April 30 making the use of face masks in public spaces mandatory, in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. President Bolsonaro has since appeared in public at several events without wearing the mask, including rallies with supporters. 

Brazil is the country with the world’s second highest coronavirus rate. More than 1.1 million cases and more than 51,000 deaths have been confirmed by Brazilian health authorities.

Syracuse University has suspended all study abroad programs for the fall 2020 semester due to travel concerns during the pandemic. 

The university said it remains concerned about the likelihood of travel restrictions for US travelers, as well as the diminished experience students would likely have abroad, since many countries are still in their own phased reopening, according to a letter sent Monday to study abroad students from Syracuse Assistant Provost Erika Wilkens.

Students who planned to study abroad this fall will be given priority placement for the spring 2021 semester.

Syracuse joins Georgetown, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Butler, Penn State and other universities that have previously announced canceling study abroad programs for the fall.

Mandatory face coverings, hygiene stations and health screenings are all included in newly-released guidelines for New York state's higher education institutions to reopen when the state reaches Phase Four.

The five-page plan released Monday included recommended best practices and mandatory steps. The mandatory requirements are broken up into five categories:

Institutions must require all students, employees and visitors to wear face coverings in common areas or situations where social distancing may be difficult. This does not apply to roommates, who are allowed to be within six feet of each other without a face covering.

All higher education institutions must also plan with their local health department where exposed or infected students can go to quarantine or be in isolation.

Institutions also have to provide face coverings for free to employees who interact directly with students and there have to be hygiene stations for hand washing with soap, running warm water, disposable paper towels, and an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, throughout the institution. Cleaning and disinfection requirements from the CDC and Department of Health to clean public spaces and restrooms also need to be followed.

Employees, students and scheduled visitors need to go through health screenings and schools are responsible for notifying state and local health departments of their number of confirmed positive cases. They also need to have plans in place to contact trace. 

The plan also lists a wide variety of recommended practices such as considering a mix of in-person and remote learning and reconfiguring social spaces and classrooms to help maintain social distancing.

Read more about the plan here.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio dined at Melba’s in Harlem with the first lady yesterday as the city entered phase 2 of reopening which allows outdoor dining.

He thanked the wonderful hosts at Melba’s, called it a “beautiful night” and said he was grateful to get back to the “life” “energy” and “culture” of the city.

Yesterday the mayor said he would "absolutely" dine out and called Monday — the first day of phase 2 — an "important" and "historic" day. He described phase 2 as a "giant step" for the city.

The mayor said the daily Covid-19 indicators are all "under desired thresholds" on Tuesday, and said "today is a very good day."

He said 2% of people tested positive for the virus, which is under the 15% threshold, the daily number of people admitted to hospitals for the virus is at 45, which is under the 200 threshold, and the daily number of people at Health and Hospitals ICUs is at 320, under the 375 threshold.

A group of Democratic senators is asking Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator Peter Gaynor whether the agency is shipping enough personal protective equipment to staff working at nursing homes, which are epicenters of coronavirus outbreaks in some states.

“Recent data show that approximately 40 percent of all COVID-19 deaths in the United States are residents or workers at nursing homes and other longterm care facilities,” Sens. Maggie Hassan, Elizabeth Warren, Bob Casey and Chuck Schumer wrote in a letter to Gaynor Tuesday.

Some background: Earlier this month, nursing homes complained they were getting defective equipment, including gowns that look more like large tarps — with no holes for hands — and paper-thin surgical masks. In late April, President Trump announced an effort to send more supplies to nursing homes, but providers say they haven’t always gotten what was promised.

“Recent public reports also indicate that some of the PPE shipped through FEMA’s recent initiative has been defective, inadequate, and unusable.”

The senators asked Gaynor to answer questions, including: “Are the 14-day supply shipments that FEMA and the Supply Chain Stabilization Taskforce are sending to nursing homes a one-time occurrence, or does FEMA have a long-term plan to distribute PPE to these facilities?”

President Trump is sending the wrong message by participating in an indoor rally today in Phoenix while the state faces an increase in new Covid-19 cases, a leading public health expert in that state said during an interview on CNN’s New Day.

Trump is expected to deliver remarks at a Students for Trump rally inside a church facility. Arizona is one of 10 states that saw their highest 7-day average of daily new coronavirus cases on June 21, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.