June 24 coronavirus news

By Julia Hollingsworth, Adam Renton, Melissa Macaya, Mike Hayes, Zamira Rahim and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 12:02 a.m. ET, June 25, 2020
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9:35 a.m. ET, June 24, 2020

Coronavirus cases are increasing in more than half of US states — and just 1 has a 50% decrease

There is only one state in the US right now that is reporting at least 50% decrease in new coronavirus cases

Connecticut reported at least a 50% drop in news cases in the past week compared to the previous week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Another 13 states are reporting decreasing case counts at a rate between 10% and 50%, including New York, Massachusetts, Alaska and both North and South Dakota.

But more than half of US states — 26 of them — are seeing new coronavirus cases increase compared with the prior week. Among those states, at least 10 are reporting a 50% increase or higher.

Here's the full breakdown of where cases are trending across US states:

9:29 a.m. ET, June 24, 2020

US gasoline demand more than halfway back from pandemic induced lows

From CNN’s Alison Kosik

Gasoline consumption in the United States has just hit a big milestone. It is now more than halfway back to pre-Covid-19 levels as drivers get back on the road again. 

According to the Oil Price Information Service (OPIS) gasoline sales have been rising at an average of 6.4 % per week since the low point in April when demand was “sliced in half.”  

“There is still more ground to cover, but the positive trends are a sign of recovery,” said Fred Rozell, president of OPIS.

In a release, OPIS fill-ups at the pump hit the rock bottom in the second week of April, down 49% from 2019 volumes, as spiking Covid-19 cases led to the shutdown of the economy and stay-at-home orders across the nation.

That was also the week that oil exporting countries hammered out the OPEC+ deal—with the direct involvement of the United States—to reduce production in a greatly oversupplied market experiencing record-low crude prices. 

The most recent OPIS survey shows that in the second week of June demand was down 22%, compared to the same week in 2019, but regional disparities are still prevalent. 

“Although people talk about ‘demand destruction’, it’s actually been ‘demand contraction’ in response to the economic shutdown,” said Daniel Yergin, vice chairman, IHS Markit. “And now we’re seeing demand ‘uncontracting’ as people get back into their cars.”

9:29 a.m. ET, June 24, 2020

IMF forecasts even deeper recession for global economy in 2020 following pandemic

From Julia Horowitz and Chris Liakos

The International Monetary Fund is warning that the global economic slowdown will be even worse than its first forecast.

Global growth is now expected to shrink by 4.9% this year, down from its April estimate of a 3% contraction, according to IMF’s world economic outlook. That was already due to be the deepest slump since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

“The Covid-19 pandemic has had a more negative impact on activity in the first half of 2020 than anticipated, and the recovery is projected to be more gradual than previously forecast,” the IMF said in its report. 

Here are some individual country forecasts:

  • The US economy is expected to shrink by 8%, while euro area output could decline by 10.2%, according to IMF.
  • In Latin America, the current virus epicenter, Brazil's economy is expected to contract by 9.1%, while output in Mexico could decline by 10.5%.
  • China, which got a head start on the recovery, is expected to see growth of 1%, in part due to policy support from the government.

IMF’s new outlook is better than recent forecasts from the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

IMF did note however that there is a "higher-than-usual degree of uncertainty" around the forecast.

9:17 a.m. ET, June 24, 2020

Cases are rising vertically in some US states. Here's a look at where numbers are going up.

From CNN's Christina Maxouris

At least 26 states are seeing new coronavirus cases increase compared with the prior week. Remember, the number of states where cases are increasing is also on the rise.

California, Florida and Arizona are reporting thousands of new cases each day. And in Texas, health authorities have said new cases and hospitalizations are rising at their fastest rate yet.

  • California recorded a striking 5,019 new cases on Monday — topping the state's daily case record for the fourth time over the past week.
  • In Florida, officials announced 3,289 confirmations in a day. Jackson Health System, a nonprofit academic medical system in Miami, has seen an 101% increase in Covid-19 patients in the past 15 days,
  • In Texas, health authorities have said new cases and hospitalizations are rising at their fastest rate yet —a rate that Gov. Greg Abbott called "unacceptable." The state reported more than 5,000 cases in a single day, breaking their previous record.

Here's a map showing where cases are going up:

Dr. Anthony Fauci testified before Congress yesterday and gave a broad assessment of where the country stands in the pandemic, warning that in some areas of the United States, "we're now seeing a disturbing surge of infections."

Watch the latest on the Covid-19 figures:

9:04 a.m. ET, June 24, 2020

Arizona hospitals need to get emergency plans ready due to rising Covid-19 cases, expert says

From CNN's Health Gisela Crespo

Hospital systems in Arizona need to put emergency plans in place due to the increase in new Covid-19 cases, according to a health expert. 

Will Humble, executive director of the Arizona Public Health Association, predicted the state's hospitals will go into surge capacity mode by the 4th of July. 

"What I'd be focusing right now on is sounding the alarm to our hospital systems to get ready," Humble said while speaking Wednesday on CNN's New Day. "Because no matter what you do at this point, given where we are at the increase in cases, the exponential growth, taking into consideration the incubation period for this virus, we're going to go into surge capacity mode by the 4th of July."

Humble said health officials in the state need to "get those emergency plans in place because, at this point, I don't see an alternative but to go to crisis standard prepare in Arizona probably, probably in 10 days, maybe less."

Arizona is one of five states with the most new cases, reporting 3,779 cases on Tuesday, according to John Hopkins University.

8:47 a.m. ET, June 24, 2020

Medical system in Miami reports 101% increase in Covid-19 patients

From CNN’s Rosa Flores, Sara Weisfeldt and Douglas S. Wood

Jackson Health System, a nonprofit academic medical system in Miami, has seen an 101% increase in Covid-19 patients in the past 15 days, according to data posted by the hospital system on Twitter.

On June 8, the system reported 104 Covid-19 patients. On Monday, they reported 210.  

The state of Florida does not release the total number of daily Covid-19 cases in the state.

An alarming trend: Miami-Dade County, the state's most populous with 2.71 million people, shows that the number of positive Covid-19 tests has increased by an average of 35 every day during the past two weeks, according to data compiled by researchers at Florida International University 

Researchers also found that hospitalizations, intensive care visits and ventilation use have all begun to increase over the past two weeks. Combined with a rise in cases, researchers say, this evidence points to increased community spread.

"Municipalities received guidelines on reopening but they do not have guidelines on when to pull back, which is why it is so critical to monitor the cases closely before the hospitals and ICUs start to have capacity issues — which is something we have avoided so far in Miami-Dade County," said Dr. Mary Jo Trepka, the head of the epidemiology department at FIU. 

8:53 a.m. ET, June 24, 2020

EU published guidelines on what to consider when allowing travelers in earlier this month

From CNN’s James Frater in London

The criteria European Union nations could use to block visitors from countries with severe coronavirus outbreaks – including the United States – visiting Europe has been “hiding in plain sight” since the middle of June when the guidelines were published, says an EU official.

European countries are currently working through a checklist of criteria based on the health situation and reciprocal travel arrangements in an external country that would create a list of countries whose visitors might be considered safe to visit from July 1.

 The guidelines have, “absolutely nothing to do with political decisions, this is based on the current health situation in a third country,” said the official.

When asked whether the executive order signed by President Trump this week that freezes visas for foreign workers was a factor, the official added, “I know some media have said for instance the executive order the United States President signed is part of this decision; it could not be further from the situation."

The June guidelines: When asked if the US was on a list of origin countries that might be barred from travel to Europe, one EU diplomat directed CNN to the first point of a June 11 checklist published by the European Commission on what to consider when allowing travelers into the EU.

The first point on the checklist asks whether the country can "be considered as being in a comparable or better epidemiological situation as the average in the EU+ area" with regard to number of new infections, trend of new infections and response in areas such as testing, surveillance, contact tracing, containment, treatment and reporting.

The latest US numbers: The US has the highest number of coronavirus deaths and infections in the world.

As of late Tuesday in the US, at least 2,346,937 had been infected in the country and 121,224 had died, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.

Tourism accounts for 10% of Europe’s GDP. "We are keen, and member states are keen for Europe to be open for tourism for jobs," said the official.

Ambassadors are set to meet again today and Friday to discuss the next steps in the process.

Recommendations made by the European Commission are not mandatory — decisions on whether and how to open up borders are matters for individual states.

8:53 a.m. ET, June 24, 2020

UK "air bridge" travel agreements to be announced in next five days

From CNN's Niamh Kennedy 

Details regarding the UK’s international travel agreements -- or so-called "air bridges" -- will be announced by next Monday, according to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

Speaking to the UK Parliament Transport Committee Wednesday, Shapps confirmed that “discussions were ongoing” and details on the measures would be announced to Parliament by June 29.

Air bridge agreements would allow UK travelers to visit certain European countries without having to quarantine on return.

Shapps said Britain wanted to put in place a system where the country avoided reinfection due to citizens going abroad or visitors from other countries entering the UK.

He added that the current quarantine measures were helping in “serving that purpose." Those measures require all international arrivals not covered by a shortlist of exemptions to self-isolate for two weeks.

When deciding which nations to form agreements with Shapps said he would consider “not only what the level of disease is" but also the trajectory of the virus in a country.

Shapps said he would also consider whether a country has the same testing capability as the UK, saying that the NHS Test and Trace system had “the capacity to test actually far more than is immediately required”. 

He added that he would take into account the social distancing measures in place in other countries, noting that there were “evidently a lot of complexities” to consider.

Shapps refused to give any further detail on air bridges until the official announcement saying he didn’t want to give people “false hope."

8:01 a.m. ET, June 24, 2020

It's just past 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 9.2 million people worldwide and caused more than 477,000 deaths. Here's what you need to know about the outbreak today:

  • England braces for reopening: A large swathe of the country's economy will open July 4, though gyms and pools will remain closed. The UK Business Secretary said he hoped leisure facilities would open later in July.
  • Germany races to contain new outbreak: All citizens in the German district of Guetersloh can be tested for the virus by their doctors, as officials scramble to contain a local cluster linked to a meat processing plant. Austria has warned its citizens against traveling to the region.
  • China says it has tested 90 million people: Beijing announced Wednesday that more than 90 million coronavirus tests have been conducted across the country since the beginning of the pandemic.
  • Cases surge in several US states: US officials are making desperate calls on residents to stay home, wear a mask and keep their distance after alarming trends emerged in several states including California, Florida and Arizona.
  • Jim Mattis appears in hometown PSA: The former Secretary of Defense urged people in Richland, Washington to wear masks, in a video clip released by the city.