June 24 coronavirus news

Arizona is currently seeing the highest number of new coronavirus cases per capita of any state in the country, and more new cases per capita than any other state besides New York or New Jersey has seen, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.

Arizona added about 2,742 new cases per day over the seven days that ended on June 23. Adjusted for population, that’s about 38 new cases per 100,000 people per day.

New York and New Jersey are the only states that have seen higher per-capita rates of new cases.

New York saw its highest number of new cases during the week that ended April 10, when the state added about 9,909 new cases per day, or about 51 new cases per 100,000 people per day. New Jersey’s seven-day peak was April 7, when the state averaged about 3,674 new cases per day or about 41 new cases per 100,000 people per day.

A small group of Republican senators met Wednesday afternoon in the Capitol in the Strom Thurmond room near Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s office to discuss the next stimulus proposal. 

The meeting was just the beginning of discussions for the party as they begin charting their course over the weeks ahead. Republican senators have repeatedly said they don’t plan to tackle the issue until the end of July on the floor of the Senate, but the meeting is an indication that the party is beginning to get organized about how to approach boosting the economy. 

The senators spotted attending the meeting include Sen. Mike Crapo, the Banking Chairman, Rob Portman of Ohio, David Perdue of Georgia, John Cornyn of Texas, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. 

Asked why this group was selected, Cornyn joked it was just “all the smartest people.”

Los Angeles County has more confirmed coronavirus cases than any other county in the nation.

According to data generated by Johns Hopkins University, L.A. County surpassed Cook County in Illinois on Wednesday to become the single US county with the highest number of coronavirus cases.

Los Angeles County — the nation’s most populous with roughly 10 million residents — reported 88,512 cases as of Wednesday. Cook County, which includes Chicago, reported the second highest number of confirmed infections with 87,784 cases.

New York’s Queens County was third with 64,099, according to the Johns Hopkins data.

The surge in cases in Los Angeles comes as California sees record numbers of new infections, hospitalizations, and patients in intensive care units.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed the increased infections, pleading with residents to think of others when it comes to wearing face masks, keeping a safe distance, and hand washing.

Loosely quoting scripture, Newsom implored residents to “love thy neighbors, like yourself, please.”

People shouldn’t count on getting a hiatus from Covid-19 in the summer months to prepare for fall, said Michael Osterholm, director of the Infectious Disease Research and Policy Center at the University of Minnesota, at a JAMA live event on Wednesday.

Using areas with recent case increases to demonstrate this, Osterholm pointed out that some of them have been happening in very hot places and some in places with very moderate climates, and that there is no difference in the way Covid-19 is acting.

“I am not convinced there will be a second wave. I don’t think there will be. I think that we’re just going to see one onslaught where it shows up here, shows up there; a little higher there, a little lower there; but in the end, it’s just going to be like one river of virus flowing downstream.”

Fighting coronavirus is like trying to fix a leaky bucket, a pandemic expert said Wednesday; something is going to get out.

There are not many weapons against it, Osterholm said. 

“I think distancing, distancing and distancing, really, the only focus we have, and it has proven to be successful,” he said.

Mitigating the spread of infection: Wearing masks can also work, but a lot depends on what people use. N95 respirators, used to protect health care workers, are far more effective than surgical masks or cloth face coverings, for instance, Osterholm said.

“It’s kind of like saying I have a semi-truck, a VW beetle and a trike and they’re all the same because they have tires,” he said.

More work is needed to understand how different types of masks work in the environments they are used in.

Osterholm also pointed out that masks need to be worn correctly to be effective.

CIDRAP has found that 25% of people who use masks are wearing them with their noses uncovered. 

“It’s like fixing three of the five screen doors in your submarine. If we’re going to use them we have to use them correctly,” Osterholm said.

During a news conference to mark 101 days since the state of emergency was imposed due to Covid-19, Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra recounted his administration’s accomplishments against the pandemic but also acknowledged the current challenges.

Vizcarra told the nation his government has managed to do 1,560,653 tests until Wednesday while it started with a capacity of 500 tests per day. The country’s capacity is now from 15,000 to 20,000 tests per day, according to Vizcarra.

He also acknowledged his government faces what he called "structural problems" to fight the pandemic but responded to his critics saying “they demand us to fix the country’s problems in one hundred days while these problems have not been solved in one hundred years." 

Vizcarra also recognized current problems in the fight against coronavirus in his country such as the lack of oxygen for patients and the need to improve rules for local markets, which have become hubs of infection across the country for example.

His government allowed shopping centers to reopen starting last Monday in order to relieve the economy but the president implored the population not to relax the current social distancing and hygiene rules when going shopping.

“We can’t relax and trust yet, we will only be relaxed when science finds a vaccine or a treatment to neutralize the virus ... Please do not let our guard down,” Vizcarra added. 

The numbers: Peru has the second-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Latin America, following Brazil. Peru reported 260,810 Covid-19 cases and 8,404 deaths on Tuesday. Peru was one of the first countries in the region to impose a state of emergency and lockdown in order to fight the pandemic. 

Covid-19 cases in Latin America have now tripled since the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) announced the region had become the new epicenter of the pandemic, the organization's director said Wednesday.

There is now widespread transmission in most of Central America, while the Caribbean has hotspots on the border of Haiti and the Dominican Republic, as well as in northern South America, Etienne said. 

"Brazil surpassed 1 million Covid-19 cases, joining the United States as the only other country in the world with cases in the six digits," Etienne said of the South American country. 

"While the recent increase in cases is extremely concerning, we have averted an even greater tragedy, thanks to the early adoption of public health measures, which have helped protect health systems and saved lives in many countries," Etienne added. 

However, the PAHO director warned that governments are now facing pressure to ease these public health measures due to economic and political reasons, even though transmission is increasing.

"In the absence of effective treatments, or of widely available vaccines, we expect that over the next two years in the region of the Americas we will experience recurring Covid-19 outbreaks, which may be interspersed with periods of limited transmission," Etienne said. "We must be realistic about the future. All of us must adjust to a new way of life, and redefine our sense of normal,” she added.

“The question is no longer how do we go back to the way things were before, but rather, how do we move forward and build a sustainable outbreak response."

President Trump said he would welcome getting Poland involved in a potential vaccine for Covid-19 and predicted there will be a “beautiful surprise, sooner than anybody would think.”

He made the remarks during a joint news conference with Polish President Andrzej Duda.

“The answer is yes we will be getting Poland involved in terms of helping and taking care of the polish people,” Trump said.

On the progress of vaccines and therapeutics, Trump said: “I think you’re gong to have a big surprise, a beautiful surprise, sooner than anybody would think.”

He offered no specific details.

Trump also told reporters in the Rose Garden that he plans to visit Poland after the 2020 election. Trump canceled a trip to Poland due to hurricanes last year.

It’s important to build up stockpiles, both nationally and at the state level, as more than 10 states begin to see a resurgence in coronavirus cases, Dr. Anthony Fauci said during a virtual appearance Wednesday at the Sacramento Press Club.

When the pandemic first started spreading in the United States, the country was not prepared, Fauci said.

“You know, the stockpile in the beginning was not adequate to really address the major surges received — particularly in the northeast part of the country, in the New York metropolitan area,” he said. 

“But right now we have some time. I mean, we're not where we want to be, because we want to see that curve go way down. It hasn't come down,” he said.

“Yesterday we had something like 35 or 37,000 new cases of coronavirus disease — new cases.” 

Fauci said at one point the number of new cases was heading in the right direction: down.

“Now, it’s not. It’s going back up.” 

Fauci urged states and cities to address the issues of equipment and drug stockpiles, as well as hospital capacity.

“I think it's time to start preparing each state. I mean the one thing I've learned not to do, is that you don't go in and tell people what they should do,” he said.

“We have the possibility of a surge of cases. Do we have enough backup to handle them? If we don't, let's start building it up.”