June 27 coronavirus news

By Jessie Yeung, Brett McKeehan, Tara John, Fernando Alfonso III and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 0434 GMT (1234 HKT) June 28, 2020

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1:28 a.m. ET, June 27, 2020

Fact check: As pandemic situation worsens, Pence paints a deceptively rosy picture

Analysis from CNN's Daniel Dale

At Friday's press briefing by the White House's coronavirus task force -- the first in nearly two months -- Vice President Mike Pence painted a rosy picture of a country steadily getting safer and back to normal.

It was a picture at odds with reality.

Leaving out critical information, Pence delivered a more polished version of the upbeat, all-is-well dishonesty that was a hallmark of previous briefings by President Donald Trump, who did not attend the Friday session.

"Despite what you heard, we are in the middle of a public health disaster," CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta said on air after the briefing.

Pence boasted that "we flattened the curve."

Fact check: The curve for the number of new confirmed cases did decline and plateau in April and May, but has headed sharply upward again in June.

Pence claimed that "all 50 states" are "opening up safely and responsibly."

Fact check: About 30 states are experiencing increases in the rate of new cases, and states reopened without having met the administration's recommended safety milestones.

Pence claimed the country is finished with the painful part of the pandemic, saying "we're in a much better place" than two months ago and the US is no longer "in a time of great losses and great hardship."

Fact check: He was right that the current number of daily deaths is substantially lower than it was at its peak -- but the pandemic is still killing more than 500 Americans a day. The May unemployment rate was 13.3%. In other words, the loss and the hardship continue.

Read the full fact check here:

Fact check: As pandemic situation worsens, Pence paints a deceptively rosy picture

1:29 a.m. ET, June 27, 2020

Months into the pandemic, a number of US states are still reporting their highest daily rise in new cases

From CNN’s Jennifer Henderson and Jamiel Lynch

At least six US states reported their highest single-day jump in new coronavirus cases on Friday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University:

Georgia: 1,900 new cases (state total: 72,995 cases and 2,770 deaths)
Tennessee: 1,410 new cases (state total: 39,444 cases and 577 deaths)
Utah: 676 new cases (state total: 20,050 cases and 166 deaths)
Idaho: 283 new cases (state total: 4,865 cases and 90 deaths)
Florida: 8,938 new cases (state total: 122,960 cases and 3,366 deaths)
Arkansas: 678 new cases (state total: 18,740 cases and 249 deaths)

South Carolina also had its second-highest one-day jump on Friday.

1:28 a.m. ET, June 27, 2020

The latest White House coronavirus briefing has health experts worried

From CNN's Andrea Kane

Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, speaks as Vice President Mike Pence, left, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listen during a White House briefing on Friday. Erin Scott/Bloomberg/Getty Images

On Friday, the White House coronavirus task force held its first public briefing in two months -- but health experts expressed concern afterward, saying Vice President Mike Pence offered little guidance for the country.

“This is a sad moment,” epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant told CNN. “In all the modeling we did, in all the projections, we never modeled a federal government that didn't take charge, that didn't have a strategy. It's really disheartening."

The US recorded more than 40,000 new cases on Friday alone, and infection rates are going up in more than 30 states, forcing several to dial back their reopening efforts -- which Pence didn't address in the briefing.

"This is the all-time high we've had since the beginning of the pandemic and we squandered five months,” Brilliant said.

“What I worry about now is the Fourth of July,” he added. “We had Memorial Day; three or four weeks after that we had a peak in cases. Two or three more weeks from now, we'll have a peak in deaths.”

Michael Osterholm, director of the Center of Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota, warned that the US was "still just in the very beginning of the pandemic."

Only about 5-7% of the US population has been infected so far, he said, and herd immunity would require about 60-70% be infected. "So, when you think about all the pain, suffering, death, economic disruption we've had, think about how much more we have to go," he added.

4:08 p.m. ET, June 27, 2020

Mexico reports more than 5,000 new cases

From CNN’s Matt Rivers in Mexico City and Taylor Barnes in Atlanta

A health care worker looks at a chest X-ray of a Covid-19 patient at a hospital in Mexico City, Mexico, on June 26. Eduardo Verdugo/AP

Mexico’s health ministry reported 5,441 new cases of the coronavirus Friday, bringing the country’s total to 208,392.

The ministry also reported 719 more virus deaths, raising Mexico's death toll to 25,779.

Mexico has the fourth-highest number of cases in Latin America. On Thursday, Mexican Finance Minister Arturo Herrera announced he had tested positive for Covid-19.

12:44 a.m. ET, June 27, 2020

The US reported more than 40,000 cases on Friday, the highest single-day jump so far

Lines of cars wait at a coronavirus testing site outside of Hard Rock Stadium, Friday, June 26, in Miami Gardens, Florida Wilfredo Lee/AP

The US had its biggest one-day jump in new coronavirus cases on Friday, with 40,173 cases reported nationwide, according to data from according to Johns Hopkins University.

That brings the national total to 2,462,472 cases and 125,045 related deaths.

The first known US coronavirus-related death was on February 6 -- 141 days ago, according to CNN reporting.

12:52 a.m. ET, June 27, 2020

Brazil reports 46,860 new Covid-19 cases

From CNN’s Luke Henderson and Marcia Reverdosa

An employee of a private company sanitizes against the spread of the novel coronavirus at a house in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, on June 26. Douglas Magno/AFP/Getty Images

Brazil’s health ministry reported 46,860 new cases of novel coronavirus on Friday -- bringing the country's total to at least 1,274,974.

The ministry also reported 990 additional related deaths, taking Brazil's toll to 55,961.

Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state and the epicenter of its Covid-19 outbreak, has at least 258,508 confirmed cases. At least 13,966 people have died from the virus there, according to the state health secretary.

Rio de Janeiro state has at least 108,497 cases and at least 9,587 deaths.