July 1 coronavirus news

By Ben Westcott, Adam Renton, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya and Mike Hayes, CNN

Updated 0400 GMT (1200 HKT) July 2, 2020
27 Posts
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8:48 a.m. ET, July 1, 2020

Georgia has no plan to order people to wear masks, governor says

From CNN's Tina Burnside

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks at a press conference in Atlanta on April 27.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks at a press conference in Atlanta on April 27. Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp says there is no plan at this time for a statewide mandate for face masks. 

During a press conference on Wednesday, Kemp said the issue of mask mandates is being "over politicized." The governor says they shouldn't need a mandate for people to do the right thing.

Kemp said he will continue to monitor the data on Covid-19 infections across the state, however he doesn't think a mandate will be necessary. 

However, while there's no mandate, Kemp is asking people to wear masks: The governor said he is traveling around the state today to encourage people to wear a mask when they're in public. He's also urging them to socially distance and wash.

Read which states are requiring people to wear masks when out in public here.

8:33 a.m. ET, July 1, 2020

At least 19 US states have paused reopening plans as cases rise

From CNN's Madeline Holcombe

Surges in new Covid-19 infections have paused or rolled back reopening plans in at least 19 states as the nation's top infectious disease doctor offered a bleak warning: Americans need to take sensible measures to curb the spread or risk seeing 100,000 new cases a day.

"We are now having 40,000 cases a day. I would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around," Director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases Dr. Anthony Fauci told a Senate committee yesterday. 

Turning it around will take a coordinated, collaborative effort, he said at the hearing, not the "disparate responses" the nation has shown so far.

Only two US states — New Jersey and Rhode Island — are showing a downward trend in cases compared to the last week while at least 37 states have seen an increase in cases. At least 12 states of those states are seeing a 50% or more increase in cases.

Here's where cases are increasing across the US:

8:38 a.m. ET, July 1, 2020

23-year-old who recovered from coronavirus says she thinks Texas opened too soon

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

Peyton Chesser on CNN's "New Day" on July 1.
Peyton Chesser on CNN's "New Day" on July 1. CNN

Peyton Chesser, a 23-year-old Texas resident who recently recovered from coronavirus, says she thinks the state opened too soon, and it’s been a challenge to sift through conflicting messages about the virus from federal and state officials.

“It was really frustrating having to kind of decipher and shake through messages that I was getting from local, federal, state authorities on what is the right thing to do, what is OK to do,” she told CNN’s Erica Hill.

“For me, it was hard to decide what is appropriate if some states are completely locked down and my state is almost operating at full capacity, it was hard to know exactly where the line stood, just because there was so much conflicting information that I was receiving," she added. 

Chesser said she doesn’t know exactly how she contracted the virus, as she largely stayed home and followed guidelines for months.

She said she was sick for about eight days, and she experienced a sore throat, skin sensitivity and a cough. She lost her sense of smell and taste about four days into the virus, but she never experienced a high fever while she was sick.

As the state has experienced a jump in cases, Gov. Greg Abbott has closed bars in an attempt to prevent large crowds from congregating.

“I think taking a step back has made a lot of other people realize how serious it really is. And so my message to everyone in general is just do your part and take care of everyone in the community,” Chesser said. 

8:19 a.m. ET, July 1, 2020

UK PM Boris Johnson defends handling of Leicester outbreak

From CNN’s Sarah Dean in London

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street in London on July 1.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson leaves 10 Downing Street in London on July 1. Matt Dunham/AP

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended his government's response to a coronavirus outbreak in Leicester, the first city in UK to have a local lockdown imposed because of its high Covid-19 infection rate.

"We acted decisively and I think it was the right thing to do," UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said about the decision to reimpose a lockdown in the city.

He was challenged by opposition Labour leader Keir Starmer over the length of time it took to lockdown the city after concerns were first raised about an outbreak.

During Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament, Starmer also raised issues with testing data in Leicester saying "there was a lost week while the virus was spreading" and there are now fears of more local lockdowns across the country.

Johnson said Starmer was "mistaken" and data had been shared with local authorities.

WATCH: 

8:01 a.m. ET, July 1, 2020

It's 8 a.m. in New York and 1 p.m. in London. Here's the latest on the pandemic

More than 10.4 million people worldwide have been infected with Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

In the US, which has the highest number of cases and the world's worst death toll, Dr. Anthony Fauci said he is "very concerned" with the increase in cases in some parts of the country and said he wouldn’t be surprised if the US begins to see new cases coming in at 100,000 a day, given current trends.  

According to JHU, there are more than 2.6 million cases of coronavirus in the US and more than 127,400 people have died.

Here's what you need to know about the outbreak around the world today:

  • Reopening plans halted: At least 16 US states have halted their reopening plans in response to a surge in new infections, but some health officials say the spread of coronavirus will be difficult to control. Experts have long warned that some states reopened far too soon and too quickly, cautioning the move could lead to more spikes in cases.
  • US travelers barred from EU: The European Union has agreed to allow travelers from 14 countries outside the bloc to visit EU countries, months after it shut its external borders in response to the pandemic. The list does not include the US, which doesn't meet the criteria set by the EU for it to be considered a "safe country."
  • Spain and Portugal declare border open: Spain and Portugal reopened their joint land border to all travelers on Wednesday, after a three-month closure due to the pandemic.
  • Jewish burials more than double in UK during pandemic, data shows: The number of Jewish burials in the UK during March to May 2020 was more than double that of last year, as senior figures warn that the Jewish community has "disproportionately" suffered losses from Covid-19. There were 811 burials in March to May this year, compared to 358 in the previous year -- an increase of 127%, according to the Board of Deputies of British Jews.
  • 300,000 return to lockdown in Melbourne, Australia: Residents of 10 "hot zone" areas of Melbourne, Australia, will return to lockdown as of 11:59 p.m. local time on July 1. Melbourne has seen a spike in the number of coronavirus cases, with double-digit increases each day for the past 16 days.
8:00 a.m. ET, July 1, 2020

United Airlines adds 25,000 flights in August, tripling its June schedule

From CNN's Ross Levitt

A United Airlines plane lands at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on June 15.
A United Airlines plane lands at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, on June 15. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

United Airlines announced Wednesday that it is adding 25,000 more flights in August than it plans for July, tripling the schedule it ran in June.

While this is a significant uptick and a sign that the airline expects passenger demand to pick up, this is still just 40% of its schedule from a year ago, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

United says the new flights in August include “more flights to mountain and national park destinations like Aspen, Colorado; Bangor, Maine; Bozeman, Montana; and Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Internationally, United's August schedule will include a return to Tahiti and additional flights to Hawaii, the Caribbean and Mexico. Across the Atlantic, United will add more flights and options to Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Munich, Paris and Zurich.”

7:50 a.m. ET, July 1, 2020

Germany and Czech Republic publish traveler recommendations for countries outside EU

From CNN's Claudia Otto, Luke McGee and James Frater

The German interior ministry and the Czech foreign ministry have published a list of countries outside the European Union whose citizens will be allowed entry.

The set of countries for Germany is:

  • Australia
  • Georgia
  • Japan
  • Canada
  • Montenegro
  • New Zealand
  • South Korea
  • Thailand
  • Tunisia
  • Uruguay
  • China

Meanwhile, the Czech Republic also published its travel list on Tuesday, which is down to eight countries:

  • Australia
  • Canada
  • Japan
  • Montenegro
  • New Zealand
  • Serbia
  • South Korea
  • Thailand

EU opens its borders -- but not to Americans: The European Union Tuesday formally agreed a set of recommendations allowing travelers from outside the bloc to visit EU countries, months after it shut its external borders in response to the outbreak of Covid-19.

The list of countries included in the EU recommendations are: Algeria, Australia, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Montenegro, Morocco, New Zealand, Rwanda, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand, Tunisia, Uruguay.

As had been widely expected, the list of 14 countries did not include the United States, whose current Covid infection rate does not meet the criteria set by the EU for it to be considered a "safe country."

The criteria requires that confirmed Covid cases in countries on the list are similar or below that of the EU's per 100,000 citizens over the previous 14 days (starting from June 15).

Countries must also have a "stable or decreasing trend of new cases over this period in comparison to the previous 14 days," while the EU will consider what measures countries are taking, such as contact tracing, and how reliable each nation's data is.

The US has not only the highest number of reported coronavirus infections of any nation, but also the highest number of deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

US infection rates will need to dramatically drop if Americans are to be allowed entry to EU countries, just as the European tourism industry enters what are traditionally its peak months.

9:10 a.m. ET, July 1, 2020

Spain and Portugal declare land border open

From CNN’s Isabel Tejera in Madrid

Counter-clockwise from front left: Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Spain's King Felipe VI, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa at a reopening ceremony of the border between Spain and Portugal in Badajoz, Spain, on July 1.
Counter-clockwise from front left: Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Spain's King Felipe VI, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa at a reopening ceremony of the border between Spain and Portugal in Badajoz, Spain, on July 1. Patricia de Melo Moreira/AFP/Getty Images

Spain and Portugal reopened their joint land border to all travelers on Wednesday, after a three-month closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Spain had wanted to reopen all of its borders on June 21, but Portugal insisted that the border between the two countries remain closed until July 1.

In a series of tweets early on Wednesday, Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa said: "Today we mark at the highest level the normalization of terrestrial traffic at the border between Portugal and Spain. It's a reunion between neighbors which are brothers and friends."

He said: “It is essential for both countries that the contacts gradually acquire the dimension and dynamic that preceded the outset of the pandemic. I think in particular of the border populations, which cross the border daily".

"The pandemic offered us a vision of a past to which we do not want to return: a continent of closed borders. Freedom of circulation has solidified itself in the spirit of European citizens as one of the fundamental principles of the idea of Europe," Costa added.

7:09 a.m. ET, July 1, 2020

Jewish burials more than double in UK during pandemic, data shows

From CNN's Amy Woodyatt in London

The number of Jewish burials in the UK during March to May 2020 was more than double that of last year, as senior figures warn that the Jewish community has "disproportionately" suffered losses from Covid-19.

There were 811 burials in March to May this year, compared to 358 in the previous year -- an increase of 127%, according to the Board of Deputies of British Jews.

Last month, analysis from the UK's Office For National Statistics (ONS) found that people who identified as Jewish showed higher Covid-19 mortality rates than other groups, along with Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs.

When adjusting for region, population density, socio-demographic and household characteristics and ethnic background, ONS found that those who had identified as Jewish at the time of the 2011 population census showed an increased risk of a death involving Covid-19 compared with the Christian population, with Jewish men at twice the risk of Christian men.

The Board of Deputies said that their research suggested the Jewish community had suffered two and half times as many deaths as its proportion of the general population alone would have predicted.

"The reopening of some synagogues this Shabbat will come as a relief to many of us, as some aspects of our Jewish way of life return to normal," President of the Board of Deputies Marie van der Zyl said in a statement on Tuesday.

"But as these figures show, we have disproportionately lost loved ones, friends and family as a community. It is critical we follow Government guidance and caution going forward to save lives," she added.

As of the week ending June 26, the Board of Deputies said it has recorded 501 Jewish funerals carried out where the deceased contracted Covid-19.