July 5 coronavirus news

By Ben Westcott, Jenni Marsh, Laura Smith-Spark, Fernando Alfonso III and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 0010 GMT (0810 HKT) July 6, 2020

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11:52 p.m. ET, July 4, 2020

Trump baselessly claims 99% of coronavirus cases "are totally harmless"

From Jeremy Diamond and Kevin Bohn

US President Donald Trump speaks during a "Salute to America" event on the South Lawn of the White House, on July 4, in Washington DC. Patrick Semansky/AP

US President Donald Trump claimed without evidence on Saturday that 99% of coronavirus cases "are totally harmless" during remarks on the White House South Lawn, in which he sought to downplay the recent surge of Covid-19 cases.

“Now we have tested, almost 40 million people. By so doing, we show cases -- 99% of which are totally harmless -- results that no other country can show because no other country has testing that we have. Not in terms of the numbers, or in terms of the quality,” he said, once again also falsely claiming that rising cases are caused by increased testing.

There have been more than 2.8 million cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least 129,000 people in the United States have died, according to Johns Hopkins University’s latest tally.

Some people who become ill have only mild symptoms, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 35% of cases are asymptomatic, but even people with mild or no symptoms can spread the virus to others.

While the World Health Organization has said the global fatality rate is like less than 1%, the WHO also said about 20% of all people who are diagnosed with Cornoavirus aresick enough to need oxygen or hospital care.

The White House has not returned a message seeking comment.

11:54 p.m. ET, July 4, 2020

As US sets records in coronavirus cases, Trump says "we've made a lot of progress"

From CNN's Kevin Bohn and Daniella Mora

As many states continue to see spikes in the number of coronavirus cases, US President Donald Trump touted the progress the country has made combatting the virus.

“There and then we got hit by the virus that came from China. And we've made a lot of progress our strategy is moving along well. It goes out in one area, it rears back its ugly face in another area. But we've learned a lot. We've learned how to put out the flame,” Trump told a crowd of supporters gathered on the White House’s South Lawn to celebrate July 4.

He said the nation has now made “tens of thousands” of ventilators and have now started distributing them overseas.

On testing, pointed out the country has now almost 40 million people. However, experts have said more tests are needed to get a full picture of the virus.

“Results that no other country can show because no other country has testing that we have. Not in terms of the numbers or in terms of the quality," Trump said.
“We have the most and finest testing anywhere in the world, and we are producing gowns and masks and surgical equipment in our country.”

Trump has recently complained about how many tests are being conducted in the nation because he has claimed that is the reason for the larger amount of cases -- a contention disputed by health experts. He recently said the country should do less testing. While administration officials contended Trump was joking, he later said he doesn’t joke.

11:59 p.m. ET, July 4, 2020

WHO discontinues studies of hydroxychloroquine in hospitalized Covid-19 patients

From CNN Health’s Gisela Crespo

A bottle and pills of Hydroxychloroquine sit on a counter at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, on May 20. George Frey/AFP/Getty Images

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Saturday it would no longer continue studying the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir as treatments for Covid-19.

WHO made the decision based on the Solidarity Trial's interim results, which show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in deaths of hospitalized Covid-19 patients, WHO said in a statement.

“For each of the drugs, the interim results do not provide solid evidence of increased mortality,” WHO said, but there were “some associated safety signals" that will be reported in the peer-reviewed publication of the findings.

This decision applies only to the trial in hospitalized patients, and does not affect studies of prevention or treatments in non-hospitalized patients.

WHO paused the hydroxychloroquine study in May due to safety concerns, then later restarted it. The drug has often been touted by President Trump, but several studies have found no benefits to treating Covid-19 patients with the antimalarial drug.

The US Food and Drug Administration revoked its emergency use authorization for both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for the treatment of Covid-19, saying the drugs are unlikely to be effective in treating the virus based on the latest scientific evidence.

The National Institutes of Health announced last month it was halting its clinical trial of the drug.