July 6 coronavirus news

Restaurants, gyms and other businesses will have to close this week in Florida's Miami-Dade County as coronavirus cases continue to rise across the state, Mayor Carlos Giménez announced today.

"I am continuing to roll back business openings as we continue to see a spike in the percent of positive COVID-19 tests and an uptick in hospitalizations," he said in a statement on the county website.

Starting Wednesday, these businesses must close, according to the mayor:

Giménez said outdoor activities — including condominium and hotel pools — can stay open strict social distancing and masks rules. Summer camps and child care centers can also stay open with certain capacity limits.

Office buildings, retail stores and salons are also allowed to stay open.

Beaches will reopen tomorrow, "but, if we see crowding and people not following the public health rules, I will be forced to close the beaches again," he said.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that the coronavirus pandemic is “clearly not over” and urged Americans to wear masks and social distance.

McConnell said wearing face masks is also key, calling it “the single most important thing.”

"Not complicated,” he added of masks. "Totally available now, and everyone should be doing that."

McConnell also said the Senate will take a look at new coronavirus legislation in a couple of weeks.

If there is another bill, he said, it's vital for it to include liability protections for businesses to avoid a “second epidemic of lawsuits in the wake of the pandemic that we’re already struggling with."

“We cannot get back to normal if we have an epidemic of lawsuits,” he said. He also indicated a potential next package would focus on getting kids back to school and opening childcare. 

Miami-Dade County is the epicenter of the Covid-19 crisis in Florida, yet according to the county, it currently does not have its own contact tracers because only the state is allowed to do that work. 

On May 14, Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez announced during a press conference that the county would hire 800 to 1,000 Covid-19 contact tracers.

When CNN asked the county today how many contact tracers the county had hired so far, the county replied by email saying that only the Florida Department of Health can contact trace in the state.

CNN has reached out to the Florida Department of Health for comment and has not heard back.

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and CEO Patrick J. Foye said New York City subways and buses carried 2.1 million customers last week.

He noted that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio "estimated that at the beginning of phase three, we will add an additional 50,000 customers." Phase three begins today, and sports and recreation can resume, including city basketball courts, tennis courts, volleyball, dog runs, handball and bocce, according to the city's mayor.

Foye said he expects ridership to gradually increase. 

“We expect a meaningful increase after Labor Day when we believe a lot of white collar workers will return to their jobs," he said.

New York City continues to meet the thresholds to continue moving forward with reopening, Mayor Bill de Blasio said today.

There were 62 new patients admitted with a suspected case of coronavirus, under the city’s threshold of 200. At the height of the pandemic, 850 people were admitted for suspected coronavirus cases in a single day according to the mayor.

At least 276 patients are in the public ICUs of the New York City health and hospital system, with a threshold of 375.

1% of those tested were positive, with a threshold of 15%. It’s the lowest percentage of positive the city has seen according to the mayor.

As the city entered phase three of reopening, mass transit usage is going up substantially faster than car traffic, the mayor said Monday.

Texas Department of Health and Human Services reported at least 1,335 positive Covid-19 cases throughout the state's open child care facilities. 

Of those cases, 894 are among staff and 441 are children, a spokesperson for the state department said.

The positive cases are reported in 883 of the state's child care facilities. The department said that there are 12,220 open child care operations throughout the state. 

How these numbers compare: On May 15, the state reported a total of 59 cases in 53 child care facilities — 36 staff and 23 children. And on June 15, there were 210 reported cases in 177 facilities, 141 staff and 69 children.

If coronavirus cases continue to rise at the current pace, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg said the Texas city is “a week away from running out of hospital beds and ICU capacity.”

Testing has also seen a change in Texas, Nirenberg added.

Earlier San Antonio was testing everyone regardless of symptoms, which led to a great demand at public labs. But that’s changed now, Nirenberg said, and labs are now focused on getting tests for those who are exhibiting symptoms or may have been exposed to the virus.

“This is a very important week for San Antonio and for the rest of the state of Texas,” he reiterated.

Since the mask mandate went into effect, the mayor says he sees people take the order seriously but Nirenberg criticized the mixed messaging from federal and state leaders.

Watch the interview:

The Washington Nationals have canceled their workout scheduled for this morning due to delayed Covid-19 test results.

“Per MLB’s protocol, all players and staff were tested for Covid-19 on Friday, July 3rd. Seventy-two hours later, we have yet to receive the results of those tests. We cannot have our players and staff work at risk. Therefore, we have cancelled our team workout scheduled for this morning," Mike Rizzo, president of baseball operations and general manager said in a statement Monday.

He continued:

Israel has re-imposed a series of strict limitations — closing down event halls, clubs, bars, and more — as coronavirus cases rise across the country. 

The government also announced that gyms and public pools would be closed once again, as will cultural venues. Houses of worship would be limited to 19 people, and restaurants will be limited to 20 people in a closed area, or 30 people in an open area with sufficient distance between tables.

The latest numbers: On Thursday, Israel soared past a 1,000 new cases in one day, hitting a record daily figure of 1,140 new infections. Over the last week, Israel has averaged approximately 800 new cases a day, a near 40-fold increase from mid-May, when the country had approximately 20 new cases a day and appeared to have the virus well under control.

He continued: “Today, there are around 90 severe cases and the number is doubling every four days. If we do not act now, we will have hundreds, and perhaps over 1,000, severe cases in the coming weeks, which will paralyze our systems. Therefore, we must take immediate steps that will prevent us from having to take even more extreme measures later.”