July 7 coronavirus news

President Trump is expected to travel to Doral, Florida, later this week, landing squarely in the center of a coronavirus hotspot and potentially taxing the already-limited local health resources.

Despite the raging coronavirus pandemic, Trump will turn his attention Friday to the issue of drug trafficking in South America, visiting US Southern Command for a briefing, a White House official confirmed to CNN. The trip was first reported by Politico.

Doral, where US Southern Command is located, is just under two miles from the President’s golf club. But it is also in Miami-Dade County, which is currently experiencing a coronavirus outbreak.

Miami-Dade County has seen a 90% increase in the number of Covid-19 patients being hospitalized in the past 13 days, according to the latest data released by Miami-Dade County Government.

It has also seen a staggering increase in the number of ICU beds being used (86%) and in the use of ventilators (127%). The 14-day average positivity rate in Miami-Dade County is 23%, according to data released by county government.

Remember: A presidential visit – no matter who is in office – requires a significant amount of resources, with White House officials, White House Medical Unit representatives, and US Secret Service agents traveling in advance of the president to coordinate with local officials on the ground.

Here are some steps that are taken in preparation of a trip of this nature:

There is usually a trauma bay reserved for the President, but it’s possible that one is just designated rather than taken out of commission when a hospital is particularly taxed.

“We’re not going to displace any medical care to be on standby for the President, but if he goes there, there will be a significant impact to the hospital,” Wackrow said.

With additional reporting from Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt

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Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reiterated the importance of wearing masks and said she would implement more coronavirus restrictions if needed. 

Whitmer said she was disappointed about a crowded lake party over the holiday weekend, where largely young people were not wearing masks or practicing social distancing.

“I would hate to think that the sacrifice that we’ve made could be made in vain because some people are losing interest or dropping their guard. We’ve got to double down more than ever,” she said. 

Whitmer said the state was supposed to move on to a phase five of reopening, but she reversed course before July 4 because cases were ticking up in the state.

“I’m not going to be bullied into moving before it's safe. And if we have to move back, we’re gonna,” she said.  

Gyms and theaters are not open in Michigan. Whitmer said that she has no issue with closing down other industries, such as hair salons, if there are outbreaks. 

“I’m prepared to take heat if that’s what it’s going to take to keep people safe,” she said. 

Watch the interview:

It's Tuesday morning in the US, and the country is nearing 3 million reported coronavirus cases.

So far, more than 2,938,000 cases have been recorded since the pandemic began, and cases are increasing in at least 31 states.

Here are the latest updates on the pandemic:

Several English pubs have had to close their doors again after customers tested positive for coronavirus, dealing an early blow to the country's efforts to reopen its establishments.

Pubs and restaurants were allowed to welcome customers from July 4, a day dubbed "Super Saturday" by the British media amid concerns about social distancing and unruly behavior.

Customers at pubs across the country were asked for contact details before they could enter, in order to help with contact tracing if someone was later found to have the virus.

Now, at least three venues have had to shut again, after some customers tested positive for Covid-19 following their visit at the weekend.

A post on the Facebook page of the Fox and Hounds pub in Batley, north England, said a customer  — who had been at the premises on Saturday  — called on Monday to say they had tested positive for coronavirus.

"On their visit they was unaware (sic) and had no symptoms," the post added.

"This isn't the message we wanted to write so soon but The Lighthouse will be closed due to a customer testing positive," a pub in Burnham-on-Sea, in southwest England, added on social media.

Both pubs said their staff members were being tested. Pubs were allowed to open in England on Saturday for the first time in three months.

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Several English pubs forced to close again after customers test positive for coronavirus

Biotechnology company Regeneron has been awarded a $450 million contract to manufacture and supply REGN-COV2, a combination antibody treatment for Covid-19 that is now in late-stage clinical trials. The funding is part of the federal government's Covid-19 vaccine program, "Operation Warp Speed."

The agreement with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority and US Department of Defense supports manufacturing of the drug so that it can be made available immediately in the United States if clinical trials are successful and it receives emergency use authorization or approval from the US Food and Drug Administration.

The company started scaling up production of the treatment in the spring and said that if OK'd by the FDA, it would be available in the United States at no cost.

"This manufacturing and supply agreement with BARDA and the Department of Defense could help REGN-COV2 reach many people quickly, hopefully helping to change the course of this deadly and still-raging pandemic," Dr. Leonard S. Schleifer, Regeneron co-founder and chief executive officer, said in a statement.

Read more here:

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Regeneron starts Phase 3 trial of Covid-19 antibody cocktail

The German district of Guetersloh, the site of a coronavirus outbreak at a meatpacking plant in June, has had its lockdown lifted by a court order.

Restrictions were imposed late last month in the area in western Germany after hundreds of workers tested positive for Covid-19 at a slaughterhouse owned by the Toennies Group.

The Higher Administrative Court in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia ruled the lockdown measures lifted Monday as it stated that they are likely to be unlawful.

Germany has been relatively successful in fighting the coronavirus, but there have been several outbreaks at slaughterhouses in the past month that threaten to undermine the gradual reopening of its economy.

Read more here:

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The giant meatpacking company at the heart of Germany's new coronavirus hotspot

A group of women dressed as brides carried out a flash mob in Rome on Tuesday to protest against the coronavirus safety measures that prohibit large religious ceremonies like a big wedding. 

The event, organized by an Italian wedding association, was called the "flash mob of the singles or unmarried ones." 

Some 15 women held signs and posed in front of Rome's famous sites like the Trevi Fountain. They were also pictured outside the Italian Parliament, where they were joined by members of the country’s hard-hit wedding industry.

Protestor Francesca Del Vechio, who is from Naples, told CNN that she was supposed to "get married in September but because of government restrictions we had to postpone the date for at least one year."

She said that while the change of date was not an issue, she would like to get married next year "without restrictions."

British social care institutions have criticized Boris Johnson’s latest comments on the Covid-19 deaths in the country's care homes. The UK Prime Minister said Monday that during the coronavirus outbreak, "too many care homes didn't really follow the procedures in a way that they could have, but we are learning lessons the whole time."

Joyce Pinfield from the UK National Care Association told BBC Radio 5 Tuesday that she was “absolutely appalled” by Johnson's remarks. “It's a slap in the face to the care sector,” she said, adding that there was no “protective ring” thrown by the government on care homes.

Mark Adams, CEO of the charity Community Integrated Care, told BBC Today Radio 4 he was “unbelievably disappointed” by the PM’s comments.

Adams then mentioned the “brave” social care workers, “often on minimum wage, no sickness cover at all, going to work to protect our parents, our grandparents... to get perhaps the most senior man in the country turning around and naming them of what has been an absolute travesty of leadership from the government I think it’s appalling.”

According to UK Office for National Statistics, 19,394 deaths involving Covid-19 were registered up to June 20 in the care sector in England and Wales.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma told BBC Breakfast that the right procedures were “not known” and that “no one is suggesting that care homes haven't done a great job in in really difficult circumstances.”

“What the Prime Minister was pointing out is that nobody knew what the correct procedures were because we know that the extent of asymptomatic cases was not known at the time,” Sharma said.

He added that the government provided “very detailed guidance” during the outbreak as well as extra funding and a testing regime for care homes from April.

"So we have done our best to put our arms around the care home sector,” Sharma said

The federal government's "Operation Warp Speed" Covid-19 vaccine program has given a $1.6 billion contract to Maryland biotech company Novavax. It is the largest federal contract yet awarded to any Covid-19 vaccine company. 

It is the fourth company to receive federal funds to conduct large-scale Phase 3 clinical trials and manufacturing of the Covid-19 vaccine.  

In May, the government awarded more than $1.2 billion to pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca for vaccine development. The other two companies that received Phase 3 contracts are Moderna and Johnson & Johnson. 

Phase 1 clinical trial data from Novavax on 131 study subjects is expected by the end of the month, Erck said.

He added that Novavax’s Phase 3 trial could begin in the late third quarter of 2020. 

Moderna is expected to start its Phase 3 trial later this month. It will involve 30,000 study subjects, some of whom will get the vaccine and some of whom will get a placebo, or an injection that does nothing. 

Novavax’s $1.6 billion will allow the company to scale up production of the vaccine in advance of its potential approval, with the aim of delivering 100 million doses by February, Erck said.

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