The US has the most cases of coronavirus of any country in the world. Brazil — which has more than 1.6 million, according to Johns Hopkins' tally — is the second most impacted country. India had the third most cases, with more than 700,000.
12:38 p.m. ET, July 8, 2020
Hialeah, Florida, mayor: There needs to be a united message “from the top to the bottom”
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
“Mixed messages” are confusing people and leading to the spread of coronavirus in Florida, says Carlos Hernandez, the mayor of Hialeah, a city in Miami-Dade County.
“That's making it very difficult at the city levels because people are getting different messages from the federal government, state government — even here at the county, we're getting mixed messages,” Herandez said.
“We have to have one message come from the top to the bottom,” he said to CNN’s Kate Bolduan.
The Republican mayor said the lack of contact tracing is “not acceptable.” He said he is not aware of any contact tracing being done in his city by state officials.
“This is something that if we don't unite and if we don't all take care of each other, again, we’re going to find ourselves in a very critical situation very soon in south Florida,” he said.
11:51 a.m. ET, July 8, 2020
New York will make a decision in August on schools reopening, governor says
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo today laid out the timeline for how the state will make the decisions about reopening schools in the fall.
School districts will submit their plans for reopening by the end of the month, the governor said during a coronavirus briefing today. After that, Cuomo said, the state will "look at the data in that first week" of August and "we'll make a decision" on reopening schools.
Cuomo said that the state "will open the schools if it's safe."
11:48 a.m. ET, July 8, 2020
Travelers from 19 states must quarantine if they travel to Northeastern states
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state is adding three new states to its quarantine list: Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma.
That means that travelers from 19 states are required to quarantine for two weeks after they enter New York, Cuomo said. New Jersey and Connecticut are also requiring travelers from those 19 states to quarantine.
After touting low hospitalization and intubation rates in the state, Cuomo said he also had some "bad news" to share.
"Bad news is everything around us, frankly," Cuomo said, noting that a virus "anywhere" means it's a threat everywhere.
Cuomo said that people flying to New York from the 19 states on the quarantine list will be given a form on their flights asking them to report where they're coming from, where they're staying and informing them of the need to quarantine.
11:39 a.m. ET, July 8, 2020
New Jersey will require face coverings outdoors when social distancing isn't possible
From CNN's Elizabeth Joseph
People wait in line at the entrance to an amusement pier on July 3 in Wildwood, New Jersey. Mark Makela/Getty Images
New Jersey will require people to wear face coverings while outdoors when social distancing isn’t possible, Gov. Phil Murphy said on MSNBC this morning.
“You’re going to at least get a warning if not something stronger,” he said.
“Admittedly this is going to be harder to enforce, which is why it’s not a no-brainer, but we have to take this step particularly seeing the hotspots that we’re seeing elsewhere in the country. We’ve gone through hell in New Jersey. We’ve lost over 13,000 people, we’ve brought our numbers way down, we can’t go through that hell again,” he continued.
Murphy is expected to announce an executive order outlining the outdoor face covering policy during his 1:00 p.m. ET news conference, his office told CNN.
Read more about the states requiring people to wear masks when out in public here.
11:33 a.m. ET, July 8, 2020
Phoenix faces a "huge testing shortage," mayor says
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
A man is administered a COVID-19 test in his car at a drive-thru testing site in Phoenix on June 27. Matt York/AP
As coronavirus cases in Arizona continue to surge, Mayor Kate Gallego says Phoenix is facing “a huge testing shortage.”
“People have been in line for eight hours in a hot car while they ache, waiting for a test," she said. "We are five months in in the United States of America. People who want a test should not have to wait that long."
Gallego says there is a need for low-barrier testing. She requested the federal government and the Federal Emergency Management Agency for mass testing sites in Phoenix, but that request has been denied.
“I believe a testing surge could help us with a backlog, and we also need help processing those tests. People are having to wait more than a week to get results. It is critical health information that they need to live their daily lives, she said. “We need our federal government to partner with us. I am taking any city resources we can and putting them towards testing. We have librarians and parks workers who are helping with testing, but their force and efficacy could be magnified if we had specialized medical experts who know about testing.”
William Haseltine, a former Harvard Medical School professor, claimed that Arizona is implementing a crisis standard of care, which means, “if you're old, you get sent home without care and you die.”
“Unfortunately, our medical professionals don't have the resources they need and so they are being asked to make difficult decisions,” Gallego said, responding to Haseltine’s comments. She emphasized that people experiencing emergency conditions such as a heart attack should still go to the emergency room and that they will receive care.
“There is the ability to care for individuals, but we are not meeting the standards of care in all cases that we want. We've been very stretched with intensive care beds,” she explained.
Medical professionals are exhausted and asking for reinforcements, while warning that “the worst is yet to come,” Gallego says.
11:22 a.m. ET, July 8, 2020
SOON: White House coronavirus task force holds briefing as US nears 3 million cases
Vice President Mike Pence and members of the White House coronavirus task force are set to hold a briefing at 11:30 a.m. ET from the Department of Education.
The briefing comes as at least 35 states are seeing an increase in new Covid-19 cases compared to the previous week and as the country nears 3 million cases.
New cases in the US continue to rise at a record rate, with the country reporting more than 60,000 cases yesterday — its highest single daily count since the pandemic began.
Here's a look at how new cases have progressed over time:
11:12 a.m. ET, July 8, 2020
Florida records nearly 10,000 more coronavirus cases
From CNN's Melissa Alonso
Lines of cars wait at a drive-through coronavirus testing site on July 5 outside Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Wilfredo Lee/AP
Florida health officials are reporting at least 9,989 new Covid-19 cases for the state on Wednesday, according to data from Florida Department of Health.
The record for the most daily coronavirus cases in a single day in the state, which was set last week, is more than 11,400.
11:02 a.m. ET, July 8, 2020
Russia digs twin trenches around quarantined Siberian village
From CNN's Darya Tarasova and Zamira Rahim
A view shows a trench dug by local authorities around a remote Siberian village of Shuluta to enforce a quarantine on July 6 in Republic of Buryatia, Russia. Reuters
Authorities have dug double trenches around the rural Siberian village of Shuluta to prevent people from entering and exiting the area during its coronavirus quarantine.
Dozens of villagers have contracted Covid-19 during the pandemic, reported Reuters news agency. Officials believe the disease spread in Shuluta after residents took part in a traditional shaman ritual on June 10 performed by an infected woman, according to Reuters.
The twin trenches were constructed on June 29 after people tried to enter the remote village by car, said Dora Khamaganova, a local administration official. They also prevent tourists who are visiting the nearby Tunka National Park from entering Shuluta.
"Double trenches, in fact, fairly deep double ditches, surrounded the village with an almost closed ring," Khamaganova wrote in a Facebook post on June 29. "Disinfection of residential and non-residential buildings in both villages has been made in full. The disinfectors... are working day and night, practically without any breaks."
Khamaganova's post added that authorities are doing everything they can to limit the entry and exit of people from Shuluta.
At least 37 people living in the village have contracted coronavirus, out of a population of 390, reported Reuters.
According to Khamaganova's post, Ivan Alheev, the head of administration for the Tunka region, said that two residents of the villages of Shuluta and nearby Torah had known about their positive coronavirus results and will face prosecution at the end of quarantine.
Russia has 699,749 cases of coronavirus, the fourth highest total in the world, according to Johns Hopkins University.