Arizona leads nation with highest average of new cases per capita
From CNN's Amanda Watts
A man gets tested for coronavirus on July 7 in Austin, Texas. Sergio Flores/Getty Images
Arizona has led the nation with the highest seven-day average of new coronavirus cases per 100,000 people for more than a month, according to a CNN analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
On June 7, Arizona overtook the top spot with a per capita rate of 13.84 per 100,000 people. Today, the state is averaging 48.10 per 100,000 people — that’s more than triple the rate from a month ago.
Florida has held onto the second spot every day since June 26, according to Johns Hopkins data. Their current rate is 43.08 per 100,000 people.
The United States currently has a seven-day average of new cases per 100,000 people of 16.00.
11:53 a.m. ET, July 9, 2020
States bordering Covid-19 hotspots states are "quite vulnerable," Fauci says
From CNN Health’s Naomi Thomas
While California, Arizona, Texas and Florida are being hit badly by Covid-19 right now, we need to keep an eye on states that border them, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said.
“There are a number of states that are nearby that are really quite vulnerable for the same thing happening, and we certainly want to avoid that,” he said on SiriusXM radio.
These border states are starting to show “a slight increase in the percent positivity” and that this is the sort of thing “that would have you at least put a red flag up to watch them,” Fauci said.
What can border states do? What to do in these situations has been discussed at White House coronavirus task force meetings, according to Fauci. He said measures such as mask wearing, social distancing and handwashing need to be intensified. He also suggested that authorities in those states could do things such as consider shutting down places like bars “before you wind up seeing a really bad spike.”
11:26 a.m. ET, July 9, 2020
Florida reports 120 new coronavirus deaths, a single-day record for the state
From CNN's Melissa Alonso, Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt
Florida health officials on Thursday reported 8,935 new Covid-19 cases, according to data posted on the Florida Department of Health website.
The state is also reporting at least 120 Covid-19-related deaths — a new single-day record for the state. The previous high was on April 28, when 83 new deaths were reported, according to CNN's tally.
This brings the current total cases to more than 232,000, according the health department. There are now more than 4,000 Covid-19-related deaths in Florida.
11:06 a.m. ET, July 9, 2020
"We are actually knee-deep in the first wave," Fauci says
From CNN's Jacqueline Howard
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, prepares to testify before a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing on Capitol Hill on June 30 in Washington, DC.. Kevin Dietsch/Pool via AP
The United States still has not gotten out of the first wave of Covid-19, the nation's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said on SiriusXM radio.
"People ask about, 'Are we concerned about a second wave?' And I keep telling people, 'What are you talking about a second wave? We are actually knee-deep in the first wave.' We've never really gotten out of it," Fauci said during a pre-recorded interview with SiriusXM Doctor Radio airing on Friday.
"The thing that confuses people — not only in our own country but throughout the world — we have a very large country and it is very heterogenous. I mean, the New York metropolitan area is very, very different from Casper, Wyoming, or a town in Montana or a city in the Southwest," Fauci added. "So things happen at different paces and different things really evolve."
Fauci went on to explain how the metropolitan area of New York City was hit badly early on the pandemic and is now doing well — with cases, hospitalizations and deaths going down — compared with other regions of the United States.
"I believe that they will be successful. What we're seeing now in some of the southern states that you really had kind of a variability in how it was handled. Some states actually decided to open up, but did it probably prematurely and not adhering to the guidelines of a gateway to phase one to phase two. Other states actually did it well, but the people in the state took an all or none attitude," Fauci said.
10:25 a.m. ET, July 9, 2020
Several Latin American countries reporting new peaks of infections, deaths
From CNN’s Tim Lister
Doctors attend to a coronavirus patient in the intensive care unit at Ricardo Palma Hospital on July 7 in Lima, Peru. Rodrigo Abd/AP
The latest figures from several major Latin American states show that the rate of infection and deaths from the coronavirus are hitting new peaks.
A CNN analysis of figures from individual states and from WHO shows that Brazil, Mexico and Colombia are at or close to peak infection rates, when daily numbers are averaged over a week. (Averaging daily reports over seven days helps to establish trends and even out daily anomalies.)
Here's what the data shows:
Brazil saw its highest weekly death rate on July 8 — averaging 1,047 in the seven days since July 1. A week ago, by comparison, the average was 972 fatalities. Brazil has recorded a daily average of some 37,000 new cases since the last week of June, with marginal variations, suggesting that it has not yet passed the peak of infection.
In Mexico, the daily average of new cases in the week to July 8 was 6,176 — the highest yet. A week ago, that average was 4,989, according to CNN's analysis of official data. Deaths in Mexico from the coronavirus have fallen back from a daily average of 759 in the week to June 25 to 612 on July 8, but in recent days that daily average has begun to creep up again.
Colombia's figures are much lower, but the average daily increase in both new infections and deaths has accelerated in recent days. When averaged over the previous week, the number of new infections increased from 3,557 on July 1 to 3,804 in the week to July 8, while the death rate increased from 140 to 151.
Similarly, Peru's numbers are much lower than those of Brazil and Mexico; but show a consistent daily average in deaths of about 180 since the last week of June, with new infections running at about 3,400 over the same period. So, while there is no dramatic spike in the rate of increase in Peru, nor is there any marked decline.
Other Latin American countries are also showing little sign of being past the peak of infections and deaths, but both Uruguay and Paraguay continue to have very low infection rates.
However, Chile, which saw a spike in infections last month, has shown a consistent decline in its weekly averages of both deaths and new infections. CNN's tally of official statistics show that the average of new infections has fallen to 2,968 from 3,947 a day (in the week to July 8); deaths have fallen from 146 to 117 a day in the same period.
10:12 a.m. ET, July 9, 2020
More than 1,000 TSA employees have tested positive for coronavirus
From CNN’s Gregory Wallace
A TSA agent assists travelers at Love Field airport in Dallas, Texas, on June 24. Tony Gutierrez/AP
More than 1,000 Transportation Security Administration employees have now tested positive in the US for coronavirus, according to agency data released Thursday.
That includes just over 900 frontline TSA officers who screen passengers at airports around the country.
At least six TSA employees have died due to the virus, the agency said.
Remember:The agency recently improved its protocols for screening officers, including requiring them to wear face shields and to change or clean gloves between each passenger they handle. The changes came about after a whistleblower complaint and are intended to better protect officers and prevent cross-contamination between passengers.
TSA officers screened 2.7 million people over the Independence Day holiday weekend.
9:58 a.m. ET, July 9, 2020
70% of US population has reopening on hold or rolled back, analysts say
From CNN’s Alison Kosik
Goldman Sachs says states containing over 40% of the population have now put reopening on hold, and states with another 30% have already reversed part of their reopening.
“These practices are required, until there is an effective vaccine, effective treatment or herd immunity,” Goldman Sachs said in a research note.
The analysts also note that over the past few days, Connecticut, Ohio and Washington have delayed reopening plans or placed re-openings on hold. Goldman also notes that several state governors have also issued new executive order instituting specific social distancing and other requirements.
9:56 a.m. ET, July 9, 2020
Germany's Angela Merkel: Lies are "no way to fight the pandemic"
From CNN's Nadine Schmidt
German Chancellor Angela Merkel speaks as she arrives at the European Parliament on July 8 in Brussels, Belgium. Francisco Seco/AP
German Chancellor Angela Merkel warned that "lies and disinformation" have emerged during the coronavirus pandemic and warned against allowing hatred to spread as the world battles the virus.
"We have seen lies and disinformation, and that is no way to fight the pandemic," she said yesterday at the European Parliament in Brussels.
She added the virus has highlighting the limits of ''fact-denying populism," saying, "The limits of populism and denial of basic truths are being laid bare."
Merkel went on to say, to applause, ''democracies need truth and transparency. This is what Europe sets apart and this is what Germany will stand up for during its EU presidency."
She urged the European Union to agree on the bloc’s Covid-19 recovery plan before the summer. “There is no time to lose. Only the weakest will suffer,” Merkel said.
Watch the moment:
9:28 a.m. ET, July 9, 2020
Florida's Walt Disney World resumes ticket sales 2 days before reopening begins
From CNN’s Natasha Chen
John Raoux/AP
Two days before reopening two theme parks to the public during the height of a Florida coronavirus spike, Disney resumed the sale of new 2020 theme park tickets and hotel reservations for Walt Disney World.
Guests who purchase new tickets are required to select the dates they would like to visit and reserve their attendance in advance.
Annual passholders and people who had purchased tickets before the parks closed in March were able to reserve attendance before today.
Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom theme parks are currently holding annual passholder previews Thursday and Friday, and reopening to the public on Saturday at reduced capacity.
The resort’s two remaining theme parks — EPCOT and Disney’s Hollywood Studios — will reopen next week.
