July 9 coronavirus news

There are currently 48 hospitals, in 26 counties, in Florida that have reached their capacity in their intensive care units and show zero ICU beds available, according to data released by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). 

Another 52 hospitals show ICU bed availability of 10% or less, according to the AHCA data.

Health official on Thursday reported 8,935 new Covid-19 cases and at least 120 Covid-19-related deaths.

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.

The US is better prepared for a virus than it was 10 years ago, but needs "to take it a step even further," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Thursday.

Fauci was asked during a live event hosted by The Hill if the US should be more proactive when it comes to viruses that transmit from animals to humans by devoting more money and resources. 

Fauci said work done in previous years allowed the US to enter into the development of a vaccine for Covid-19 "at an absolute record speed."

But the nation's top infectious disease expert said more work still needs to be done.

Here's how he put it:

Ivy League sports, including football, will be postponed this fall due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Ivy League Council of Presidents Executive Director Robin Harris said that while there is “tremendous disappointment” among athletes and coaches at its colleges — which include Harvard, Princeton and Yale — there is also an acceptance about the threat of Covid-19.

The Ivy League is the first Division I conference to drop out of the upcoming college football season. 

Harris said that she expects other college conferences to follow suit in the future. 

Watch the interview:

The Trump administration’s efforts to pressure the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into revising school reopening guidelines, and threats to withhold funding from school districts that do not reopen, could have deadly consequences, said American Public Health Association Executive Director Georges C. Benjamin.

In a statement released Thursday, Benjamin said the Trump administration’s actions “wrongly makes educators, students and parents political pawns and could have deadly consequences during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The CDC has recommended that schools reopen cautiously, calling for physical distancing, physical barriers and proper cleaning. On “Good Morning America” Thursday, CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said that the guidelines for reopening schools will not be revised, but that the agency will provide additional reference documents to help guide schools in their decisions.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said in-person learning will take place in schools as planned unless there are case increases that require the state to move back into phase three.

The state is currently in phase four of reopening. Whitmer planned to move to phase five ahead of the Fourth of July but then chose not to due to the increased case numbers.

If the state returns to phase three based on case information, schools will be distance learning, Whitmer said. In phases four, five and six, in-person learning will take place. 

Districts are still writing their plans for reopenings, Whitmer said. 

The United Nations has called on Brazil to end all evictions during the Covid-19 pandemic, almost one month after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro vetoed efforts by the Congress to do so.

In a statement on Thursday the UN Special Rapporteur on housing Balakrishnan Rajagopal called on Brazil “to end all evictions during the Covid-19 crisis, after more than 2,000 families were thrown out of their homes. Thousands more are at risk of evictions in cities and in the countryside in São Paulo state.”

Rajagopal expressed concern that Bolsonaro vetoed an effort by the Brazilian Congress to limit the impact of evictions. Congress has not yet voted on a broader bill that would suspend all judicial or administrative evictions during the pandemic.”

On June 11, Bolsonaro vetoed an article — which was part of a larger piece of legislation — that suspends, until October, evictions due to a delay in paying rent or end of the vacancy period.

Another law specifically about suspension of evictions during the pandemic was presented to Brazil’s Congress on March 18 and is awaiting a vote.

Rajagopal said evictions pose a health risk due to the Covid-19 pandemic and added, “some courts are suspending eviction orders until the health crisis is over, others continue to issue new orders.”

CNN has reached out to the Brazilian government for comment.

The UN Special Rapporteur’s statement comes as Brazil’s total number of Covid-19 cases tops 1.7 million and the country 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.

Starbucks said it will require all customers to wear facial coverings when visiting any of its US locations starting on Wednesday.

As cases of coronavirus surge across the country, Starbucks said it made the decision to prioritize the health of its employees and customers.

Customers who do not want to wear a mask can still order at the drive-thru. They can also place orders for curbside pickup or delivery, the company said.

Gyms, outdoor pools, beauty salons and outdoor arts performances will allowed to reopen in England under a further easing of coronavirus restrictions, according to the UK’s Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport Oliver Dowden. 

Starting Monday, beauticians, tattooists, spas, tanning salons and other close-contact services will be able to reopen, he said. 

Indoor gyms, swimming pools and sports facilities will reopen starting on July 25, but Dowden urged the public to do their part to ensure the new freedoms don’t compromise the country’s coronavirus strategy.

“All of these measures we are taking are conditional and they are reversible,” he said. “And we will not hesitate to impose lockdowns where there are local spikes as we saw in Leicester.”

When it comes to vaccine safety, Dr. Anthony Fauci said “the government is making the investment in order to save time — not to cut down on safety, but to save time.” 

Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said on SiriusXM radio, “If it turns out that you have a candidate that is safe and effective, you gained multiple months by jumping ahead and already starting to manufacture.”

“If it turns out it's not safe and effective, and you're not going to use it, then you've lost a lot of money,” he said. “And if you lose out, you lose out money, but we feel it's worth the risk.”

Fauci hopes this “head start” will help them reach “the timetable that hopefully we will know by the end of the year, the beginning of 2021, whether we have a safe and effective vaccine. If we do, we'll be able to already start distributing it.”