July 9 coronavirus news

The fall could look a lot like March and April in terms of US coronavirus cases if the country doesn't get a handle on the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has warned.

To prevent the outbreak from spinning out of control, US residents must focus on controlling crowds, wearing masks and doing a better job at physical distancing, Fauci told the Wall Street Journal in a podcast Wednesday.

The US reached more than 3 million coronavirus cases this week, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. At least 33 states as of Thursday morning have seen an upward trend in average daily cases -- an increase of at least 10% -- over the last week.

Read the full report here.

Sur La Table, the nearly 50-year-old purveyor of upscale kitchenware, has gone bankrupt.

The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Wednesday, announcing in a press release that it's putting itself up for sale and will close a substantial number of stores so it can "prosper in the current retail environment and position the company for a vibrant future."

Roughly half of its 120 US stores will close permanently, according to a spokesperson. Sur La Table, like other retailers, was temporarily forced to close its locations' doors in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Sur La Table also known for its in-store cooking classes, which have also been discontinued because of local laws limiting indoor dining or gatherings.

CEO Jason Goldberger said the sale process "will result in a revitalized Sur La Table, positioned to thrive in a post Covid-19 retail environment."

Read the full story here.

A growing list of universities are reporting new coronavirus cases among students in their athletic programs. Now, there's a growing list of universities canceling their competitive sports for the upcoming semester.

As colleges continue to plan for how best to educate and house students during a pandemic, some have already decided it's not worth the risk to add sports to the mix.

The Ivy League Council of Presidents announced Wednesday all fall sports will not be played at its colleges.

The University of Massachusetts Boston, Maine's Bowdoin College and Morehouse College in Atlanta have also canceled fall seasons.

And the Centennial Conference, which includes universities like Johns Hopkins University and Washington College, said this week it is suspending inter-collegiate sports competitions scheduled for the fall.

Read the full story here.

A 23-year-old man was executed in China on Thursday for fatally stabbing two epidemic prevention and control workers in February, according to a statement from the country’s Supreme People’s Court. 

This is the first known death penalty case in China related to Covid-19 containment measures.   

“The Supreme People's Court concluded that Ma Jianguo deliberately and illegally deprived others of life, and his action constituted intentional homicide,” the court statement read. 

“His crime caused great harm and its consequences are extremely serious,” it added.  

Ma stabbed the government workers at a health checkpoint in a village in the southwestern province of Yunnan on February 6, when a fellow passenger in his car tried to remove roadblocks set up by local authorities and got into a dispute with staff on duty. 

He was sentenced to death on March 1. Ma, who was previously imprisoned for assault, committed his latest crime within five years of release, resulting in harsher punishment, according to the court. 

Hong Kong reported 42 new coronavirus cases Thursday, including 34 locally transmitted infections, as the city reimposed some restrictions in response to the rising case count.

The Centre for Health Protection (CHP) announced the tightening of social distancing measures to deal with the fresh outbreak.

Health officials said that from midnight on Friday, restaurants would not be allowed to operate at more than 60% capacity and no more than eight people will be allowed per table, while at clubs and pubs people will not be allowed to gather in groups of more than four. 

The new restrictions will remain in place until July 24.

Of the 34 locally transmitted infections, 23 were linked to elderly care homes, nine were linked to previous cases and three were linked to taxi drivers and their families according to Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan of the CHP. 

Chuang added that the health officials are exploring options with telecommunications companies in the city to search for passengers who took taxis with infected drivers.

“Fluctuations of cases in Hong Kong are within expectations,” said Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan, who added that the virus will not disappear before a vaccine is made available.

The main hospital in the city of Bergamo, which was at the heart of the novel coronavirus outbreak in Italy, has had the first day without any Covid-19 patients since February 23, a spokesperson for the Papa Giovanni XXIII told CNN Thursday.

Italy was one of the first countries in Europe to report coronavirus cases and became one of the hardest hit, with its current death toll standing at almost 35,000. 

A Melbourne apartment block that has been identified as an epicenter of the city's new coronavirus outbreak will remain in a "hard lockdown."

The building at 33 Alfred Road in North Melbourne and eight other public housing towers have been subject to strict restrictions since Saturday, with a total of 3,000 residents unable to leave their homes for any reason.

33 Alfred Road is the only block that will remain under the hardest measures, the Victoria state Premier Daniel Andrews said Thursday.

“We’ll continue to support these Victorians with food, back to school resources, and any other kind of assistance they might need as they stay home and stay safe," a statement from Andrews' office said. A police presence will remain at all towers, to assist in managing the restrictions.

Health authorities have now tested all residents of the nine towers. Of the 2,515 tests conducted, 158 came back positive.

China's Foreign Ministry has accused US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo of “making up all sorts of fake news” to smear China and damage the country's international relations.

Zhao’s comments come after Pompeo said on Wednesday that “Beijing claimed for months that it reported the outbreak of the virus to the WHO. Now we know that’s not true, too.”

Pompeo also said China's ruling Communist Party "has an enormous credibility problem, They failed to tell the world the truth about this virus, and now hundreds of thousands of peoples all across the world are dead.”

Zhao said that China informed WHO of the latest information about the virus outbreak at the earliest possible opportunity.

He also urged Pompeo to “correct his mistakes," and "stop spreading political viruses before he becomes a laughing stock of the international community.”

China recorded nine new coronavirus cases on Wednesday, the country's National Health Commission (NHC) said.

This was the ninth consecutive day in which mainland China only record a single-digit number of cases.

Out of the new cases, three were reported in Liaoning, three in Shanghai, two in Guangdong and one in Sichuan, according to the NHC. 

There were no new cases reported in Beijing on Wednesday for the third day in row. The Chinese capital was forced into a partial lockdown last month when a cluster of new cases linked to a wholesale food market emerged.

Six new asymptomatic cases were also registered in the country, the NHC said. A total of 112 asymptomatic patients are still under medical observation.