July 10 coronavirus news

California will release an estimated 8,000 people incarcerated in the state’s prison system early after growing outbreaks inside the facilities caused thousands of infections and more than two dozen deaths.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation today said the action was being taken to “maximize available space to implement physical distancing, isolation, and quarantine efforts.” The department estimated the 8,000 prisoners could be eligible for release by the end of August under the new measures. 

At San Quentin Prison in Northern California, the site of the worst coronavirus outbreak in the state’s prison system, more than 1,300 inmates have tested positive for Covid-19 and seven have died. 

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office did not immediately return a CNN request for comment. 

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said today that 751 new Covid-19 cases were reported in the state, with 149 of those from correctional facilities.

The total number of Covid-19 cases in the state now stands at 26,803. 

Hot Springs County has shown the highest return on positive cases over the past two days, Hutchinson said in a news conference Friday afternoon. 

A majority of the new cases being reported in the county are from the Ouachita River Correctional Unit, according to Dr. Nate Smith, director of Arkansas Department of Health.

Many of the newer positive cases were from people who previously tested negative but later developed symptoms and were retested, Smith said. 

More data: The state has conducted more than 5,200 tests over the past 24 hours. The average time to get test results back from a commercial lab is 2.5 days, up from a low of 1.6 in April.

"That's something that concerns us because we need quick results that helps us to manage the outbreak, to control it, to isolate people that need to be isolated," Hutchinson said. "We want to watch that and, hopefully, with national support, we can get more resources in our commercial labs so we can get a quicker response time. That will help us in states like Arkansas."

The governor said while he's not concerned with having enough testing materials, he is concerned with the increased number of tests the labs outside of the state are doing, which results in delayed reporting. 

To note: These numbers were released by Arkansas Department of Health, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Utah has reported a record high number of new Covid-19 cases — 850 — over the last 24 hours, state health data shows.

This is the highest daily case increase the state has reported, according to records that go back to early March.

The previous record for new Covid-19 cases was 729 reported on June 8.

Utah does not have a statewide mask order in place, but at least two counties, Salt Lake and Summit, have been given permission by Gov. Gary Herbert to enact countrywide mandates, according to CNN affiliate KSTU. There is also a new mandate for masks to be worn in K-12 schools.

The governor challenged his state’s residents to get Utah’s seven-day rolling average below 500 cases by August 1 by, in part, wearing masks.

The union representing about 750 Disney World performers in Florida blasted Disney on Friday, a day before the company reopens two of its Florida theme parks to the public. 

Some context: The comments are Actors’ Equity Association’s latest shot at Disney after filing a grievance against the company on Thursday.

The grievance alleges Disney is punishing its members, who entertain guests as they walk around the park and also perform in live shows, for Actors' Equity demanding coronavirus testing. The park is opening without their participation.

In response to the grievance, Disney suggested another reason for reopening in Florida without Actors’ Equity Association members. The company claims the actor’s union “rejected” safety protocol and has not made itself available to continue negotiations.

“Seven unions signed agreements to have their employees return to work, the Actors’ Equity rejected our safety protocols and have not made themselves available to continue negotiations, which is unfortunate. We are exercising our right to open without Equity performers,” Disney spokesperson Stephanie Corzett said in a statement to CNN on Friday.

Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo is rolling out an initiative next week to help people avoid eviction during the pandemic. 

Raimondo said that she is thankful that Rhode Island has not had a massive spike in evictions, but is worried that once the $600 federal government benefit ends in July, this could change and the problem could get worse before it gets better.

The governor said the state has been working with the Rhode Island Judiciary Court, which is the court in charge of evictions. The state is also working with United Way to launch an eviction diversion effort called the Safe Harbor Housing Program. 

Raimondo said the state will be directing $7 million of its CARES Act funding to this effort and that she expects hundreds of Rhode Islanders will be able to use that money to maintain stable housing. 

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster said bars and restaurants in the state will be banned from selling alcoholic beverages after 11 p.m. nightly.

McMaster announced said the new order — called the “The Last Call” executive order — is aimed at reducing the transmission of coronavirus, especially among young adults.

The order goes into effect at 11 p.m. tomorrow and does not apply to alcohol sold at convenience stores, grocery stores or wine and liquor stores.

Restaurants and bars that violate the order will be subject to ticketing, fines and ultimately could have their liquor licenses temporarily suspended or revoked. 

“When engaging in certain social activities like eating or grabbing a drink out with friends, especially in enclosed indoor spaces, we are putting ourselves and others at greater risk of getting and spreading the virus," Director of Public Health Dr. Joan Duwve warned. "In these settings, people get close, they tend to talk louder over the music. And we know that this virus is spread really efficiently by people who are close to one another talking — the louder you talk the more efficiently it spreads — for 15 minutes or longer.”

Despite the new order on alcohol sales, the governor said he will not be implementing a statewide mask mandate, saying it’s very difficult to enforce and that the state is not one-size-fits-all. 

“To issue a statewide (mask) mandate to be enforced by statewide authorities is impractical to do,” he said.

By contrast, when it comes to limiting the sale of beer and alcohol after 11 p.m., McMaster said, “We can enforce this, and we will. We intend to and we believe that this will help in reducing the spread of this virus."

As President Trump visits Florida's Miami-Dade County today, the area is seeing a staggering 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.

There has been a 74% increase in Covid-19 patients being hospitalized, an 88% increase in the number of intensive care unit beds being used and a 123% increase in the use of ventilators, data shows.

With regards to its positivity rate, county officials reported a 28% Covid-19 positivity rate on Friday, according to data released by Mayor Carlos Giménez's office.  

Giménez's office has said the goal is to not exceed a positivity rate of 10%. The county has exceeded the 18% mark for the past 14 days. The current 14-day average is 25%, the data shows.

Remember: The positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of those overall who have been tested. So, as more and more people are being tested, the focus is shifting to the positivity rate  — how many of those tested are actually infected.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy reported that the daily positivity rate for Covid-19 tests in the state is 2.23%, which he said is an improvement over the last few days. That percentage is for tests conducted on July 6.

Murphy also announced the rate of transmission has dipped to 0.98%. 

“Thank God, let’s keep it there,” Murphy said during his news conference Friday.

New Covid-19 cases have increased slightly to 367. That’s up from 335 announced on Wednesday. The total number of coronavirus cases in New Jersey since March 4 stands at 176,628.

The total number of Covid-19 deaths in the state is now 13,352, with probable deaths at 1,947.

The governor has urged residents to go out and get tested because he says the more testing, the more precise the number gets.

There are currently 244 Covid-19 testing sites across the state, and on Monday and Tuesday, the state partnered with Montclair to provide free coronavirus tests, Murphy said.

Note: The figures above were released by the New Jersey governor’s office and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

More than 300,000 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in California, with 7,798 new cases reported today, according to state's Department of Public Health.

About 40% of the state's 304,297 reported cases have been recorded in Los Angeles County. 

Hospitalization and intensive care unit rates continue to reach record highs with more than 6,000 patients currently being treated for Covid-19.

The number of deaths recorded in the last day is 140, bringing the state’s cumulative total to at least 6,851. The only day with a higher number of deaths was yesterday, when the state reported 149.

California’s positivity rate as a 14-day average is climbing and currently stands at 7.4% with people between the ages of 18 and 49 accounting for almost 60% of all cases. That age group makes up only about 43.5% of California’s population.

Note: These numbers were released by California Department of Public Health and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database, which is drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.