July 10 coronavirus news

By Nectar Gan, Steve George, Laura Smith-Spark, Ed Upright, Meg Wagner and Melissa Macaya, CNN

Updated 0015 GMT (0815 HKT) July 11, 2020
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4:27 p.m. ET, July 10, 2020

Mississippi governor announces additional social distancing measures for 13 counties

From CNN's Pierre Meilhan

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves announced additional social distancing measures for 13 counties identified as Covid-19 hotspots in order to limit transmission in communities, his office said Friday.

“Governor Reeves signed a new executive order establishing additional restrictions for those thirteen counties to slow the spread of COVID-19, including requiring people to wear masks when at public gatherings or in a shopping environment and limiting social gatherings to no more than 10 indoors and 20 outdoors,” his office said in a statement.

"Mississippi is in a fight for our lives. COVID-19 is an ever-present threat, and we are in the middle of a spike. It is putting a strain on our hospital system," Reeves in a statement.
4:13 p.m. ET, July 10, 2020

Latin America and the Caribbean topped 3 million infections this week

From CNN's Tatiana Arias and Radina Gigova

A health worker collects a nasal swab sample from a man to be tested for COVID-19 in Santiago, Chile, on Friday, July 10.
A health worker collects a nasal swab sample from a man to be tested for COVID-19 in Santiago, Chile, on Friday, July 10. Javier Torres/AFP/Getty Images

Coronavirus infections in Latin America and the Caribbean surpassed 3 million this week, according to Johns Hopkins University data, with Brazil, Peru and Chile reporting the highest number of infections. 

Dr. Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), expressed concern about unsafe working conditions and the lack of protective equipment for frontline health workers in much of the region. She reiterated the need for better tracing of the virus and said its impact had been worsened by inequality, political division and under-investment in health care.

Three heads of state have announced they have tested positive for the virus: Bolivian Interim President Jeanine Añez, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro and Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, who was hospitalized after being diagnosed in June. 

Furthermore, in Bolivia, in addition to the interim president, six more high-ranking government officials have also tested positive, including several ministers.

These are the countries with the highest number of Covid-19 infections in the region, as of July 10, according to latest figures from the countries' health ministries:

  1. Brazil: 1,755,779 cases; 69,184 deaths 
  2. Peru: 316,448 cases; 11,314 deaths 
  3. Chile: 309,274 cases; 6,781 deaths
  4. Mexico: 282,283 cases; 33,526 deaths 
  5. Colombia: 133,973 cases; 4,714 deaths 
  6. Argentina: 90,693 cases; 1,749 deaths 
  7. Ecuador: 65,801 cases; 4,983 deaths 
  8. Bolivia: 44,113 cases; 1,638 deaths
  9. Panama: 42,216 cases; 839 deaths 
  10. Dominican Republic: 41,915 cases; 864 deaths 

CNN's Ingrid Formanek, Tim Lister, Claudia Rebaza, Chandler Thornton and Taylor Barnes contributed to this report. 

4:22 p.m. ET, July 10, 2020

Georgia to reactivate makeshift hospital at Atlanta’s main convention center, governor's office says

From CNN's Pierre Meilhan

A massive temporary hospital is shown at the Georgia World Congress Center on Thursday, April 16, in Atlanta.
A massive temporary hospital is shown at the Georgia World Congress Center on Thursday, April 16, in Atlanta. Ron Harris/Pool/AP

Georgia plans to reactivate a makeshift hospital at the Georgia World Congress Center in downtown Atlanta amid a rising trend of Covid-19 cases, the governor’s office said Friday in a news release.

The move comes as the state "is negotiating new solutions to increase its own capacity to process specimens, and we will provide more details as those plans are finalized," the statement said.

The state will use its assets, comprising of hospital beds and medical equipment, and also “plans to leverage a new contract for enhanced bed capacity with a metro-Atlanta area hospital,” Gov. Brian Kemp’s office said in a statement.

“In addition to the increased bed capacity developed in-house at hospitals in recent months, this new contract is expected to add nearly 100 med-surg and ICU beds to existing infrastructure, coupled with ‘standby’ beds at GWCC should additional needs arise,” the governor’s office said.

4:07 p.m. ET, July 10, 2020

Texas to provide on-site Covid-19 testing in assisted living facilities and nursing homes

From CNN's Raja Razek

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday that the state will provide on-site same day Covid-19 testing and results for assisted living facilities and nursing homes throughout the state. 

"Omnicare, a CVS Health company, is partnering with the State of Texas to provide COVID-19 point-of-care testing for assisted living facilities and nursing homes throughout the state," Abbott's statement said. "This partnership will provide on-site same-day testing and results for both facility staff and their residents."

"These test sites help enable a goal of processing up to 100,000 tests in the first month alone," the statement added.

The testing in assisted living facilities began yesterday, and state testing teams completed testing of all nursing home staff and residents in June, according to the statement.

Omnicare is set to begin testing in nursing homes next week. 

4:09 p.m. ET, July 10, 2020

California will release 8,000 prisoners early following coronavirus outbreak

From CNN’s Jon Passantino and Topher Gauk-Roger

A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer wears a protective mask as he stands guard at the front gate of San Quentin State Prison on Monday, June 29, in San Quentin, California.
A California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officer wears a protective mask as he stands guard at the front gate of San Quentin State Prison on Monday, June 29, in San Quentin, California. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

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. 

“These actions are taken to provide for the health and safety of the incarcerated population and staff,” Corrections and Rehabilitations Department Secretary Ralph Diaz said in a statement. “We aim to implement these decompression measures in a way that aligns both public health and public safety.”

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

3:57 p.m. ET, July 10, 2020

Arkansas reports more than 700 new Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Kay Jones 

Pool
Pool

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.

3:30 p.m. ET, July 10, 2020

Utah reports record high number of new Covid-19 cases

From CNN’s Konstantin Toropin

A Salt Lake County Health Department's public health nurse performs a coronavirus anti-body test in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 25.
A Salt Lake County Health Department's public health nurse performs a coronavirus anti-body test in Salt Lake City, Utah on June 25. Rick Bowmer/AP

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.

3:20 p.m. ET, July 10, 2020

Union calls Disney's action "shameful" on eve of parks reopening

From CNN Cristina Alesci

A view of the Walt Disney World theme park entrance in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on July 9.
A view of the Walt Disney World theme park entrance in Lake Buena Vista, Florida on July 9. Octavio Jones/Getty Images

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. 

“We continue to engage with Disney on their safety plan. It is shameful that Disney would rather pit workers against each other in a pandemic than agree to testing of their performers,” Actors’ Equity Association’s spokesperson Brandon Lorenz told CNN in a statement.

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.

3:07 p.m. ET, July 10, 2020

Rhode Island governor announces initiative to stabilize housing during coronavirus pandemic 

From CNN’s Molly Silverman

Rhode Island Gov. Gina M. Raimondo speaks at a news conference giving a coronavirus update at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island on May 12.
Rhode Island Gov. Gina M. Raimondo speaks at a news conference giving a coronavirus update at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium in Providence, Rhode Island on May 12. John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

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. 

"And this, it is my hope that this initiative will serve as an alternative to a traditional eviction process and will provide landlords and tenants an opportunity to work towards a solution outside of the court system to avoid evictions," Raimondo said. 

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.