2020 Chicago Marathon canceled due to coronavirus pandemic
From CNN's Jabari Jackson
Runners compete during the 2019 Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 13, 2019 in Chicago. Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP/Getty Images
The 2020 Chicago Marathon, along with all race weekend activities, has been canceled amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
In a statement released on Monday, race organizers announced all registered runners for this year’s event will have the option to receive a refund for race entry or defer fee to future competitions.
The Chicago Marathon is the second largest in the United States after New York City. The 26-mile race was scheduled for October 11.
The cancellation follows other notable US marathons having to halt. The Boston Marathon and the New York City Marathon were both called off this summer.
2:49 p.m. ET, July 13, 2020
McConnell: "The coronavirus is not involved in American politics"
From CNN's Ali Zaslav and Manu Raju
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell speaks during a press conference in the Hart Senate Office Building on June 30 in Washington, DC. Stefani Reynolds/Getty Images
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday that "some people in the country tried to politicize" mask-wearing.
"Believe me, the coronavirus is not involved in American politics," he said.
McConnell, who has consistently promoted the importance of facial coverings in recent months, added, “but we have an obligation as individuals to try to protect ourselves and protect others.”
On the next coronavirus package: McConnell told reporters that “no bill will pass the Senate without liability protection for everyone related to the coronavirus.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week that, "We think there is a path to talk about protecting businesses and workers and customers who come in, and that is our OSHA provision.”
She continued, “But, again, let's hear what everybody has to say. But don't say, ‘You all have to go back to work even if it isn't safe. And by the way, we are removing all responsibility from the employer.’ I mean, that is just – no."
McConnell on Monday also repeated he “can’t predict” that this stimulus bill will pass unanimously due to the proximity to the presidential election, but said “somehow, someway, we'll work our way through that and do one last package,” at a news conference in Corbin, Kentucky.
2:42 p.m. ET, July 13, 2020
Brazil president will take another Covid-19 test this week
From CNN’s Shasta Darlington
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, center, is seen outside the Alvorada Palace in Brasilia, Brazil, on July 10. Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro will take another Covid-19 test this week, the official doctor for the presidency told CNN affiliate CNN Brasil on Monday.
According to Dr. Ricardo Camarinha, Bolsonaro is “doing well” and does not plan to do another lung scan.
Bolsonaro will test again for coronavirus after testing positive last week, Camarinha told CNN Brasil. He added that the president will remain in semi-isolation at least until he has the results from the second test but did not provide more details.
Some background: Bolsonaro announced last Tuesday that he had tested positive for Covid-19. In an interview with CNN Brasil the night before, he said he had started to experience some symptoms, like a low-grade fever, and decided to take the test. The lung scan at the time did not show any problems.
The president also announced that day he had taken hydroxychloroquine on the advice of his medical team and posted a video on his official Facebook page later showing himself taking what he claimed was a third dose of the drug.
Bolsonaro has been working remotely from the presidential residence since then.
The latest numbers: Brazil is nearing 1.9 million cases of the novel coronavirus after its health ministry reported at least 24,831 new cases Sunday. The ministry also reported 631 new deaths from the virus Sunday, bringing its death toll to about 72,100.
2:38 p.m. ET, July 13, 2020
NHL announces 43 positive tests as league moves towards August 1 restart
From CNN's Kevin Dotson
A detailed view of the NHL logo is seen on the back of the goal netting at Capital One Arena on October 16, 2019 in Washington, DC. Scott Taetsch/Getty Images
The National Hockey League announced 43 positive Covid-19 tests among players during phase two of the league’s Return to Sport Protocol.
The NHL said 30 players tested positive for coronavirus within the recently sanctioned phase two testing program with 13 other players testing positive outside of the league’s protocol.
Phase two allowed players to reenter team facilities and participate in individualized training activities in small groups. On Monday, the NHL started phase three of its Return to Sport Protocol, which allows teams to begin organized training camp activities.
The NHL plans to restart its season on August 1 in two Canadian hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton.
2:31 p.m. ET, July 13, 2020
Protecting yourself is the best way to reopen the country, says Fauci
From CNN’s Naomi Thomas
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said the younger people who are testing positive for Covid-19 in this surge of the outbreak are very important to stopping it.
“We’ve got to convince them that just because they get infected and the likelihood that they’re not going to get seriously ill, doesn’t mean that their infection is not a very important part of the propagation of the outbreak,” Fauci said on Monday.
Speaking during a webinar with Stanford School of Medicine, he said that young people need to think of not only their personal responsibilities, but their societal responsibilities.
“Although you may not get sick, almost certainly you’re going to infect somebody else, who almost certainly infects somebody else and then you will get a vulnerable person who will be sick, who will go to the hospital, who might die,” said Fauci, who is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force.
“The best way to reopen the country and to get back to normal is to be very prudent in protecting yourself from getting infected,” he said. “That’s a difficult message when people don’t take something seriously, but we’ve got to hammer that home.”
3:35 p.m. ET, July 13, 2020
Students in Los Angeles will not return to in-person classes, district says
From CNN's Stella Chan
Superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District Austin Beutner speaks during a news conference at the school district headquarters in Los Angeles, on March 13. Damian Dovarganes/AP
The Los Angeles Unified School District in California will “not begin with students at school facilities,” LAUSD Superintendent Austin Beutner said this morning.
“The health and safety of all in the school community is not something we can compromise,” Beutner said.
LAUSD is the second largest district in the nation and serves over 600,000 students in grades K-12.
The San Diego Unified School District, in coordination with LAUSD, will also start the school year online only.
K-12 students at SDUSD will return to school, though not in-person, on August 31.
“Both districts will continue planning for a return to in-person learning during the 2020-21 academic year, as soon as public health conditions allow,” according to the joint statement.
SDUSD is the second largest district in the state.
Some background: On Friday, United Teachers of Los Angeles (UTLA), the union representing teachers, said 83% of 18,000 members polled said schools should not physically reopen on August 18, the first day of school for LAUSD.
LAUSD and UTLA have another bargaining session this week.
2:17 p.m. ET, July 13, 2020
Training public health workers key to preparing for future pandemics, Fauci says
From CNN’s Amanda Watts
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on June 30. Al Drago/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said training public health workers – specifically physician scientists such as himself, and updating the local public health networks – are key to preparing for a future pandemic.
“I've been saying this – quite frankly, for a couple of decades – that we really need to have a very solid pandemic preparedness plan and operational capabilities, because this is not something that is going to go away and never happen again,” Fauci said during a webinar with the Stanford School of Medicine on Monday.
Fauci said this is the third coronavirus pandemic in 18 years: SARS, MERS and now Covid-19. “We've really got to use this as a lesson to be prepared for the next one,” he said.
Complacency is a real problem, Fauci said. In the United States, he said people have been a “victim of your own success.”
“We have let the local public health infrastructure in our country really go into tatters,” Fauci said.
“We were so good at controlling smallpox, polio, tuberculosis, that we let the infrastructure locally, essentially, go unattended,” he added.
2:11 p.m. ET, July 13, 2020
Young adults are the fastest growing group testing positive in New Jersey, health official says
From CNN’s Ganesh Setty
New Jersey Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Judith Persichilli said that young adults are the fastest growing group in the state testing positive for Covid-19.
Residents ages 18-29 accounted for 12% of the state’s cases in April, and in June, that age group represented 22% of the state’s total cases, she said.
Residents ages 18 to 29 years old account for nearly 24,000 of the state’s cases.
More than 730 residents have been hospitalized in that group, while 53 have died.
2:09 p.m. ET, July 13, 2020
Some states went from shutdown to "complete throwing caution to the wind," Fauci says
From CNN’s Naomi Thomas
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there are simple things states can do to turn around the trajectory of the virus in the US.
“There are things you can do now: physical distance, wearing a mask, avoiding crowds, washing hands. Those things, as simple as they are, can turn it around,” Fauci said during a webinar with the Stanford School of Medicine on Monday. “And I think we can do that and that’s what we’ve got to do.”
Fauci spoke about how after not shutting down the country completely, the US saw surges in states like California, Arizona, Texas and Florida, among others, as the country began to reopen.
He said the guidelines released for initial reopening attempts did not work well for the country, noting that some states went from shutdown to “complete throwing caution to the wind,” using examples of people without masks in crowded bars.
However, Fauci said that he is “confident” the US can get a handle on this situation.
“You don’t necessarily need to shut down again, but pull back a bit. And then, proceed in a very prudent way, observing the guidelines of going from step to step,” he said.
