July 14 coronavirus news

Moderna, an American biotech company, expects to start their largest study yet of its Covid-19 vaccine candidate on July 27, according to details released Tuesday on a government database that tracks clinical trials conducted around the world.

Here is how the vaccine trial will work:

The study will be conducted at 87 locations across the United States.

Remember: Moderna’s vaccine candidate is one of 23 in clinical trials around the world, according to the World Health Organization.

Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine candidate is expected to be the first in the United States to begin phase three trials.

Vice President Mike Pence has arrived in Louisiana, where he was greeted Gov. John Bel Edwards, Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy, and Rep. Steve Scalise, among others. Everyone wore masks.

Pence is expected to deliver remarks at the State Emergency Operations Center at 1 p.m. ET and receive a coronavirus briefing after that. While in Louisiana, he will also participate in a roundtable on higher education and hold a press briefing.

Coronavirus cases have been increasing in Louisiana: Last week, Edwards said the gains the people of Louisiana made against Covid-19 in June had been wiped out in a matter of weeks.

The state has reported almost 80,000 cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began. Here's the parish-by-parish look of where those cases have been recorded:

As the coronavirus surges across the US, Virginia Rep. Morgan Griffith, a Republican, has tested positive for coronavirus.

After developing symptoms, he took a test and has since been isolating, according to his office. He does not currently have “significant symptoms,” the statement said.

Griffith's office said the congressman "will continue to self-isolate as he performs his duties on behalf of Virginia’s Ninth Congressional District."

Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said the nation is in a much better place than it was in the spring, because it has a much lower mortality rate, but said “we’re not out of the woods for this.”

Speaking during a webinar with the Buck Institute on Tuesday, Redfield said there is still “obvious transmission” occurring throughout the nation right now.

“While we've made a lot of progress, we still have a ways to go in terms of getting this under control," the CDC director said.

The Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is working with member states to ensure "equal access" to future Covid-19 and treatments when they are available, PAHO Director Dr. Carissa Etienne said on Tuesday.

Etienne said the US, Canada, Brazil and Argentina are part of clinical trials for some of the vaccine candidates, and encouraged other countries in the region to "participate in this global effort to accelerate the development of vaccines that are safe and effective for everyone."

She added that PAHO is engaged with the regulatory authorities of its member states regarding clinical trials.

PAHO is using its revolving fund to play a "strategic role" in the access to a future Covid-19 vaccine. Etienne said the Americas "is the only region with a shared mechanism for purchasing and delivering vaccines."

The PAHO director also touted efforts such as the Covid-19 Global Vaccine Access Facility (COVAX Facility), saying that PAHO member states will act as a "bloc" and join the effort through the PAHO Revolving Fund. 

"We already have 30 countries and territories joining the facility through PAHO's Revolving Fund, and we are excited to see more expressions of interest from our member states in the coming days. The more countries that join, the stronger we will be," Etienne said.

She added PAHO is also working with GAVI and other partners "to guarantee that the most vulnerable countries in our region receive the vaccine against Covid-19 in a subsidized manner and at an affordable price."

First Lady Melania Trump tweeted an image of herself today from early April wearing a face mask, along with a reminder for people to continue to wear them, and adhere to social distancing guidelines.

“Even in the summer months, please remember to wear face coverings & practice social distancing," she tweeted.

See her tweet:

Some background: Masks have become a political flash point as some Americans argue the requirement infringes upon their civil liberties. But the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urges everyone to wear a "cloth face cover when they have to go out in public," noting that masks are critical in areas where social distancing is difficult to maintain since the coronavirus can spread between asymptomatic people and through respiratory droplets in the air.

CNN's Kelly Mena and Veronica Stracqualursi contributed to this report.

Florida health officials reported 132 Covid-19-related deaths on Tuesday, breaking the record for most deaths in a single day due to coronavirus, according to numbers released by the state's Department of Health.

The previous record for coronavirus-related deaths in one day was 120 deaths reported on July 9. 

One thing to note: These numbers were released by Florida's public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

WATCH:

Israel crossed 41,000 coronavirus cases, according to the Ministry of Health, as the country set a new single-day record for infections with 1,681 people testing positive on Monday.

Almost a quarter of the total number of cases have come within the last week, as Israel has averaged more than 1,000 new cases a day. The number of patients in serious condition has also nearly doubled from 93 to 177 in the last week.

As of Tuesday morning, Israel has 41,235 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to the Ministry of Health, and 368 people have died as a result of the disease.

The Palestinian Authority has also seen a significant rise in cases, with 293 new cases on Tuesday, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said. There have been 7,734 total cases since the beginning of the outbreak, the Ministry said, and 45 people have died as a result of the disease.

Officials in Fort Bend County, Texas, said today that the county is elevating its risk alert status to red — the highest level category — effective immediately. 

Fort Bend County is located southwest of Houston and is part of the Houston-metro area.

Cases have seen a sharp increase over the past month, according to Judge KP George. He said the county has had at least 5,015 total positive cases, with at least 2,613 of those cases reported since June 30.

George said that the red category means the county is in the highest possible level of risk and asks for all residents to assume personal responsibility in helping mitigate the virus. It translates to stay home, stay safe guidance, according to the county website. After 14 days of improvement on the indicators, including decreased daily hospital and intensive care unit admissions as well as a decreased trend in deaths, the county can downgrade to orange, according to the guidance posted online. 

Meanwhile, the Fort Bend Independent School District said it will start the school year with online-only learning.

According to an announcement, this will "give students, parents and staff an opportunity to adjust to online learning and safety procedures." The district also announced that all in-person extracurricular activities — including all athletics and fine arts — will not be allowed to take place during this time.   

The Board of Trustees met via Zoom on Monday night to vote on the changes to the start of the school year. The first day of school is Aug. 12 in the district. 

They said during the meeting that they will phase-in face-to-face student groups over time and based on guidance from local health officials, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others.