July 14 coronavirus news

Five people across New York died from coronavirus Monday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced today, bringing the statewide death toll to at least 24,994.

More than 900 the 60,045 — or 1.5% — of the tests conducted across the state were positive, bringing the statewide total of confirmed cases to 403,175.

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

Colombia's largest cities have reimposed lockdown measures, after a surge in cases during the last seven days pushed the Latin American country beyond 150,000 total cases.   

Colombia is currently the 5th most affected country with Covid-19 cases in Latin America and more than 20% of total cases were registered in the last seven days, including a record 6,803 new cases last Friday, according to data collected by the Colombian Health Ministry.

On Monday evening, the country reported 3,832 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total number of cases to 154,277. The death toll stands at at least 5,455.  

In Bogota, the capital city where more than 30% of cases were registered, local mayor Claudia López announced a localized lockdown, dividing the city into three areas that will go under total lockdown on a two-week rotation.

During the lockdown in these areas, only essential shops are allowed to open and only a single member per family is allowed to leave the house to buy food, medicine and other supplies. 

Medellin, Colombia's second largest city, also reimposed a partial lockdown Monday, despite it having one of the lowest increase of Covid-19 earlier in the pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic remains highly localized in Colombia. Two key areas, Bogota and the north Atlantic coast, account for more than 50% of total registered cases, while several regions have registered only a limited amount of cases, according to data by the Colombian Health Ministry. 

The Colombian government is under pressure to open up new parts of the economy, especially in regions that have not seen a surge in cases in order to limit economic damage triggered by the lockdown. 

Unemployment has more than doubled in Colombian urban areas reaching almost 25% in May, according to DANE, the country’s National Administrative Department of Statistics. 

Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin have been added to the list of states included in New York’s travel advisory requiring individuals traveling to the Empire State from those locations to quarantine for 14 days, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced in a press statement Tuesday morning.

The statement notes: "Yesterday, Governor Cuomo announced a travel enforcement operation will commence today at airports across the state to help ensure travelers are following the state's quarantine restrictions and to help contain the rates of COVID-19 transmission in New York State."

Here is the updated list of states included in the travel advisory:

Note: Delaware has been removed from New York's travel advisory, per the governor's office.

Ecuador's Galapagos islands' tourist sites have reopened to visitors, the country’s Ministry of Environment and Water said in a statement today.

Tourists will have to wear masks and use disinfectant gel when visiting the UNESCO World Heritage site, the statement notes, adding that visits to recreational places near the ports, will be restricted to three hours, maximum .

The Galapagos were closed to all visitors starting on March 16, in an effort to control the spread of Covid-19.

At least 183 land and marine sites of the Galapagos National Park have reopened, according to the ministry of environment.

The Galapagos are home to some of the most unique and scientifically significant ecosystems on earth. The archipelago of 127 islands, is about 1,000 kilometers, or 600 miles off Ecuador’s coast in the Pacific Ocean.

The Galapagos Islands are one of the world's premier destinations for wildlife viewing. However, conservationists have increasingly voiced concern that the Galapagos and its delicate ecosystem are under threat from over-tourism. 

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves is urging people in his state to weak masks and spoke out against residents in the state who don’t believe in the reality of coronavirus.

“The President is wearing a mask. I’m wearing a mask. We’re all doing it. It’s got to happen, or we’re going to find ourselves in a place as bad as we can imagine,” Tate wrote in one Facebook post. 

President Trump had long refused to wear a mask in public but this weekend, he finally wore one in front of cameras during a visit to wounded service members at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. 

In a subsequent post on Facebook Reeves, spoke to people who refuse to wear masks or speak out against face coverings saying, “mask-shaming in either direction is dumb and counterproductive.”

He ended the post with a unifying message saying, “Our enemy is the virus - NOT EACH OTHER!”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said it is “absolutely urgent” to approve a new coronavirus stimulus package. During an interview with CNN’s Jim Sciutto on Tuesday, she reiterated the Democratic priorities, including extending enhanced unemployment insurance benefits and sending another round of direct payments to Americans.

Asked if she is willing to consider Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s demand that liability protections be included for businesses, Pelosi said Republicans should instead join Democrats in approving an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) provision to protect workers.

She also said she is willing to cut into the planned August recess to get the bill finalized.

“Oh we absolutely have to,” she said. “The timetable is the timetable of the American people."

Regrading the surging cases across the country, Pelosi said local leaders should look to other countries that shut down seriously to begin with and were able to stop the spread of the coronavirus, as states across the US experience surges after taking steps to open up.

She said it’s a regional decision, but “unless you have a very, very low percentage of incidence of the infection, you really have to consider locking down.”

Asked if California opened too quickly, Pelosi said she believes Gov. Gavin Newsom “has done an excellent job,” but she added that he was under pressure from different regions of the state that were experiencing the virus differently.

Watch Speaker Pelosi on liability protections:

Coronavirus cases are soaring in Florida. Across the state, at least 48 hospitals have zero ICU beds available, and Miami is "now the epicenter of the pandemic," an infectious disease expert with the area's Jackson Health System said.

The situation is so serious in Florida, the state has more cases than all but eight entire countries — including some of the pandemic's first hotspots.

Six months ago, the world thought this new coronavirus was contained to China — specifically, the Wuhan area. 

But now, the entire country of China has less than 1/3 the total Covid-19 cases that Florida does, according to Johns Hopkins University data. As of Monday, China had 85,117 total cases since the pandemic started, compared to Florida's 282,435.

After the China outbreak, Italy came under worldwide scrutiny for its handling of Covid-19 as the disease quickly spread out of control. 

But after strict government mandates, the country has managed to quell the virus and has largely returned to normal. 

As of Monday, Italy (population 60 million) had 243,230 cases from throughout the pandemic. Florida (population 21 million) has already surpassed that number, at 282,435.

Florida's death toll, however, remains lower than Italy's — 4,277 in Florida, compared to 34,954 in Italy.

There’s been an attempt to downplay the coronavirus, Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said, decrying “mixed messages” from federal leaders and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.  

Miami is "now the epicenter of the pandemic," according to an infectious disease expert with the area's Jackson Health System.

In Florida, there are currently at least 48 hospitals that have reached their ICU capacity and show zero ICU beds available, according to data released by the Agency for Health Care Administration.

Gelber said that Miami-area leaders will enforce new stay-at-home orders soon if hospitals cannot care for all people, not just Covid-19 patients.

“I suspect if, in a week of or two, this is not changed in any way, then we’re all going to do it — whether or not the governor wants us to or not,” he said. 

Watch the interview:

The mayor’s fund to advance New York City has raised $54.5 million for Covid-19 emergency relief. Over 9,000 donors contributed to this fund to help frontline workers and vulnerable New Yorkers, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

First lady Chirlane McCray added that the funds will also assist in saving businesses, aid immigrants and support youth.

In particular, she touted the Restaurant Revitalization Program as part of the fund, which will support 1,000 unemployed and underemployed restaurant workers, and approximately 100 restaurants.

The city also is creating micro-grants to directly support survivors of domestic violence, McCray said, adding that “the pandemic has brought new horrors for those who shelter in place with an abusive partner.”

The immigrant emergency relief fund has so far provided 13,000 households across 180 zip codes representing 41,0000 New Yorkers with one time emergency financial relief, an official said.