July 15 coronavirus news

The governor of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa is asking that two US Marine Corps facilities there be put into lockdown after 36 new Covid-19 cases were revealed at one of them Wednesday.

The new cases at the US Marine Corps’ Camp Hansen bring to 136 the number of coronavirus cases reported at US military bases in Japan since July 1, according to the government in Okinawa. Almost all of those cases are on Okinawa.

Gov. Denny Tamaki told CNN in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that Camp Hansen and Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which have the most virus cases, should be put into lockdown.

He also said no new US military personnel should be allowed to transfer into Okinawa from the United States.

He said he has received no response to his requests from US interim Ambassador to Japan Joseph Young or Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he is “worried” about emerging evidence of “debilitating” long-term impacts for some coronavirus survivors.

Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, Hancock revealed the British government has allocated “almost £10 million” ($12.6m) into research, and set up an NHS service to support the “significant minority” greatly impacted by the virus. 

Acknowledging he is “concerned,” Hancock said it is “really important we support people who are in that situation.”

Hancock also spoke about the “consequences” of this being a novel virus: "we’re constantly learning about the impact of it.”

The UK is among the worst-hit countries in the world, with more than 292,900 confirmed cases and 45,000 deaths since its outbreak began, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The Covid-19 positivity rate rose to 31% on Tuesday in Miami-Dade County in Florida, according to data released by local officials. 

The county's goal is to not exceed a positivity rate -- how many of those tested are actually infected -- of 10%. Yet it has exceeded 22% for the past two weeks.  

The current 14-day average positivity rate is 27%, the data shows.

Over the past 13 days the county has also seen a 56% increase in Covid-10 patients being hospitalized, a 65% increase in ICU beds being used and 92% use of ventilators, according to local government data.

Here is a breakdown of the hospitalization data released by Miami-Dade County Government:

Covid-19 patients:

7/01: 1298

7/14: 2029

Patients in ICU beds:

7/01: 266

7/14: 438

Patients on ventilators:

7/01: 118

7/14: 226

Top White House trade adviser Peter Navarro openly attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci in an op-ed on Tuesday, after the White House repeatedly insisted there has been no effort to undermine the nation's leading infectious disease expert.

The USA Today op-ed, which like all other opinion pieces from White House officials had to be edited and approved by the press office, marks a stunning shift in strategy after the President said he had a "very good" relationship with Fauci and White House officials insisted he would not be dismissed.

"Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on," Navarro writes in the op-ed. "So when you ask me whether I listen to Dr. Fauci's advice, my answer is: only with skepticism and caution."

Some context: Before the op-ed was published Tuesday evening, the White House appeared to be recalibrating its approach to Fauci, who sat for a lengthy meeting with chief of staff Mark Meadows on Monday, after White House officials questioned his record in a statement to reporters.

The President insisted during an afternoon roundtable their relationship was "very good." And White House officials insisted Fauci would not (and, for that matter, could not) be dismissed, and would remain on the President's coronavirus task force.

Still, Trump's irritation with Fauci has, at times, been encouraged by Navarro who has repeatedly blamed Fauci for doubting the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine.

Read more here:

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White House lets trade adviser publicly attack Fauci after insisting there was no effort to undermine him

Rarely has a president shown himself to be so unequal to a tragic national emergency.

Hundreds of Americans are dying daily and tens of thousands are getting infected from a once-in-a-century virus. States and cities are closing down again, threatening to trigger a ruinous new economic slump. Doctors and nurses lack sufficient protective gear as they battle the deadly pathogen. And with testing swamped by waves of disease, one top official is warning of the "the most difficult time" ever for US public health this winter.

Yet this is what is on Donald Trump's mind: Joe Biden didn't fix the country's roads and bridges, crowds of bikers and boaters in MAGA hats prove that election polls are wrong, and the border wall is almost finished (except it isn't). Oh, and by the way, where is Hunter Biden?

Trump struck all the wrong notes on Tuesday, a day when Florida, now the world's coronavirus epicenter, recorded its highest-ever Covid-19 death toll, and Texas broke its record for single day infections. The President offered denial and delusion at a White House appearance that even by his standards was a rambling, grievance-fueled mess.

What is needed from Trump and his administration is a plan to tackle the most relentless national challenge since World War II, consoling words to memorialize the 136,000 Americans who are already dead and the thousands destined to follow, and the rhetoric to summon the will to triumph over this invisible enemy.

All Trump could offer on Tuesday was self-pity, incoherence and indifference. He came across as a leader living in a different dimension from his people and their fear and suffering and uncertainty about what the coming months will bring.

Read the full analysis:

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Trump offers denial and delusion as pandemic crisis overtakes his presidency

India recorded 29,429 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Wednesday -- the highest one-day jump in cases so far.

The ministry also recorded 582 new coronavirus-related deaths.

That brings the national total to at least 936,181 cases and 24,309 deaths. Of these total infections, nearly 600,000 people have recovered.

Over 12 million tests have been conducted so far, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Mexico reported more than 7,000 new cases in the past 24 hours, according to the country's health ministry on Tuesday.

That raises the national total to 311,486 cases -- the country with the seventh highest number of infections. 

Mexico also saw 836 new deaths from the virus Tuesday, bringing its death toll to 36,327.

The new cases come after the government announced Tuesday it will extend its US border restrictions for a third time, now in place until August.

A closely watched model that predicts Covid-19 deaths is now forecasting 224,000 deaths in the United States by November 1 this year. 

The model, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, had projected almost 16,000 fewer deaths in a forecast made last week -- but the surge in cases nationwide have caused the projection to jump. 

“That increase in our forecasts is being driven by the big upsurge in you know the ones we know about in Florida, Texas, Arizona, California,” said the chair of IHME, Dr. Chris Murray.

“There's a longer list of states where deaths are going up, as well as hospitalizations. So, that includes Louisiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, South Carolina, Tennessee and Utah. So those are our lists that are driving up forecasts, as we look ahead."

The US coronavirus death toll stands at 136,466.

Face masks could lower this projection: The projection could continue to change depending on the implementation of nationwide restrictions, reopenings, and preventative factors like the use of face masks.

The more people wear masks, the fewer deaths will likely be projected, He said -- at the individual level, masks can reduce transmission of the virus by a third. 

Global coronavirus restrictions are preventing people from fleeing violence or forcing them to take more dangerous routes, warned the International Rescue Committee in a new report.

Border tightening and movement restrictions are also leaving thousands stranded, or to return to dire conditions and places with ongoing humanitarian crises. 

The report found:

Tens of thousands of migrants have also had to return to dangerous conditions due to loss of work and increased risk of xenophobia or infection.

That includes over 80,000 Venezuelans who have returned from Colombia since April, nearly 60,000 migrant workers who returned to Myanmar, and 298,000 people who returned to Afghanistan from Iran.

Many of these migrants are returning to communities of violence, and some have "very low levels of knowledge about Covid-19," said the report.