July 16 coronavirus news

Florida is reporting at least 315,775 positive coronavirus cases across the state, showing an increase of at least 13,965 cases from the previous day, according to new numbers released by the Florida Department of Health.  

At least 8,626 people are currently hospitalized across the state.  

Total number of deaths in the state increased by 156, breaking a previous daily record of 132 that was set on Tuesday. During the pandemic, there have been a total of 4,677 coronavirus deaths in the state.

The 13.965 new coronavirus Covid-19 reported today marks the second highest daily total during the state’s pandemic. Sunday’s daily record of 15,299 still holds.

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

To combat the rise in coronavirus cases in California, there needs to be enough contact tracing staff in regions where Covid-19 infections are increasing, the principal investigator for the state’s contact tracing program told CNN, but not all regions require an equal number of tracers. 

Health officials, he said, cannot forecast how much contact tracing is needed in a region until public health departments are alerted to positive results, but the teams are scalable. “We can call in extra people if there's a surge,” Rutherford said. 

With 58 counties in the state, the number of contact tracers working in each county should be driven by the number of confirmed cases, not the county’s total population, he said.

“If you're in Modoc County, with zero cases, you don't need a big contact tracing team,” he said, adding that a regional approach in some parts of the state may be sufficient to cover areas without a lot of cases. “Six people could cover, you know, seven or eight counties.”

UCSF, with the assistance of the University of California, Los Angeles, operates a Virtual Training Academy for contract tracers and is working with the state to bolster its personnel who can follow up with people who have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus.

Of the army of 10,000 contact tracers California has assembled in response to the pandemic, the academy has trained 6,700 people so far, he said. As potential tracers are identified by the state, they are quickly processed and begin training, which takes about a week.

And as the number of confirmed cases rises, so perhaps does the need for more contact tracers, who are making phone calls to reach those infected with the virus.

“Last weekend with its rush of cases in San Francisco, people were working overtime,” he said. “It was a major sweat to get it all covered, but we got it covered.”

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, made clear Thursday he is not getting involved with the state Gov. Andy Beshear’s battle to mandate mask-wearing.

“I’m not in that fight,” McConnell said Thursday at a press event in Leitchfield, Kentucky. At the same time, McConnell still urged Kentuckians to wear a mask.

“I want to encourage everybody regardless of who has the authority to require it or not require it, do it,” McConnell added.

“It's the right thing to do,” he continued, pointing to how Kentucky is “having something of a surge” in coronavirus cases.

What this is about: Last week, CNN reported Beshear’s executive order was temporary blocked the same day he requested it.

McConnell again argued Thursday that masks should not be a political issue.

“How this ended up becoming a factor in American politics is a little astonishing to me,” he said. “The coronavirus is not involved in American politics, at all.”

A number of US retailers have announced plans to require customers to wear masks while inside their stores.

Here's a look at some of the US chains who are implementing mask requirements:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi went after President Trump on Thursday over his response to the pandemic.

“Mr. President, admit it. You’ve gone down the wrong path. Ask for directions,” she added later. “Ask for directions from our scientists who know better.”

Pelosi also reiterated Democrats’ call for Trump to fully implement the Defense Production Act for testing, PPE and other items needed to deal with the pandemic.

“There is not enough equipment, but we could have it, if the President executed the Defense Production Act,” she said. “This is such a massive dereliction of duty — people are dying.”

Asked if she is speaking with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows or anybody else in the administration about the next stimulus bill, Pelosi said she has had conversations on individual items. 

She added that Senate Republicans’ suggested price tag of $1.3 trillion for the next bill is not enough. “We should have trillions of dollars to prop up workers,” she said.

She said an Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard to protect employees during the pandemic is “absolutely essential for us to have” in the next package, as well as a rent moratorium and extension of unemployment insurance.

“We know that it will happen. They have to do unemployment insurance,” she said of Republicans, who have so far been skeptical about extending the expanded benefits, which are set to expire at the end of the month.

She said not passing another ambitious stimulus package now will hurt the country further down the road.

Target will require its customers to wear masks or face coverings in all of their stores starting on Aug. 1.

Individuals with underlying medical conditions and young children are exempt from the announced policy. 

Target joins other major US companies that have made similar announcements, including CVS, Walmart, Starbucks and Best Buy.

The National Football League’s Miami Dolphins will not allow fans at training camp and preseason games in 2020 due to Covid-19 health and safety concerns.

In a statement released on Thursday, the Dolphins revealed plans to help “create a safe environment in 2020," which also includes no tailgating for the entire season.

Capacity for Hard Rock Stadium for games will be announced at a later date as the team seeks guidance from health and government officials.

Miami will host their first preseason game on Sept. 20, against the Philadelphia Eagles.

As the nation debates how to safely reopen schools – and one of the main concerns being that children may become infected at school and carry the virus back home – new data released by the Kaiser Family Foundation on Thursday found that about 3.3 million older adults in the US live in a household with a school-age child.

About 7% of children, or 4.1 million, between the ages of 5 and 18 live in a household with adults 65 and older – a population that is more vulnerable to the virus.

Older people of color are more likely to live in a house with a school-age child compared to their White counterparts, according to the analysis.

Around 19% of seniors who are Asian and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander live with a child that goes to school, as do 17% of older Hispanic adults.

About 13% of American Indian seniors and 11% of Black seniors live with a school-age child.

Covid-19 has disproportionately affected communities of colors, and if schools become a source of infection, older people of color would be at "increased risk of exposure through school-age children," the analysis said.

California, Texas, and Florida – states that are currently dealing with large increases in Covid-19 cases – have relatively large numbers of seniors living with a school-age child.

Coronavirus cases are rising across the US, and at least 39 states have reported an increase in the number of new cases from the week before.

We're keeping an eye on several hotspots today, where the spiking numbers of cases have created hospital bed shortages and prompted officials to prepare for the worst.

Here's what you need to know about the US's hardest-hit hotspots:

Arizona

California

Florida

Texas