July 16 coronavirus news

By Jessie Yeung, Steve George, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN

Updated 0424 GMT (1224 HKT) July 17, 2020
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12:09 p.m. ET, July 16, 2020

CVS will require customers wear face coverings starting next week

From CNN's Elizabeth Joseph

Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images
Valerie Macon/AFP/Getty Images

Beginning on Monday, pharmacy chain CVS will require all customers to wear face covering when entering any of their stores throughout the US.

"With the recent spike in Covid-19 infections, we're joining others in taking the next step and requiring all customers to wear face coverings when entering any of our stores throughout the country effective Monday, July 20," CVS Health Chief Operating Officer Jon Roberts said in a press statement.

"To be clear, we're not asking our store employees to play the role of enforcer. What we are asking is that customers help protect themselves and those around them by listening to the experts and heeding the call to wear a face covering," Roberts added.

CVS joins other major companies that have announced similar moves, including Walmart, Starbucks and Best Buy.

12:02 p.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Florida teacher on school reopenings: No yearbook "should include a memorial page" for Covid-19 deaths

From CNN's Adrienne Vogt

Dave Galloway, a sixth-grade science teacher in Florida, said he is setting up his will and thinking of pushing up his retirement because of coronavirus concerns. 

“No yearbook this year should include a memorial page for those that passed from Covid,” he said in an interview on CNN’s “New Day.” 

Galloway, 64, who has been teaching for 14 years, is an Army veteran who has type 2 diabetes. His wife is a breast cancer survivor. 

The state is unprepared to properly plan for school reopenings, he said, and schools shouldn’t be open if the governor’s office isn’t even open for visitors and teachers still need to meet virtually. 

“Right now, we have been given yet another mandate, a demand to perform, if you will, with … what I consider zero leadership from Tallahassee and zero funding to accomplish what it is they want us to do,” he said.

Part of his school prep this year has been setting up a will, he said, and he's not the only one facing these concerns.  

“They are putting an assumed level of risk on teachers and students — and our most vulnerable students — that quite frankly, I find untenable,” Galloway added. 

Watch more:

12:10 p.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Atlanta mayor's office says masks are still required after governor suspends local mask mandates

From CNN’s Jason Morris

People stand in line to get tested for COVID-19 at a free walk-up testing site on July 11 in Atlanta.
People stand in line to get tested for COVID-19 at a free walk-up testing site on July 11 in Atlanta. Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

Atlanta's mask order remains in effect, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms' office told CNN, despite the governor's earlier executive order suspending all local government mask mandates.

“Mayor’s Order remains in effect, as science and data will continue to drive the City’s decisions. Masks save lives," Michael Smith, press secretary for the mayor, said.

Some background: Yesterday, Gov. Brian Kemp signed an executive order that included language indicating that local governments are prohibited from implementing rules requiring people to wear masks and face coverings in public places.

 Under the executive order, the Republican governor extended the state's public emergency and said face coverings are "strongly encouraged," but not required.

Kemp's executive order voids masks mandates already imposed by some local governments as Covid-19 cases tick up in cities across the state.

11:25 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Coronavirus hospital data removed from CDC website following Trump plan to reroute information

From CNN's Maggie Fox

Following the Trump administration’s decision to reroute coronavirus hospital data first to the administration, instead of sending it to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, some data is no longer available on the CDC.gov website. 

The information removed from the website is the hospital data that was reported to the CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network, according to CDC spokesperson Kristen Nordlund.

The data includes...

  • the current inpatient and intensive care unit bed occupancy
  • Health care worker staffing
  • Personal protective equipment supply status and availability

The information appeared on the National Healthcare Safety Network Covid-19 module page and the CDC’s Covid-19 data tracker.

11:21 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Here are some of the latest Covid-19 numbers from New York City

From CNN’s Lauren del Valle

People ride bikes as they visit Governors Island on July 15 in New York City.
People ride bikes as they visit Governors Island on July 15 in New York City. Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

There were 65 new suspected Covid-19 hospitalizations across New York City yesterday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced in a press conference this morning, adding the city’s latest test positivity rate was 2%.

The latest city data shows there are at least 332 patients being treated for the virus in ICUs. 

Remember: These numbers were released by the city and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database, which is drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

11:02 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Miami's hospitals are at 95% capacity due to Covid-19 pandemic, mayor says

From CNN's Pierre Meilhan

Miami Mayor Francis Suarez speaks during a roundtable discussion on July 14 in Miami.
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez speaks during a roundtable discussion on July 14 in Miami. Lynne Sladky/AP

Miami hospitals have reached 95% capacity due to the growing Covid-19 pandemic, the city’s mayor, Francis Suarez, told reporters Thursday.

The percentage of positive cases is growing at a smaller rate, Suarez said.

The highest category of people who are getting infected are people between the ages of 18 and 34, who represent 27% of the population, Suarez said.

“They are going back to the home and infecting everybody in the household,” according to Suarez.

From the surveys received by the city “33.7% are reporting they are getting infected by a family member,” Suarez said, emphasizing the importance of sanitizing measures at home.

 

10:50 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Trump and Dr. Fauci spoke yesterday after more than a month of silence

From CNN's Kevin Liptak, Jim Acosta and Kaitlan Collins

AFP/Getty Images
AFP/Getty Images

After going more than a month without speaking, President Trump and Dr. Anthony Fauci spoke by phone Wednesday despite persistent tensions between the White House and the administration's public health experts. 

One official described the conversation as "good," but other officials declined to characterize the discussion.

Last week, Fauci told the Financial Times that he last saw Trump on June 2 at the White House, and hasn't personally briefed him in at least two months. CNN has reported that Trump hasn't attended a coronavirus task force meeting in months and has turned instead to economic and political advisers as the pandemic continues to rage.

Their conversation yesterday came as White House officials and Trump himself were attempting to distance themselves from an op-ed written by trade adviser Peter Navarro trashing Fauci.

About the piece: Trump said Navarro shouldn't have written it and White House aides said Navarro broke protocol by submitting it for publication. But the article reflected the same sentiment Trump and White House officials have been expressing publicly questioning Fauci's record.

"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 wrote in the USA Today op-ed.

10:40 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Argentina's Covid-19 death toll surpasses 2,000

From CNN’s Claudia Rebaza and Claudia Dominguez

Dr. Adriana Coronel attends to a COVID-19 patient at the Eurnekian Ezeiza Hospital on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on July 14.
Dr. Adriana Coronel attends to a COVID-19 patient at the Eurnekian Ezeiza Hospital on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on July 14. Natacha Pisarenko/AP

Argentina’s death toll due to Covid-19 has reached 2,072, with 22 new deaths in the last 24 hours, according to data released by the Ministry of Health on Thursday morning. 

The total number of coronavirus cases stands at 111,160, with 4,250 new cases, a record daily increase.

During the ministry’s morning briefing, Carla Vizzotti, Health Access Secretary, highlighted that 93% of the new cases belong to the Buenos Aires metro region (AMBA).

At least 49,120 people have recovered from the virus since the pandemic started, according to health officials. 

Argentina’s President Alberto Fernández is expected to meet different health experts and officials on Thursday in order to decide new lockdown measures in the capital and surrounding areas that would start on Saturday, Argentina’s state news agency Telam reported. 

Fernández reimposed a lockdown in the metro area of Buenos Aires until Friday due to the spread of the virus. 

12:58 p.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Tulsa mayor signs face mask ordinance

From CNN's Kay Jones

Tulsa, Oklahoma, Mayor G.T. Bynum signed a new mask ordinance while wearing a mask himself this morning, according to a post on his Facebook page.

"We do this at the request of our hospitals, our doctors and nurses, our school leaders, and so many more who want to protect the ability of local health care systems to serve Tulsans in need," he wrote on Facebook.

The city of Tulsa has posted more information for residents on its website, including the letters of support from various organizations and the full text of the ordinance.

The Tulsa City Council announced yesterday that it approved face-covering ordinance by a 7-2 vote.