July 16 coronavirus news

With skyrocketing coronavirus hospitalizations in several states, hard-hit counties in Arizona and Texas are preparing for the worst by bringing in refrigerated trucks as morgues fill up.

In Arizona's Maricopa County, which has the most Covid-19 cases in the state, the medical examiner's office has ordered four portable coolers with additional ones expected in the coming days, said Fields Moseley, the county spokesperson.

The medical examiner's office morgue had a total of 156 deceased people — with a surge capacity of just over 200, Moseley said Wednesday.

It is unclear how many of the deaths are related to the coronavirus — the county has said fatalities go up in the summer due to the heat.

Two counties in Texas  — Cameron and Hidalgo  — are sharing a large refrigerated trailer to store bodies of coronavirus patients because of a lack of space at the morgues. San Antonio officials have also said they're requesting refrigerated trucks.

"I'm pleading with everybody in our neck of the woods, help us do your part, people's lives are at stake  — not just the people getting sick, but doctors, nurses working to the bone, EMS personnel, transporting people," Cameron County Judge Eddie Treviño Jr. told CNN affiliate KVEO.

Read more here.

It's Thursday morning in the US, where the total number of coronavirus cases is nearing 3.5 million, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

If you're just reading in, here's what you need to know to start the day:

Wearing masks in indoor public spaces in France will be mandatory from next week, French Prime Minister Jean Castex told the country's Senate on Thursday.

The government was considering implementing the new rule on August 1, but Castex said he had “heard and understood that this deadline seemed too late."

The PM added that wearing masks was an "efficient protective measure” against coronavirus.

The government has joined other European nations in changing its stance on wearing protective masks.

In March, the government said that “wearing a mask [was] not recommended for people without symptoms." But by May, Director for National Health Agency Jérôme Salomon said officials were "adapting our position."

"We are re-evaluating our knowledge," Salomon said at the time.

Encouraging the public to wear masks has since become part of the government's coronavirus strategy. Wearing masks is already mandatory for people using public transport in France.

Hong Kong's health officials are grappling with new cases of Covid-19 after a surge in local transmissions.

The city had been praised for its quick and effective response to the pandemic during its first wave of cases.

Sixty-seven new cases of Covid-19 were recorded in the city on Thursday, 63 of which were locally transmitted and four were imported, health officials said Thursday.

Thirty-five of the cases came from unknown sources.

Two deaths were reported Wednesday, bringing the death toll for the city to 10 and total case numbers to 1,655. 

Dr. Chuang Shuk-kwan, from the Center for Health Protection, said staff and customers at restaurants were among the confirmed cases, a pattern that officials believed was “compatible” with the nature of the virus. 

Although Hong Kong recorded the highest number of confirmed cases Thursday since the start of its so-called "third wave," Chuang warned the city has not yet seen the peak. 

England cricketer Jofra Archer has been “excluded” from playing in the second Test Match against the West Indies following a breach of his team's bio-secure protocols, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Thursday.

The fast bowler had been named in the 13-man squad on Wednesday, for the match that begins in Manchester on Thursday.

The England team's three-match Test series against West Indies is being played behind closed doors in a so-called bio-secure “bubble,” meaning players are restricted to living in the hotels of the two grounds being used – Ageas Bowl in Southampton and Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. The cricketers are also subject to regular Covid-19 tests.

The ECB did not specify the nature of Archer's breach.

The cricketer will now have to isolate for five days, during which he will take two Covid-19 tests, both of which must be negative before he can return to the England squad.

The West Indies team said they were “satisfied with the measures that have been imposed.”

Archer, 25, has taken 33 wickets in eight Test matches for England, which trails the three-Test Match series 1-0.

South Africa crossed 300,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases late Wednesday, with the largest number concentrated in and around Johannesburg, the country’s commercial hub, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) said.

Despite the spike in cases, the death toll across the country remains low, the NICD said.

That high number of cases and low death rate is mirrored in countries across the African continent, Dr. John Nkengasong, the Director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control (Africa CDC) said at a press conference Thursday in Addis Ababa.

Nkengasong said the rise in cases recorded across the continent was driven by the situation in South Africa and a handful of other countries.

Nkengasong said there had been a 23% increase in new cases across Africa, largely driven by outbreaks in South Africa, Egypt, Nigeria, Ghana and Algeria.

He said it was understandable that African countries were reopening their economies but also called for increased testing.

Many Spaniards know someone who has had coronavirus and even died from it. One of the fatalities was a friend, the veteran journalist and writer José María Calleja.

On March 4, he presented his latest book at a Madrid bookstore. About a week later, the Spanish government declared a nationwide lockdown due to the rapid spread of Covid-19. The virus caught José María, too, and he died on April 21. His friends couldn’t even say goodbye.

Now, nearly three months later, at Spain’s state ceremony to honor the victims of Covid-19, there was a chance to do so.

Calleja's brother, representing relatives of the more than 28,000 Spaniards who’ve died from Covid-19, spoke at the nationally-televised ceremony at Madrid’s Royal Palace.

Four hundred invited guests sat in a grand socially-distanced circle, around a large flame for the victims. Flowers were laid at the site and top leaders from the European Union and the World Health Organization were in attendance. Spain’s King, Prime Minister and senior officials were also present. Calleja's brother asked that the victims “remain in everyone’s memory, in the memory of Spain.”

From our CNN position overlooking the event, we were there to report on this. It was a time to also be touched by the ceremony personally.

The White House said Wednesday evening that President Donald Trump followed guidelines from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention during his trip to Atlanta, after the city's mayor accused him of breaking the law by not wearing a mask at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.

Trump was spotted not wearing a mask during his visit to Atlanta on Wednesday, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms told CNN's Wolf Blitzer on "The Situation Room" that Trump broke the law. Hartsfield-Jackson airport is owned and operated by the city of Atlanta and thus included in her executive order requiring masks, Bottoms said.

When asked for a response, the White House did not directly address Bottoms' accusation and said Trump was instead following CDC guidance.

"The President takes the health and safety of everyone traveling in support of himself and all White House operations very seriously," deputy press secretary Judd Deere said in a statement to CNN.

"When preparing for and carrying out any travel, White House Operations collaborates with the Physician to the President and the White House Military Office, to ensure plans incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for limiting COVID-19 exposure to the greatest extent possible."

Read more here.

Hopes that China has successfully contained the pandemic continue to rise after the country reported just one new confirmed Covid-19 case and two asymptomatic ones in 24 hours.

The country's National Health Commission (NHC) said Thursday that the new confirmed case was an imported one, registered in Shanghai.

The NHC reports "confirmed" and "asymptomatic" cases separately. The organization said 104 asymptomatic patients were still under medical observation in the country.

No new deaths from the virus were recorded.

The last time China recorded just one new confirmed case in a 24-hour period was on June 3, with Beijing implementing stringent measures to prevent a second wave of Covid-19.

Movie theaters in the country's "low-risk areas" will reopen from July 20 if they implement various social distancing measures, the China Film Administration announced Thursday.

Audiences at screenings will be capped at 30% of room capacity, all movie tickets will be sold online and theaters are banned from selling food and drinks.