Los Angeles reports highest number of hospitalizations in a day
From CNN's Paul Vercammen and Jennifer Selva
Health officials in Los Angeles have reported the highest number of hospitalizations in a day with 2,216 people hospitalized, up from the previous record of 2,193, set July 15.
Eleven people died and 2,848 new cases were reported Sunday, according to a Los Angeles Department of Public Health news release. This is a significant drop in both of those numbers from the past week.
More than half of all new cases reported in Los Angeles were in people younger than 41, the release said.
Across the state, the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) reports that both hospitalizations and the positivity rate continue to trend upward in the 14-day average.
The seven-day average number of new cases has surpassed 9,000, with 9,127 per day.
The 32 counties on the state’s "watch list" that have shut down most indoor activities are home to 80% of California’s population, according to CPDH.
California has 384,692 confirmed cases and 7,685 deaths due to coronavirus.
8:05 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020
Brazil's President greets crowd of supporters despite being positive for Covid-19
From CNN’s Taylor Barnes and journalists Rodrigo Pedroso and Juliana Arini
Jair Bolsonaro President of Brazil gestures in front of the official residence after testing positive for coronavirus in Alvorada Palace on July 19, in Brasilia, Brazil. Bruna Prado/Getty Images
Jair Bolsonaro, the far-right President of Brazil and his country’s highest-profile Covid-19 patient, took a walk on the grounds of his presidential palace Sunday afternoon and greeted a crowd of supporters, video broadcast live on his Facebook page showed.
While Bolsonaro was wearing a mask, he was closely flanked by a number of aides who did not appear to consistently maintain a significant social distance from him. He repeatedly lowered his mask while talking, including when aides were nearby.
Supporters were separated from the President by a small water canal, but two people crossed over to Bolsonaro's side. One man helped a second man, who appeared to have a physical disability, walk close to the President for a greeting.
“Thank you for the trust,” Bolsonaro told the pair. “I want to make a government for you all.”
Bolsonaro also raised what appeared to be a small box of medicine. During the pandemic, Bolsonaro has repeatedly endorsed the use of the drug hydroxychloroquine, even though the Brazilian Society of Infectious Disease issued a report Friday calling for medical professionals to stop using the drug for Covid-19 patients. Bolsonaro has said he has taken it since testing positive for the novel coronavirus.
8:03 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020
Brazil reports over 20,000 new coronavirus cases
From journalists Rodrigo Pedroso in São Paulo and Juliana Arini in Cuiabá and CNN’s Taylor Barnes in Atlanta
Brazil’s health ministry reported 23,529 new cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday, bringing the country’s total to 2,098,389.
The health ministry also reported 716 new Covid-19 deaths, raising the country’s death toll to 79,488.
6:13 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020
Texas reports 7,300 new coronavirus cases
From CNN's Ashley Killough and Hollie Silverman
A patient reacts after a healthcare worker collected a sample at a United Memorial Medical Center Covid-19 testing site on July 16, in Houston. David J. Phillip/AP
The highest daily case count reported by the health department was 10,791 on July 15, its website said.
The positivity rate statewide is 15.03%, according to the health department.
The number of hospitalized patients has decreased by 66 from the day before to 10,592, the department said.
6:06 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020
Older children can transmit Covid-19 just as much as adults, research finds
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
Researchers in South Korea have found that children between the ages of 10 and 19 can transmit Covid-19 within a household just as much as adults, according to new research published in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Researchers also found that children ages 9 and younger transmitted the virus within their household at rates that were a lot lower.
Researchers from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention looked at reports of 59,073 contacts of 5,706 coronavirus patients.
Overall, the researchers detected Covid-19 in 11.8% of 10,592 household contacts. For 48,481 non-household contacts, 1.9% tested positive for Covid-19.
When the initial patient in a household was younger than 10, the researchers found that 5.3% of household contacts tested positive for Covid-19. When the initial patient was between the ages of 10 and 19, 18.6% of contacts tested positive.
Rates were higher for contacts of children than adults,” the authors said. “These risks largely reflected transmission in the middle of mitigations and therefore might characterize transmission dynamics during school closure.”
Researchers also found that the highest Covid-19 rate for household contacts of school-age children and the lowest rates for children younger than 9 was the middle of school closures.
“Although the detection rate for contacts of preschool-aged children was lower, young children may show higher attack rates when the school closure ends, contributing to community transmission of Covid-19,” the study said.
This is one study in many,” said Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, speaking on CNN’s "Inside Politics" on Sunday. “And the general consensus that I think most of us has had is that younger kids definitely spread a lot less. Older kids, especially as you start getting into teenagers and older teenagers, start looking like adults.”
Jha said that, ultimately, what you want to do is get the virus suppressed in the community so schools can reopen safely.
“You might have a different threshold for getting kids kindergarten through 5, let’s say, back in at an earlier level,” Jha said. “And you may need to wait a little bit longer until the virus levels really are down before you open up high schools.”
There are some limitations to the study, the authors said, including that the number of cases may have been underestimated and that they were unable to assess the true difference in transmissibility between household and non-household contacts because of the different testing thresholds.
5:05 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020
Illinois reported nearly 1,000 new Covid-19 cases and six new deaths
From CNN’s Chandler Thornton
The Illinois Public Health Department reported 965 new Covid-19 cases Sunday and six new deaths.
Illinois now has 161,575 total confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus and 7,295 across all 102 counties.
The age of cases ranges from younger than 1 to older than 100 years," the health department said in a news release Sunday.
As of Saturday night, 320 people were in the ICU and 132 people were on ventilators with the virus, the health department added.
4:58 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020
Two sailors fighting fire on San Diego Navy ship test positive for Covid-19
Contact tracing identified 27 other sailors who had been in close contact with them and they were put on ROM (Restriction of Movement).
4:29 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020
Minnesota governor says flags will fly half-staff to honor coronavirus victims
From CNN's Hollie Silverman
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz tweeted Sunday that flags are flying at half-staff Sunday "to remember and honor the lives of Minnesotans we've lost to COVID-19."
Minnesota has reported 1,541 coronavirus deaths, with three new deaths reported Sunday. Of those deaths, 1,187 were people who lived in long-term care or assisted living facilities, according to the Minnesota Department of Health Website.
There are also 40 probable deaths tied to the virus, the website said.
There were 737 new cases reported in the state Sunday for a total of 46,204 cases, the website said. About 258 people remain hospitalized, with 120 in intensive care.
4:26 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020
Record single-day new case increases reported Saturday in at least 2 states
From CNN's Hollie Silverman
Georgia and North Carolina both reported record highs for single-day coronavirus case count increases Saturday, according to data compiled by John Hopkins University.
Georgia reported 4,688 new cases Saturday for a total of 139,880 coronavirus cases statewide.
Previously, 4,490 was the record number of cases in Georgia, reported July 10, according to the data from JHU. At least 3,000 new cases have been reported daily for the past six days.
North Carolina reported 2,522 new cases for a total of 98,092 cases statewide.
The previous record for the state was on July 10, when 2,376 new cases were reported, according to the data. There have only been four days where more than 2,000 cases were reported in a single day in the state, all since July 3.
