California reports more than 6,800 new cases and 9 deaths
From CNN's Sarah Moon
California reported 6,846 new cases of coronavirus and nine additional deaths on Monday, according to updated data from the state's Department of Public Health.
Hospitalizations and intensive care unit admissions have slightly increased. A total of 6,921 Covid-19 positive patients are hospitalized and 1,943 patients are in the ICU.
As of Monday, California has a total of 391,538 confirmed cases and 7,694 deaths.
One thing to note: These numbers were released by California Department of Public Health, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
1:53 p.m. ET, July 20, 2020
Here's the latest coronavirus update from Spain
From CNN’s Al Goodman in Madrid
People walk along Las Ramblas in Barcelona, Spain, on Thursday. Emilio Morenatti/AP
Spain has tallied 4,581 new coronavirus cases since last Friday as outbreaks intensify, especially in the northeastern region of Catalonia, including Barcelona, and in the neighboring region of Aragon, the health ministry reported Monday.
That brings the total number of cases to at least 264,835 since the pandemic began, with at least 28,422 deaths, an increase of nine in the past week, the ministry reported.
“The outbreaks are basically associated with seasonal farm workers and in spaces where [protective] measures have been relaxed, like large family events and at nightclubs” with young people, said Health Minister Salvador Illa at a news conference.
Some background: Spain’s nationwide confinement order was lifted June 21. Spain’s 17 regional governments now directly manage the situation in their territories and the Spanish government stopped issuing daily coronavirus updates on weekends.
Since then, there have been 201 outbreaks, and new cases tripled from late June to mid-July, said Maria Jose Sierra, a deputy head of the Center for Health Emergencies, at the news conference.
The latest surge is in metropolitan Barcelona, where Catalan officials have asked Barcelona residents to stay home except for essential business, although it’s not mandatory.
Illa expressed confidence in the containment measures in Catalonia and Aragon adding, “we have to give a few days to see the evolution of the epidemic with these measures in place.”
2:03 p.m. ET, July 20, 2020
Georgia reports more than 3,200 new Covid-19 cases
From CNN's Tina Burnside
Georgia is reporting 3,243 new cases on Sunday for a total of 143,123 coronavirus cases statewide, according to data released by the Georgia Department of Health (DOH).
The state also recorded five additional deaths, bringing the state's death toll to 3,173, according to the DOH.
More than 15,000 Covid-19-related hospitalizations were also recorded.
The state reported 2,822 intensive care unit admissions.
This post has been updated with details about the new cases.
1:55 p.m. ET, July 20, 2020
Louisiana reports more than 3,100 new Covid-19 cases
From CNN's Tina Burnside
The Bourbon Cowboy bar is boarded up in New Orleans' French Quarter on Tuesday. Sean Gardner/Getty Images
The Louisiana Department of Health reported 3,187 Covid-19 cases since Sunday bringing the total number of cases reported to the state to 94,892, according to data released by the department of health on Monday.
Of the 3,187 cases, 1,583 cases are attributed to a backlog collected between May 18 and July 13. The cases will be assigned to those dates on the LDH’s dashboard.
Because of the daily removal of newly identified duplicates and out of state cases, the new case increase may not match the difference between today’s and yesterday’s total case count.
Since yesterday, 33,620 new tests have been reported to the state. That brings the total number of tests to 1,102,924.
Here are more details about the cases:
99% of the cases reported to the state today were community spread.
45% of the cases reported today are of individuals aged 29 and under.
There have been 29 deaths reported to the state today. The current total death count is 3,462.
1:33 p.m. ET, July 20, 2020
National Zoo and Smithsonian Museum in Virginia to reopen Friday
From CNN's Lindy Royce
A young boy watches a California sea lion at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
The National Zoo in Washington, DC, and National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, will reopen on Friday, the Smithsonian announced today.
“As a public entity, we thrive on serving our visitors and making our collections readily available to them, virtually and in person,” Lonnie Bunch, secretary of the Smithsonian, said in a statement. “However, the safety and well-being of our staff, visitors and volunteers come first and are paramount, so we are taking a deliberate, phased and cautious approach to reopening. Our goal is to be safe and measured in order to adjust and pivot as necessary.”
Both buildings will reopen with multiple safety measures in place.
Here are some of those safety measures:
Visitors ages six and older will be required to wear face coverings inside the zoo and Udvar-Hazy Center. Social distancing will also be implemented, and hand-sanitizing stations will be provided.
The number of people inside the facilities will be limited. Visitors will be able to reserve free passes ahead of their visit. The Smithsonian will make available 5,000 passes to the zoo and 1,500 passes for the Udvar-Hazy Center daily.
1:12 p.m. ET, July 20, 2020
WHO "deeply concerned" by Covid-19's impact on indigenous people in the Americas
From CNN's Mia Alberti
Indigenous nurses from the Special Secretariat for Indigenous Health (Sesai) of the Arapiuns ethnic group and Tapuia ethnic groups perform rapid COVID-19 testing on the banks of the lower Tapajos River in the municipality of Santarem in western Para on Sunday, July 19. Tarso Sarraf/AFP/Getty Images
Indigenous people in the Americas are especially vulnerable to Covid-19, the World Health Organization said on Monday.
"Although Covid-19 is a risk for all indigenous peoples globally, WHO is deeply concerned about the impact of the virus on indigenous peoples in the Americas which remains the current epicenter of the pandemic," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the organization’s director-general.
As of July 6, more than 70,000 indigenous people in the Americas had been infected with Covid-19 and more than 2,000 had died, according to WHO.
"Like other vulnerable groups, indigenous peoples face many challenges. This includes a lack of political representation, economic marginalization, and lack of access to health, education, and social services. Indigenous people often have a high burden of poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, and communicable and incommunicable diseases, making them more vulnerable to Covid-19 and its serious outcomes," Tedros said.
Tedros said WHO is working with regional indigenous organizations in the Amazon river basin "to step up the fight against Covid-19" and urged governments to invest in contact tracing strategies.
"One of the key tools for suppressing transmission in indigenous communities and all communities is contact tracing. No country can take control of its epidemic if it doesn't know where the virus is," Tedros added.
12:57 p.m. ET, July 20, 2020
UK health secretary reiterates call for global access to coronavirus vaccine
From CNN's Nada Bashir
Parliament TV
UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock has reiterated the government’s call for global access to a successfully developed coronavirus vaccine, telling lawmakers in the House of Commons on Monday that the government “rejects narrow nationalism” in the race to find a vaccine.
“The UK is not just developing world leading vaccines, we’re also putting more money into the global work for a vaccine than any other country. With likeminded partners, we’re working to ensure that whoever’s vaccine is approved first, the whole world can have access,” Hancock said.
“We reject narrow nationalism. We support a global effort because this virus respects no borders and we’re all on the same side,” he added.
The health secretary’s remarks come after preliminary results from trials carried out by the University of Oxford showed that a newly developed vaccine induced a strong immunity response in patients.
“I can report to the House that the trial shows that the Oxford vaccine produces a strong immunity response in patients, in terms of both antibody production and T-cell responses, and that no safety concerns have been identified,” Hancock told members of parliament.
“This is promising news and it takes us one step closer to finding a vaccine that could potentially save lives all around the world,” he added.
12:46 p.m. ET, July 20, 2020
ICU bed capacity in Florida's Miami-Dade County is at 130%
From CNN's Randi Kaye
Intensive care unit capacity in Miami-Dade County, Florida, is now at 130.20%, up from 127% on Sunday, according to the county's Covid-19 dashboard.
As of Monday, 513 Covid-19 ICU admissions were recorded. The ICU bed capacity in the county is 394, according to county data.
Data released by the county on Monday also shows 2,278 Covid-19 patients are currently hospitalized in Miami-Dade. Out of the 513 patients in ICU beds, 293 of those are currently on ventilators.
12:36 p.m. ET, July 20, 2020
Masks are not a substitute for other public health measures, WHO official says
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
Achmad Ibrahim/AP
The World Health Organization supports the use of masks as part of a comprehensive strategy for Covid-19, but they cannot be used as a substitute for other public health measures, said Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for Covid-19.
Van Kerkhove said WHO is hearing about changes in policies from many governments, who are applying mask use as part of their Covid-19 strategy, particularly in areas with active transmission or where physical distancing is not possible.
“We support the use of masks as one of the tools that can be put in place. However, it is not a substitute for other public health measure that also must be in place,” Van Kerkhove said at a WHO briefing in Geneva on Monday. “You cannot substitute the use of a mask for hand hygiene – for cleaning your hands. You cannot substitute the use of a mask for physical distancing. You cannot substitute the use of the mask for testing, finding cases, for contact tracing, for quarantining cases.”
Everything has to be done as a part of a comprehensive approach, Van Kerkhove said.
