July 21 coronavirus news

A Covid-19 outbreak of 23 cases has been reported at the Walmart Distribution Center in Umatilla County, Oregon, according to a news release from the state's Health Authority.

Included in the outbreak case count are household members and other close contacts of an employee, the release said.

The investigation of the outbreak started on June 30, but was below the threshold needed for public disclosure.

State and county public health officials are working together “to address the outbreak and protect the health of workers,” the release said. 

Walmart started requiring all shoppers to wear a face covering on Monday.

President Trump said he doesn’t know of a time he’s taken more than one coronavirus test in a day, directly contradicting his press secretary in the first question of his press briefing Tuesday.  

“I don’t know about more than one,” Trump responded to a reporter who asked why he was tested more than once a day. “I do probably on average a test every two days, three days, and I don’t know of any time I’ve taken two in one day, but I could see that happening.” 

Some background: Earlier Tuesday, the White House said Trump receives multiple coronavirus tests every day.

Explaining his reluctance to wear a mask in public, press secretary Kayleigh McEneny described Trump as the "most tested many in America" who doesn't risk spreading the virus to others.

"He’s tested more than anyone, multiple times a day," she said. "And we believe that he’s acting appropriately.”

President Trump said Tuesday that he’d be OK with possibly expanding coronavirus testing funding. 

Asked during a press briefing if the US has a testing problem and if he’d be in favor for more funding for testing, Trump said, “They’re going to be making a presentation to me tonight and tomorrow on that. And, again, we’re leading the world (on coronavirus testing) … We’re going to be over 50 million tests.” 

Hospitalizations in Florida rose by more than a third in just the 12 days since the state started releasing daily hospitalization data.

Data made available via the Covid Tracking Project and the state's Agency for Health Care Administration show a 37% rise in hospitalizations since data became available July 10. 

Florida reported at least 9,520 Covid-related hospitalizations Tuesday, compared to about 6,974 on July 10.

At a roundtable Tuesday, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continued to insist "we're turning this thing back in a good direction," adding the state's health care system is able to handle the surge, with 24% of hospital beds available statewide.

The pandemic in the US will probably get worse before it gets better, President Trump said in opening comments at a press briefing Tuesday. 

“You look all over the world, it’s all over the world,” Trump said, despite the fact that many countries have seen their Covid case numbers drop dramatically. 

The President has consistently had an optimistic tone over the course of the pandemic, often repeating that the virus will “go away.”

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President Trump issued his strongest encouragement to date to wear masks, saying they are effective in containing the spread of coronavirus, yet wasn't wearing one himself.

After months of downplaying their importance and insisting they are only a recommendation, Trump said Tuesday that masks should be worn when people are unable to spread out.

He went on: "Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact."

Trump was not wearing a mask during his appearance in the White House briefing room.

Asked later about whether he's providing an example to Americans on mask-wearing, Trump said he was — and pulled out his navy blue mask from his pocket to demonstrate his readiness to cover his face.

"I carry it, I wear it," Trump said, saying when he's in an elevator with security personnel, he will wear a mask to protect them.

"I'm getting used to the mask. Think about patriotism. Maybe it helps. It helps," Trump said, stopping short of actually putting the mask on.

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Kentucky Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman today announced several measures taken by the state to provide increased flexibility for school districts as they reopen for in-person instruction for the 2020-2021 school year. 

Kentucky will now allow for unlimited NTI days, or non-traditional instruction days, in order for schools to be able to decide to move to full-digital instruction without any limitations, Coleman said. 

The state has also removed its "Daily Average Attendance" requirement for school district funding, which will allow schools to create hybrid models where they may bring some students on some days and some students on others day, creating flexibility, according to Coleman.

Coleman also announced the Expanded Care Program that will help provide funding for school districts with a three-to-one federal match for things like mental and behavioral health services.

Kentucky will provide school districts with unlimited Covid-related emergency days for faculty and staff that must quarantine because they have been exposed to the virus.  

“So they're not using sick days unless they are actually sick, but because they are coming to work and working with a huge number of students and families, that if they were forced to quarantine for safety reasons, that our districts now can extend these emergency days for Covid-related issues," she added.

Texas reported at least 9,305 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, bringing the total to approximately 341,739 cases. 

The state also reported at least 131 new Covid-19-related fatalities, bringing the total number of deaths to approximately 4,151 in Texas. 

Note: These numbers were released by the Texas Health and Human Services, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

At least 195 new coronavirus-related deaths across South Africa have been recorded, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) confirmed Tuesday – bringing the total death toll to approximately 5,368. 

According to the latest data from the NICD, a total of at least 381,798 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed across South Africa, including approximately 8,170 new cases recorded over the last 24 hours. 

Some background: On Monday, officials from the World Health Organization said they are concerned that the country’s rising numbers could signal greater Covid-19 spread throughout Africa, with cases increasing by about 30% in South Africa alone over the last week. 

“While South Africa is experiencing a very, very severe event, I think it is really a marker of what the continent could face, if urgent action is not taken to provide further support,” Dr. Mike Ryan, director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, said Monday during a media briefing in Geneva.

“I'm very concerned right now that we're beginning to see an acceleration of disease in Africa,” he added.