July 22 coronavirus news

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker held his coronavirus briefing today from a Salvation Army location in Lynn. The governor applauded the Salvation Army for distributing 8 million meals to families in Massachusetts since March.

Before the pandemic, the Salvation Army was helping 70 families a day and now they are helping 500 families a day, Baker said. 

Baker reported 143 new cases of coronavirus as of yesterday, which brings the total number of cases in the state to at least 107,000. At least 513 people are hospitalized for Covid-19, with 63 of those patients in the ICU, Baker said. The seven-day average for positive tests remains at about 1.7%, he added. 

One thing to note: These numbers were released by the Massachusetts governor and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Covid-19 will spread to schools if there is widespread transmission of the virus happening within a community, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme, said on Wednesday. 

Ryan said that schools are "a microcosm of our society, of our community" and "a subset of people from our community."

"So if we have spread of the virus in our community and that spread is intense and is widespread, then that disease will spread to the school environment," he explained while during a social media Q&A. 

He also said school environments are very important to communities, as they act not only as a place where children receive an education, but also as a source of nutrition and safety "in areas that are not necessarily as safe socially for kids." 

Schools "are very important centers within our societies and within our communities. So we have to do everything possible to bring our children back to school. And the most effective thing we can do to stop the disease in the community," Ryan added.

The comments come as many US school districts are deciding how — and if — to reopen schools for in-person learning this fall. Many major school districts are refusing to reopen, some even defying state guidelines, until coronavirus cases begin to drop.

California surpassed New York as the state with the most coronavirus cases in the US. However, while New York reached its coronavirus peak within a month, California saw a slow build up to the surge, according to Johns Hopkins University.

As New York was one of the first states to be hit with the surge, it did not have much time to prepare, according to Dr. Mizuho Morrison, an emergency physician in Southern California.

However, as New York went through its surge and eventually bent the curve, she says doctors in California were learning from their New York colleagues and putting plans in place to manage its surge. 

“In emergency medicine, we actually call this time to prepare the golden hour. So we had that luxury,” she said.

However, Morrison says that she is dreading the upcoming flu season, which may complicate things, especially when states and schools start reopening and people go back to work.

“We have rapid influenza testing, but rapid Covid testing is not so robust. We don’t have enough of it. We really reserve it for those patients who’re coming to the hospital. As flu season begins to hit, because the symptoms and presentation is so similar, it’s going to be difficult for us to decipher, is this Covid or is this influenza?” Morrison said.

The number of confirmed coronavirus cases reported worldwide reached 15,000,424 on Wednesday, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally of cases.

The global Covid-19 death toll rose to 617,832, according to JHU. 

The United States leads the world in total confirmed cases, nearing 4 million.

Here's a look at the country's with the highest number of cases and where they stand on Covid-19 deaths:

Microsoft founder Bill Gates — whose foundation has pledged millions in Covid-19 relief efforts — will take viewers' questions during a special CNN coronavirus town hall on Thursday.

Leave your questions for Gates below, and tune in to the one-hour special at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday.

Fewer than 30 passengers have been banned from United Airlines flights for refusing to wear a mask while on its planes, the airline said Wednesday.  

United and other major US airlines rolled out policies in mid-June threatening a ban for any passenger who refuses to wear a mask onboard their planes. United’s policy calls for airline officials to conduct an investigation and consider a ban when the passenger does not comply with crew member instructions.  

United announced this morning its mask requirement will soon expand to include airports – from check-in through baggage claim. Until now, it has only required passengers wear masks when boarding and while aboard planes. Some airports already require the wearing of masks under local rules for public facilities. It is also requiring passengers who want to claim an “extraordinary circumstances” exemption from the mask requirement receive permission from United.  

United executives said on a call with reporters that most passengers are complying with the requirements, and that the bans will be lifted when the mask requirement is rescinded.  

The officials also said fewer than 1% of customers are changing their flight plans when informed their plane will be more than 70% full. United, at times, sells flights until they are filled up, but says it informs passengers when it happens so they are able to rebook. Other carriers have limited the number of passengers on a given flight. 

There is no federal requirement that passengers wear masks aboard planes. 

Baltimore City Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young signed an Executive Order Wednesday suspending indoor dining at restaurants and bars effective Friday at 5 p.m ET.

“Under the Mayor's order, restaurants and bars are permitted to continue with outdoor dining that's socially distanced, along with offering carryout and delivery services,” Young’s office said in a press release.

Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, the city’s health commissioner, also issued a health order Wednesday, mandating the use of face coverings within the city for all individuals over the age of 2.

Residents will be required to wear face coverings when in public and and unable to socially distance at least six feet from others. They aren’t required to wear face coverings while seated at outdoor dining establishments.

The dining restriction and face covering mandate will be in place for two weeks and evaluated by city health officials daily, the city says.

Covid case counts, death rates, ICU and hospital bed utilization, case positivity rates and the number of coronavirus tests performs are the markers the Baltimore City Health Department will be monitoring. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci says he goes to the White House almost every day to meet with the Coronavirus Task Force.

When asked during a webinar with the TB Alliance on Wednesday about how he splits his time between his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, he said, “It’s almost a 50/50 – half the day at the NIAID and half the day at the White House.”

Fauci said he spends most of the morning working with his team at NIAID on vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics – and “almost every day, I go down to the White House and meet with the Coronavirus Task Force.”

“Like today, I’m meeting with the group of doctors before the Task Force meeting, namely Debbie Birx and Bob Redfield and Steve Hahn and others,” he said.

Fauci said he then attends the Task Force meeting with the Vice President, after which he meets with people at the White House “with regards to that responsibility,” he said.

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Certain safety elements, including the possibility of vaccine-induced enhancement of infection, will be paid special attention in the Phase 3 trials of Covid-19 vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said during a webinar Wednesday with the TB Alliance.

Phase 1 data gives you immediate safety, not necessarily all the parameters, and Phase 2 gives you more, Fauci said, but as they go into Phase 3, which is fundamentally efficacy to see if it works in the field, “we are also going to pay a special attention to certain safety elements.”

One of these, he said, is they “want to keep a special eye on is the possibility of vaccine-induced enhancement of infection.”

Fauci explained that this is when “you get vaccinated, you get infected, and the fact that you have been vaccinated with a level, an inadequate level, of suboptimal antibodies, that you can actually enhance the infection, because you’ve been vaccinated.”

He said they want to, and will, keep an eye on this in Phase 3 trials.

Fauci said that he doesn’t have a particular reason to believe this will be a problem, but as they have seen these kind of issues before, he wants to pay attention to it.

“I don’t use the word ‘I’m worried about it.’ Rather than worry, I try to do something about it,” he said.

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