July 22 coronavirus news

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said she will be rolling back a number of the state’s reopening measures in response to a growing number of coronavirus cases.

Speaking at an afternoon news conference, Brown said she is expanding Oregon’s mask mandate to now cover anyone ages 5 and older. She said the state recommends children as young as 2 wear masks. Additionally, she said all exceptions to the mask mandate will be removed.

Brown said the state will now mandate all restaurants and bars close by 10 p.m. local time nightly.

She will also lower indoor gathering sizes in public venues to 100, down from 250. The number of people allowed to gather outdoors will remain unchanged at 250.

The new rules are set to take effect on Friday.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine today issued a travel advisory for all individuals who come into Oho from states with a Covid-19 positivity rate of 15% or higher. The state is recommending that those individuals self-quarantine at a hotel or at home for 14 days.

As of today, according to the governor, the list of states that fall under Ohio’s travel advisory include:

Anyone traveling to the state from Puerto Rico is also recommended to quarantine, according to the governor.

Remember: The positivity rate is the percentage of people who test positive for the virus of those overall who have been tested. So, as more and more people are being tested, the focus is shifting to the positivity rate — how many of those tested are actually infected.

With reporting from CNN's Theresa Waldrop

GOP Sen. Mitt Romney criticized the Trump administration’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic saying, “I don't think it's been a great example for the world to see America.”

“I just feel it's taken us a long, long, long time to get to a point where we have rapid testing, which we don't have yet,” the Utah lawmaker said. “Ample testing, which we don't have. Personal protective equipment, it's still in short supply in certain places.”

On the Trump administration, Romney said, “I hope that there is a change in philosophy about wearing masks and recognizing the importance of scientific perspective as we move forward.”

The Kansas State Board of Education has rejected the governor's executive order to delay the start of schools across the state, according to a statement from Gov. Laura Kelly.  

The state board voted 5-5 on the executive order Wednesday, which means the executive order wasn't affirmed, the Kansas Department of Education said in a tweet.  

Kelly's order would have delayed the start date for all schools in the state from Aug. 10 to Sept. 9 to ensure schools were prepared to mitigate Covid-19 spread, according to the order.   

“I will continue to work with our school districts to ensure the safety and wellbeing [sic] of our children and ask every school district to delay the start of school," said Kelly. 

Starting tomorrow at 6 p.m. local time, all Ohio residents will be required to wear masks while in public, Gov. Mike DeWine announced Wednesday.

“We’ve got to get this virus under control, wearing masks is going to make a difference. It will make a difference in what out fall looks like, what we do between now and the next several weeks will determine what our fall is like. We all want kids to go back to school, we want to see sports, we want to see a lot of different things. We want to have more opportunities in the fall and to do that, it’s just very important that all Ohioans wear a mask,” the governor added.

Previously, Ohio had only mandated that counties at a “red” and “purple” risk level wear masks. 

Ohio is part of a growing number of US states that have mandated the use of masks and face coverings while in public.

Keep reading here to see if your state has a mandate.

The University of Washington now projects there will be 219,864 US deaths from Covid-19 by November 1, based on the current scenario.   

Last week, the university’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation forecast 224,546 total deaths by November. 

The latest update reflects a decrease of about 5,000 deaths in part due to increasing mandates for members of the public to wear masks, and the general increase in the number of people wearing masks and social distancing even without mandates. 

If the US universally adopted wearing masks, that number of deaths by November 1 would drop to 185,887, the model projects. However, if the mandates ease more, then the United States could see 231,012 deaths by that time.

Ali Mokdad, a professor of health metrics sciences at IHME, said that they’ve seen more people wearing masks in states that have seen a recent spike in cases such as in Florida, California, Texas and Arizona, but the states that have mask mandates have seen more universal adoption.

So far, according to Johns Hopkins University, more than 3.91 million Americans have been infected with coronavirus and at least 142,350 have died. 

Researchers in the US and across the world are working on possible coronavirus vaccines. Here's what we know about where some pharmaceutical companies stand in the process:

AstraZeneca

Pfizer

Moderna

But will these vaccines be safe? A number of representatives from pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies testified before Congress yesterday. When asked whether the speed at which they are moving to develop a Covid-19 vaccine could influence the safety of the vaccines, they insisted that was not the case.

Meanwhile, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, today said teams "are going as quickly as we possibly can” on vaccine development while still being safe. 

“If you want to do it correctly, with safety, and real attention to safety and efficacy, I think we are going as fast as we possibly can,” Fauci said.

A federal judge denied a blanket motion to release families in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, according to a Wednesday ruling. 

Immigration advocates and lawyers have urged the Trump administration to release families who are in federal immigration custody, given the confined setting and potential spread of coronavirus. In a separate lawsuit in California, a federal judge found that ICE’s Covid-19 protocols fell short and ordered the release of children. That case set up the potential that children could be separated from their families.

But the case before Judge James Boasberg in Washington, DC, called for the release of families, not just children. He didn’t agree with the plaintiffs' request to release everyone.

In a 26-page ruling, Boasberg detailed the precautions taken by the government, like mask use, and addressed issues raised by plaintiffs, like lack of social distancing and medical care. Despite recognizing steps taken by ICE and shortfalls alleged by plaintiffs, Boasberg said other options, outside of blanket release, need to be considered.

Attorneys for the families are reviewing their options.  

New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority said it needs more money from the federal government in order to continue operating. 

In a statement, the agency said the Covid-19 pandemic has decimated its revenue across all areas and has caused “the most challenging” budget crisis for the agency, a release says. 

The agency — which operates New York City's subway system as well as buses, commuter rails, bridges and tunnels in the area — is requesting the US Senate give it at least $3.9 billion to get through the end of the year and $10.3bBillion to get through 2021, the release says. 

The agency plans on undertaking the largest cost-cutting actions in the agency’s history by reducing overtime, consultant contracts and non-labor expenses, the release said.