The latest on the coronavirus pandemic

By Ben Westcott, Helen Regan, Laura Smith-Spark, Ed Upright and Meg Wagner, CNN

Updated 12:10 a.m. ET, July 25, 2020
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12:12 p.m. ET, July 24, 2020

Massachusetts governor announces new travel order to go into effect on August 1

From CNN's Evan Simko-Bednarski 

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker announced an executive order Friday that will go into effect on August 1 and require any travelers to the state to quarantine for 14 days unless they can provide a negative test result for Covid-19. 

The order will apply to Massachusetts residents returning from out of state as well as other travelers, Baker told reporters.

Travelers from states with lower rates of transmission will be exempt, the governor said. 

As of Friday, that list included the states of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Hawaii. 

Failure to quarantine will result in a $500 daily fine, Baker said.

12:16 p.m. ET, July 24, 2020

Fauci says he has a good relationship with Trump and they had a "nice, long" talk recently

From CNN's Naomi Thomas

Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said he has a good relationship with President Trump and they spoke recently. 

“It’s good,” Fauci said on Fox’s America’s Newsroom today. “And I’m not just saying that for the sake of saying it.” 

Fauci said that he had a “nice, long” conversation with the President just few days ago, and. “It was constructive, it was good," he added.

“I believe we’ve always had, and still to this day, have a good relationship,” he said. “And I’m sure, as you know, as you ask the president, he would say the same thing, and he’s being honest.”

Earlier this month, CNN reported that Trump were Fauci are no longer speaking. The President had taken to openly criticizing him on television, Fauci had expressed puzzlement at some of Trump's claims.

But this week, Fauci has insisted he does have a "good relationship" with the President.

10 times Dr. Fauci has refuted Trump's Covid-19 statements:

 

11:44 a.m. ET, July 24, 2020

Florida reports more than 12,000 more Covid-19 cases 

From CNN's Melissa Alonso

The state of Florida is reporting at least 12,329 new cases of Covid-19 and 135 additional deaths on Friday, according to the Florida Department of Health.

This marks the ninth time since the start of the pandemic that daily deaths have surpassed 100 in Florida. All of those cases have been in the month of July, according to CNN's tally.   

This brings the state's total for coronavirus cases since the pandemic began to at least 397,470, according to state's health officials. The statewide death toll is now 5,653.

11:11 a.m. ET, July 24, 2020

Mike Pence will meet with Massachusetts' governor this weekend about coronavirus

From CNN's Betsy Kline

Vice President Mike Pence will travel to Nantucket, Massachusetts, tomorrow, where he'll meet with the state's governor, Charlie Baker.

The two will discuss "efforts to combat COVID-19," Pence's office said in a statement.

Pence is in Indiana, today, where he's expected to participate in a roundtable about reopening schools, according to his official schedule.

11:09 a.m. ET, July 24, 2020

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from New York City

From CNN's Sheena Jones

 

People visit Domino Park in Brooklyn, New York, on July 16.
People visit Domino Park in Brooklyn, New York, on July 16. Noam Galai/Getty Images

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city continues to meet the coronavirus indicator thresholds in order to keep the city open, even as some day-to-day numbers ticked up slightly.

Here are the latest numbers: 

  • 72 people were admitted to the hospital with suspected Covid-19, which is up slightly from 69 reported the day before.
  • 295 people are in ICUs being treated for Covid-19, which is up from the 279 reported the day before.
  • 2% of people tested for Covid-19 have tested positive, according to De Blasio’s office. That figure has stayed the same. 

NOTE: The numbers listed were released by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database, which is drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

10:40 a.m. ET, July 24, 2020

New York City will open 1.5 miles of streets for kids to play while social distancing

From CNN's Sheena Jones

 New York City will open an additional 1.5 miles of city streets for “Play Streets,” a program that will allow children to have a safe, touch-less space to play outside, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said. He made the announcement during the city’s daily Covid-19 presser on Friday. 

The open space will allow for reading corners, frisbee, kickball and other outdoor activities that will allow for social distancing, de Blasio Said. 

 

11:11 a.m. ET, July 24, 2020

Mike Pence is visiting Indiana today. Here are the latest coronavirus numbers in the state.

US Vice President Mike Pence listens during a coronavirus news conference at the White House on April 19.
US Vice President Mike Pence listens during a coronavirus news conference at the White House on April 19. Stefani Reynolds/CNP/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Vice President Mike Pence is in Indianapolis, Indiana, today. He's expected to participate in a roundtable about reopening schools, according to his official schedule.

The discussion comes a day after new US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines on education and child care were released. They came down strongly in favor of opening schools this fall, arguing that children don't suffer much from coronavirus, are less likely than adults to spread it and suffer from being out of school.

Indiana has reported nearly 60,000 cases of coronavirus since the pandemic began. At least 2,880 people have died in the state.

Here's a look of new cases each day in the state for the past two weeks:

10:12 a.m. ET, July 24, 2020

This Texas county is under a stay-at-home order with curfew for 2 weeks

From CNN’s Ashley Killough in Dallas and Kay Jones

Starr County, Texas, has issued a shelter-at-home order for residents of the county, effective until 11:59 p.m. local time on August 10.  

The order went into effect this morning. It states that all residents must shelter at home, including those who live in hotels, motels and shared rentals.

Residents are only allowed to leave their homes and travel for essential reasons.  

The order also highly encourages businesses that are not essential to stop all activities that may not be provided by curbside, drive-through or take-out services. 

 The order, signed by County Judge Eloy Vera, also includes a mandatory curfew from 11:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. local time for anyone over the age of 18. There's a curfew from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. local time for anyone 17 years old and under, unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.  

Starr County, along the US-Mexico border, includes Rio Grande City.

10:17 a.m. ET, July 24, 2020

At least 55 Florida ICUs are out of beds

From CNN's Rosa Flores and Denise Royal

In Florida, at least 55 hospitals have reached ICU capacity and show zero ICU beds available, according to data released by the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) early this morning. 

Ten of the hospitals at capacity are in Miami-Dade County, the epicenter of the pandemic in Florida, and six of them are in neighboring Broward County, AHCA data shows. 

Additionally, another 40 hospitals have 10% or less ICU capacity available, according to AHCA. 

AHCA reports about 16% ICU beds are available across the State of Florida. 

You can access the AHCA data is here