July 25 coronavirus news

The Washington Secretary of Health expanded the requirement for face masks to any indoor public and non-public setting where social distancing cannot be maintained, a press release from the Washington Department of Health said Saturday.

This requirement includes congregant settings such as common areas in apartment buildings, condos, fraternity/sorority houses, assisted living facilities and other similar places, the release said.

People are not required to wear masks when they are in their dwelling, which would count as their room in a congregant setting such as the ones listed above, according to the release.

The previous order required masks only in areas outside of the home.

Covid-19 hospitalizations in Florida have increased by 79% since July 4, according to data obtained from the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).

On July 4, the state recorded 5,022 Covid-19 patients in Florida, the AHCA data shows. On Saturday, AHCA reported 8,974 Covid-19 patients in the hospital, a 79% increase since Independence Day.

Saturday's figure reflects a decrease in 241 patients since Friday, when the number of patients in hospitals Friday was 9,215, AHCA data shows.

According to AHCA, the agency began collecting the data on July 4; but had only made public hospitalization data as of July 10.

Health care system under strain: Fifty hospitals in Florida have reached intensive care unit capacity and show no ICU beds available, according to AHCA data.

Eight of the hospitals at capacity are in Miami-Dade County and six of them are in Broward County, AHCA data shows.

Another 42 hospitals have 10% or less ICU capacity available, according to AHCA.

To note: Florida’s hospitalization data only includes patients for which Covid-19 is the primary reason for admission and care, according to AHCA.

Therefore, patients who are already at the hospital for other procedures and have tested positive for coronavirus are excluded from the state total.

White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin arrived on Capitol Hill Saturday afternoon for talks on a new coronavirus stimulus bill.

The White House and Senate Republicans are trying to hammer out their differences over a proposal expected to be unveiled next week after an unexpected delay.

Meadows is meeting with the chief of staff of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a source with direct knowledge of the meeting told CNN. The meeting is more of a check-in because there are a number of items the various parties still need to agree on, the source said.

The primary hold up, two sources told CNN, was differences over the extension of the federal unemployment enhancement, specifically how Republicans would implement their changes to the $600-a-week program that expires July 31.

Both sides are also still going over the legislative text of agreed-upon pieces, which Meadows acknowledged is a time-consuming process.

Some context: McConnell said in remarks on the Senate floor late Thursday that the Trump administration asked for more time to review the plan and that it should be out "early next week."   

"The administration has requested additional time to review the fine details, but we will be laying down this proposal early next week," he said.

McConnell said that key GOP senators who have helped craft the package will introduce component pieces of the bill on Monday.

There are at least 4,137,411 cases of coronavirus and at least 145,860 people have died from the virus in the US, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the country.

As of 1 p.m. ET Saturday, 24,880 new cases and 314 new deaths have been reported in the US since midnight. 

The totals includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.   

Miami-Dade County surpassed 100,000 total coronavirus cases, Florida's Department of Health (DOH) reported on Saturday.

Miami-Dade leads Florida with 101,854 total Covid-19 cases; more than Broward and Palm Beach counties combined, according to DOH data.

Broward County has the second most reported cases in the state with 48,187 and Palm Beach County is third with 29,707, according to the data.

Florida currently has 8,974 Covid-19 hospitalizations statewide; of which 1,874 are in Miami-Dade, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration.  

To note: These numbers were released by Florida's public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project

Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador said Friday that if face masks were “considered to help, then I would do it."

When asked by a reporter why he doesn't wear a face mask and how that message would influence people, López Obrador said that it's not "scientifically proven."

The World Health Organization and public health experts have emphasized masks are one of the most effective tools to help fight the pandemic.  

López Obrador said the country’s health ministry, lead led by Dr. Jorge Alcocer and Dr. Hugo López-Gatell, advised him not to wear a face mask.

"The main point of all the campaign has been the ‘safe distance,’ and we've taken care of this. Dr. Alcocer and López-Gatell have told me that I don't need to wear a mask if I keep the distance, in the places where is necessary, I'll wear it," López Obrador said. 

Some context: Mexico's health ministry reported 7,573 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Friday, bringing the country's total to 378,285.

López Obrador has said that the high numbers are due to "increased testing and a delay of the information," though Mexico has one of the lowest testing rates of any large country worldwide.

The state of Pennsylvania has reported at least 1,054 cases of Covid-19 and 13 additional deaths from the virus, according to a statement from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Pennsylvania has a total of 106,625 coronavirus cases and 6,384 deaths from the virus, the statement said.

To note: The figures listed were released by the Pennsylvania Department of Health and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Florida has now surpassed New York in total coronavirus cases, according to reports from state health agencies.

Florida health officials have reported that a total of 414,511 cases of coronavirus, including 409,585 residents and 4,926 non-residents, have been diagnosed since the start of the pandemic. 

New York state reported 411,200 total positive cases on Saturday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Florida now has more total cases than New York.

Both Florida and New York are behind California, which currently leads the country in cases with 435,334, according to California's health department website.

To note: These figures were released by Florida, New York and California's public health agencies, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he hopes to send the coronavirus relief bill to the House in the next two to three weeks.

McConnell said he will begin talking to Democrats as soon as next week on the bill.

When asked about a payroll tax cut being excluded from the bill, McConnell explained that there was bipartisan opposition to the idea.

“I think we are a lot better off to just to send another direct cash payment to those who have been left out of all of this,” he said.

McConnell reiterated that he does not support an extension of the $600 federal unemployment benefits, but does support continuing the traditional state-led unemployment program.

“We’re going to send $100 million to Kentucky for testing, I don’t think we still have enough testing across the country, and we are more than open to spending additional money on testing and treatment and vaccine in the next coronavirus relief bill, if in fact we believe that more funding would be helpful,” McConnell said.