By Nectar Gan, Adam Renton, Amy Woodyatt, Ed Upright, Meg Wagner and Melissa Macaya, CNN
From CNN's Natasha Chen
At least 1,226 new cases of Covid-19 and 17 new deaths were reported Monday in South Carolina, according to the state's Department of Health and Environmental Control.
Of the tests reported to the department yesterday, 14.6% of them were positive.
This brings the total number of confirmed cases to 82,071 and confirmed deaths to 1,452.
From CNN's Kevin Dotson
A day before all NFL players are expected to report to training camp, the Minnesota Vikings have announced that Eric Sugarman — who serves as the team’s head athletic trainer, vice president of sports medicine, and infection control officer — tested positive for Covid-19.
Sugarman, along with members of his family who also tested positive, are experiencing mild symptoms and are self-quarantining.
The Vikings say the team is following its protocol for sanitizing the facilities and notifying any personnel who may have been in close contact with Sugarman. Those individuals have been tested and will return under established guidelines. Sugarman had not had any recent contact with players, and no additional Covid-19 cases have been identified among team personnel at this time.
In a statement, Sugarman wrote, “As I sit here in quarantine, it is clear this virus does not discriminate. It should continue to be taken seriously. I encourage people to take the necessary precautions and follow guidelines that have been established nationally and locally.”
From CNN's Sarah Moon
California reported 6,891 new cases of coronavirus and 29 additional deaths on Monday, according to data from the state's Department of Public Health.
California now has 460,550 confirmed cases of Covid-19, the highest number of any state in the country. At least 8,445 people have died from the virus in the state.
The positivity rate over a two-week period stands at 7.5%.
Note: These numbers were released by California Department of Public Health, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
From CNN's Elizabeth Joseph
Staples will require all customers to wear face coverings when entering any of their US stores beginning today.
“As an essential retailer, Staples knows our customers have been relying on our products and services to run their businesses and work and learn from home effectively," said CEO Mike Motz in a statement Friday. "Today, we are asking our customers to help protect themselves and those around them so that we can continue to provide these essential products and services."
More context: The company joins a growing list of US retailers with a national mask policy, including Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's, Walgreens and CVS.
From CNN's Jabari Jackson
The National Collegiate Athletic Association will allow schools to reduce their fall sports schedules to half of a typical season. The new waiver would not apply to football.
In a statement issued on Monday, the collegiate governing body revealed the waiver will be made available for men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and women’s soccer, field hockey, men’s water polo and women’s volleyball teams.
Those in conferences that have “eliminated” non-conference matchups for the upcoming season can continue to play while avoiding to schedule additional games. The change aims to limit travel and exposure to all parties involved amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The NCAA’s oversight committee also suspended the criteria that required teams to have “at least a .500 record” to receive at-large bids into a championship field due to this new mandate.
From CNN's Nikki Carvajal
President Trump said he hasn’t seen national security adviser Robert O'Brien recently, and he doesn’t know when his national security adviser first tested positive for Covid-19.
“I haven’t seen him lately,” Trump told reporters before departing the White House for North Carolina Monday afternoon. “I have not seen him, I’m calling him later,” he added.
Trump responded “I don’t know” when asked by a reported when O’Brien first tested positive.
Some background: As CNN previously reported, O'Brien's diagnosis marks the highest-ranking Trump administration official known to have tested positive. It's unclear when O'Brien last met with Trump.
Their last public appearance together was over two weeks ago during a visit to US Southern Command in Miami on July 10.
O'Brien is experiencing "mild symptoms" and is "self-isolating and working from a secure location off site," according to an unnamed statement to the press from the White House.
That statement confirmed O'Brien's test results to reporters before his staff was formally informed. Several National Security Council staffers told CNN that they weren't informed that O'Brien tested positive and learned of the news from media reports.
O'Brien, one of Trump's top aides, recently returned from Europe, where he and his top deputy met with officials from the UK, France, Germany and Italy.
A senior administration official told CNN that O'Brien has been working from home since last week. A source familiar said O'Brien was last in the office last Thursday, when he abruptly left the White House.
The White House statement said there is "no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President."
Watch:
From CNN's Elizabeth Hartfield
New Jersey continues to report Covid-19 outbreaks from gatherings of young people, the state's Health Commissioner, Judy Persichilli, said during a briefing Monday.
At least 35 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Long Beach Island linked to what Persichilli described as a "common social gathering" of lifeguards.
At least 65 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Middletown over the past seven days, 52 of which are in people between the ages of 15 and 19, Gov. Phil Murphy said.
More on this: CNN reported last week that a house party in Middletown on July 11 may have been responsible for at least 20 cases of Covid-19 and that more cases were being reported.
Murphy didn't specify if all of those 52 cases were people who were at the Middletown party, but he did say that the parents of the teens who attended said party are cooperating with contact tracers and that the state now has the names of 59 of the attendees from the party.
"We're begging you to please be responsible at your home if you've got a gathering," Murphy said. "Don't congregate indoors."
New Jersey recorded 446 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday and 17 new fatalities, the governor said. The daily positivity rate in the state was 1.72%.
Murphy also reiterated that the state hopes to allow for at least some aspect of in-person learning for children in the fall. The state has released an education plan to allow for schools to reopen, but Murphy stressed that final decisions would be driven by public health indicators.
Note: The numbers listed were released by the New Jersey Governor's office and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
From CNN's Haley Brink
There are at least 4,259,667 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 147,103 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases.
On Monday at 1:15 p.m. ET, Johns Hopkins University has reported 25,744 new cases and 168 reported deaths.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
From CNN's Dan Kamal
The National Hockey League announced Monday that no players have tested positive for Covid-19 in the league's latest round of testing.
The NHL says the conclusion of Phase 3 of its Return to Play plan resulted in zero positive coronavirus results among 4,256 tests covering 800 players.
In the two-week period of Phase 3, there were two positive results (both occurring between July 13-17) among 6,874 tests.
All 24 teams involved in the NHL’s restart entered secure zones in Edmonton and Toronto Sunday to begin Phase 4 of its Return to Play plan. All 52 members of each team will be tested on a daily basis.
The NHL plans to resume play Aug. 1, with qualifying rounds in Edmonton and Toronto. Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final are scheduled to be played in Edmonton.
Read the NHL's statement:
