At least 46 Ohio bars and restaurants have been cited for Covid-19-related violations since May
From CNN’s Leslie Holland
At least 46 Ohio bars and restaurants have been cited for violations related to Covid-19 since May, Ohio Department of Public Safety spokesman Craig Cvetan told CNN.
The violations issued between May 16 through July 31 range from disorderly conduct and failure to comply with alcoholic beverage consumption on premises, according to a report from police.
Parts of Ohio are under an executive order that limits hours in which alcohol can be consumed on the premises to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
CNN's Sheena Jones contributed to this report.
1:58 p.m. ET, August 2, 2020
NCAA Pac-12 football players threaten boycott over health concerns and racial injustice
From CNN's Homero DeLaFuente
Christian Petersen/Getty Images
A group of football players from the NCAA’s Pac-12 Conference penned a letter on The Players Tribune with a list of demands, ranging from health and safety assurances during the Covid-19 pandemic to issues of racial injustice.
Using the hashtag #WeAreUnited, the players start the letter saying, “because NCAA sports exploit college athletes physically, economically and academically, and also disproportionately harm Black college athletes, #WeAreUnited.”
The letter concludes with the group of players threatening to sit out the full season unless their demands are met.
“#WeAreUnited in our commitment to secure fair treatment for college athletes. Due to Covid-19 and other serious concerns, we will opt-out of Pac-12 fall camp and game participation unless the following demands are guaranteed in writing by our conference to protect and benefit both scholarship athletes and walk-ons," the letter said.
The Pac-12 sent CNN the following statement:
"Neither the Conference nor our university athletics departments have been contacted by this group regarding these topics. We support our student-athletes using their voice, and have regular communications with our student-athletes at many different levels on a range of topics. As we have clearly stated with respect to our fall competition plans, we are, and always will be, directed by medical experts, with the health, safety and well being of our student athletes, coaches and staff always the first priority. We have made it clear that any student athlete who chooses not to return to competition for health or safety reasons will have their scholarship protected."
1:35 p.m. ET, August 2, 2020
More than 154,000 people have died from coronavirus in the US
From CNN's Hollie Silverman
There are at least 4,639,005 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 154,619 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases.
As of 1:30 p.m. EST Sunday, 18,561 new cases and 172 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.
1:20 p.m. ET, August 2, 2020
New Jersey reports 331 new cases of Covid-19 and 6 additional deaths
From CNN's Sheena Jones
New Jersey has reported 331 new cases of Covid-19 and six additional deaths from the virus, according to a tweet from Gov. Phil Murphy.
The state has a total of 182,350 cases from the virus and 13,961 deaths, the tweet said.
Note: These numbers were released by the state of New Jersey and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
2:04 p.m. ET, August 2, 2020
New York City's school reopening plan has not been reviewed by the state yet
From CNN's Sheena Jones
A teacher collects supplies from their classroom at P.S. 124 in New York City after the city's public schools shut down due to the coronavirus outbreak. New York City submitted its plan to reopen schools on Friday night. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images
New York City submitted its plan to reopen schools on Friday night and what was submitted “looked more like an outline and not a plan,” New York State Department of Education spokesperson Jim Malatras said Sunday.
The plan was about 30 pages and other plans were more detailed, Malatras said.
The New York State Department of Education has not had a chance to fully review the plan submitted by New York City because it was submitted late Friday evening, Malatras said.
CNN has reached out to the New York City Department of Education for comment.
Cuomo said he wants to know how testing will be done and reiterated it is about the parents being comfortable when it comes to the school reopening plans.
"Just because a school district says 'we are open' does not mean students are going to go,” Cuomo said.
The governor said he has been talking to parents across the state and “there is going to have to be some dialogue” about schools reopening.
1:03 p.m. ET, August 2, 2020
Top Senate Democrat says he won’t negotiate in public when asked about stimulus discussions
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer attends Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi's weekly press briefing on July 23 in Washington, DC. Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty Images
Following Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin's comments that the administration and GOP are not going to support a $1 trillion proposal for state and local governments, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he would not be "negotiating in public."
"[W]e need a strong robust bill; we believe the House bill $915 billion is adequate and needed and we’re going to fight for it," Schumer told CNN.
When asked if $600 unemployment is non-negotiable, he said “I’m not arguing in public, we believe 600 is what we need.”
Schumer said that people who lost their job for no fault of their own do not need to suffer an over 30% pay cut.
12:31 p.m. ET, August 2, 2020
Mitigation measures are more important than contact tracing during outbreaks, Giroir says
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
Admiral Brett Giroir testifies during a House Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis hearing on July 31 in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Pool/AFP/Getty Images
Contact tracing can be very effective during the early or late parts of an outbreak, but when there is widespread outbreak, mitigation measures are more important according to Adm. Brett Giroir, a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force.
��Yes, contact tracing is important,” Giroir said on NBC on Sunday, “but it’s much less important right now than the public policy mitigation measures.”
Contact tracing can be very effective, he said, during the very early parts of an outbreak.
“When you have a widespread, multi-focal outbreak, where many people are asymptomatic, testing and tracing are of limited utility versus public health policy measures,” Giroir said.
Once the virus is back to very low levels, he said, testing and contact tracing become much more important.
“Where we are right now, with the widespread, multi-focal, across many states, just like many other countries, the solution was the mitigation steps, not the contact tracing,” Giroir said.
12:14 p.m. ET, August 2, 2020
New York governor says it's "all very good news" when it comes to daily Covid-19 numbers
From CNN's Sheena Jones
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said when it comes to reporting the latest Covid-19 numbers, it is “all very good news.”
Of the 58,951 total tested, 531 people tested positive for Covid-19 across the state, which brings the state to a 0.09% positive rate, Cuomo said.
Cuomo said 556 people are hospitalized with the virus and that is “the lowest number since we began."
Intensive care unit admission is down to 141 people, with 71 people intubated, the governor said.
Three people were reported dead from the virus, the governor said.
Some context: The state has performed more than 6 million Covid-19 diagnostic tests since March, Cuomo said.
12:23 p.m. ET, August 2, 2020
Hydroxychloroquine is not recommended as a Covid-19 treatment, coronavirus testing czar says
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
A pharmacy tech holds a Hydroxychloroquine pill at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, on May 20. George Frey/AFP/Getty Images
Hydroxychloroquine is not recommended as a treatment for Covid-19, Adm. Brett Giroir, a member of the White House coronavirus task force said on NBC on Sunday.
“At this point in time, there’s been five randomized controlled, placebo controlled trials, that do not show any benefit to hydroxychloroquine,” Giroir said. “So, at this point in time, we don’t recommend that as a treatment.”
Giroir said that hydroxychloroquine needs to be prescribed by a physician, and there may be circumstances where it is prescribed, in response to a question about the potentially mixed messages that are being sent out about the drug.
“But I think most physicians and prescribers are evidence based and they’re not influenced by whatever is on Twitter or anything else,” he said. “And the evidence just doesn’t show that hydroxychloroquine is effective right now.”
Giroir said that he thinks “we need to move on from that and talk about what is effective.”
This includes public health measures like hand washing and mask wearing, and therapeutics and treatments that are known to be effective.
“We have many things that do work,” Giroir said. “Right now, hydroxychloroquine, I can’t recommend that."
More details: Giroir said that there were other therapeutics which have shown promise, such as remdesivir and steroids which have reduced mortality. He also said that while they still don’t know about immune plasma, there are trials and it has worked in other cases.
