August 4 coronavirus news

Pennsylvania added at least 854 Covid-19 cases and reported 23 deaths, according to state health data.

Of the two counties of focus, Allegheny reported an increase of 132 cases, just above Philadelphia with an increase of 131 cases. 

The department continues to highlight the increase of cases among 19- tp 24-year-olds. 

Note: These numbers were released by the state’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

In a letter sent to staff of the city's Department of Health and Mental Hygiene obtained by CNN, outgoing commissioner Oxiris Barbot said she had submitted her resignation to the mayor this morning, without elaborating on her reasons.

"I am proud that as a woman of color raised in public housing in this city, I always put public health, racial equality, and the well-being of the city I love first," Barbot wrote. 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he received a resignation letter from Barbot in the last hour.

“I want to thank her for her service to the city and I want to thank her for the important work she did during this crisis," the mayor said.

The mayor and Barbot have reportedly clashed over the past several months during the coronavirus pandemic.

The mayor will announce Tuesday the appointment of a new Commissioner of the City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygeine, according to a city release.

There was no mention of Barbot in the mayor’s press release.

Dr. Dave A. Chokshi will take Barbot’s place, according to de Blasio’s office.

“Dr. Chokshi has served at the highest level of local, state, and federal health agencies, including NYC Health + Hospitals, where he was in senior leadership roles over the past six years,” the release said. 

Dr. Chokshi also served as a White House Fellow in the Obama Administration and was the principal health advisor to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the release said. 

Caleb Farley was one of the top college football players in the country and a projected first-round NFL draft pick. But the former Virginia Tech cornerback decided to opt out of his senior season over coronavirus fears.

“It was a moral decision,” he told CNN’s Poppy Harlow. “I didn't feel comfortable and I did have a lot of worries and doubts, you know, maybe giving it to my father, you know, who's always with me and always is around. And I just was so nervous and so scared to contract the virus.”

Losing his mother to breast cancer in 2018 was a “huge” part of his decision, Farley said. What made him uncomfortable was the safety procedures and protocols in place during the pandemic, saying he is not ready to risk his safety or the safety of his loved ones during this pandemic. 

Farley also acknowledged that this decision could hurt his draft prospects but seeing NFL players walk away from the season gave him courage. He also received words of support from his coach Justin Fuente. 

“If you're looking at it from a business side, you know, it could potentially hurt me. But I gained the courage, seeing guys in the NLF, you know, large-name guys walking away from millions of dollars,” he said. “Coach Fuente told me he loved me, shook my hand, he looked me in the eye, told me he would be pulling for me, rooting for me, that he was a fan of mine. It was great. That was very genuine to me ... That meant the world to me how he handled the situation."

“Once I got past the outside influences of you know, what people may think about me or what or how it might be perceived, I just had to make the decision that I felt comfortable in,” he added.

The state of Florida is reporting 5,446 coronavirus cases and 245 additional deaths in a single day on Tuesday, according to data released by the Florida Department of Health. 

There are now 497,330 total cases in the state, including out of state residents, DOH reports. Florida has reported 7,402 resident deaths to date, DOH data shows.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told CNN on Tuesday that she still wants a sweeping stimulus deal this week — but she made clear she is not budging so far on the price tag put forward by House Democrats, reflecting how far apart the two sides are despite days of talks.

Asked if she has an idea on the price tag she's willing to settle for, Pelosi said bluntly: “Yeah, $3.4 trillion."

That price tag has been rejected by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who last week put forward the Senate GOP plan that would cost roughly $1 trillion and has attacked House Democrats' $3 trillion-plus bill that passed their chamber more than two months ago.

Pelosi, when asked if it's really feasible to get deal this week given how far apart the two sides are, said in the interview: “At some point you just have to freeze the design."

Pelosi said that she hopes they can have a bipartisan agreement this week so there are votes in the House by next week, given that they will vote to hold a Rules Committee meeting to consider the parameters for the House floor debate and there would need to be time to hammer out the legislative language and get cost estimates.

Yet, Pelosi said that currently both sides are still talking to the other about how much money is needed for various programs that each side has proposed.

Pelosi added: "You have to show how you would spend it, in addition to establishing the need, have it work, and why that much money, and once we come to an amount, and I think we'll come to an agreement."

Catch up on the latest coronavirus stimulus updates here.

Latin America and the Caribbean have reached over five million cases of Covid-19, according to a CNN tally based on Johns Hopkins University (JHU) data.

As of Tuesday morning, the region has reported 5,021,760 coronavirus cases and 203,589 deaths, according to the data released by JHU.

Brazil continues to be second hardest-hit country worldwide following the US and the first in the Latin American region with 2,750,318 cases reported on Monday, according to JHU.

Among the top 10 countries with the most cases worldwide, five are from Latin America: Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Colombia, according to JHU.

Several countries in Latin America, including Colombia, Argentina, Mexico and Peru, have seen an acceleration in the number of new cases over the past two to three weeks.

For the third straight day, New York City saw no Covid-19 related deaths, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a release.

Cuomo reported three people died of the virus across the state Monday.

The state added 746 cases, a 1.05% positivity rate as a result of tests reported to the state Monday. 

New York State also added Rhode Island to its Covid-19 travel quarantine advisory, and removed Delaware and Washington, DC, according to the governor’s office.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell again blasted Democratic leadership over inaction on the stimulus bill, which he called a “charade.”

He argued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer are “obstructing any action for our country,” even as Pelosi and Schumer continue to meet with administration officials almost daily, all of which, McConnell has not been participating in.

“What did the Speaker of the House and the Democratic Leader do with yet another day of deliberations,” McConnell asked during a heated speech. “Yet again, it was the exact same refrain. It never seems to change."

"‘We're feeling optimistic,’ 'We spoke very politely to the administration, but we're still nowhere close on substance,’” McConnell said mockingly of remarks the Democratic leaders have made leaving meetings with Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in the last two weeks. 

He continued, “Here's the problem: Every day the Democratic leaders repeat the same actor in the Capitol they're letting down the struggling people who need our help.”

McConnell also pointed to the Republican’s HEALS Act and said “the Democrats are blocking it all.”

“It’s like they expect applause for merely keeping a civil tone with the President’s team, never mind they’re still obstructing any action for our country,” he said.

 McConnell added: “What American families need is an outcome.”

President Trump said the United States' staggering death toll from coronavirus "is what it is" in a new interview, again giving his administration credit for its response despite ongoing surges in new cases and a human toll that far outpaces that of any other nation.

When confronted with the US' daily death toll and Trump's messaging on the pandemic during an interview with Axios that aired Monday night, the President grew defensive and appeared frustrated by reporter Jonathan Swan's questions about the crisis.

"I've gone to your rallies. I've talked to your people. They love you. They listen to you. They listen to every word you say. They hang on your every word," Swan said. "And so when they hear you say, 'everything's under control. Don't worry about wearing masks,' I mean, these are people — many of them are older people."

"Well, what's your definition of control?" Trump replied, adding: "I think it's under control."

"How? A thousand Americans are dying a day," Swan said.

"They are dying. That's true. And you — it is what it is," Trump said emphatically. "But that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can. It's under control as much as you can control it."

Trump has frequently defended his administration's performance to the pandemic but rarely expresses grief for the victims. When the US surged past 100,000 confirmed deaths in late May — after weeks of Trump projecting a toll well short of that mark — the President declined to make a public statement until the next day, tweeting about the victims amid a morning tweetstorm of insults and grievances.

Read more about the interview here.

Watch a portion of the interview: