August 4 coronavirus news

Governors from the states of Maryland, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio and Virginia announced a bipartisan interstate compact to run three million rapid antigen tests to slow the spread of Covid-19 and continue safely reopening their states, according to a statement released on Tuesday.

The agreement between six governors — three Republicans and three Democrats —demonstrates to private manufacturers that there is in fact a significant demand to scale up the production of these the rapid tests, which deliver results in 15 to 20 minutes, the statement reads.

The states are currently in discussions with Becton Dickinson and Quidel, US manufacturers of antigen tests that have already been authorized by the FDA, to purchase 500,000 tests per state, for a total of three million tests, according to the statement.

Through this interstate compact, states are coming together to ramp up the use of rapid antigen testing to help better detect outbreaks more quickly, and expand long-term testing in congregate settings such as schools, workplaces, and nursing homes and continue reopening the state, the statement indicates.

Kosovo's Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti has tested positive for Covid-19, his press office told CNN on Tuesday. 

Hoti is in good health and will stay home for the next two weeks, following his doctor's recommendation, his press office said.

"Indeed, we have a difficult situation here, but the government and health institutions are doing everything they can to manage and prevent this pandemic," the press office told CNN in an e-mail.

Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican in leadership, said Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told senators that stimulus negotiations are slow going and Democrats still aren’t serious about negotiating an outcome.

Asked if senators would be in session all of August, he said he couldn’t predict that.

“How do you think it looks for us to go back home if this is unresolved? This is the most important thing we need to be doing.”

The Illinois Department of Public Health on Tuesday reported 1,471 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the state’s total of cases to 184,712. 

The state has reported over 1,000 new cases for 14 days straight.

According to a release from the public health agency, the seven-day positivity rate is down slightly, to 3.9% from the 4% reported on Monday.

The agency also reported an additional 19 deaths today, including one teenager. According to the dashboard, six people under the age of 20 have died from the virus statewide. There are a total of 7,545 deaths. 

The state also reported 1,496 hospitalizations, with 365 in intensive care units and 125 on ventilators. 

Note: These numbers were released by the Illinois 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.

Brazil is seeking alternatives with other producers if there is a delay in the development and delivery of the vaccine developed by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, Brazil’s Deputy Secretary of Health Élcio Franco said.

"Because it is a purchase based on (unproven) technology, there is a degree of uncertainty. Although it seems remote to us, there is a possibility of a delay in the vaccine development. Even being in the most advanced (stage), we have been looking for alternatives," Franco said during a news conference on Monday evening.

In late July, Interim Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello announced his government had the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine "on the radar," after Anvisa (the country's National Health Surveillance Agency) approved the trial in Brazil. 

Pazuello had also confirmed negotiations with the biotechnology company Moderna for a possible priority purchase of their vaccine.

Before the coronavirus pandemic hit, Indianapolis 500 officials talked about attendance levels of some 300,000 for the 2020 version of America's iconic open-wheel event. That number is now zero. 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway tweeted Tuesday, "It is with great regret that we announce the Indianapolis 500 will take place on Aug. 23 without fans. This tough decision was made following careful consideration and extensive consultation with state and city leadership."

Just two weeks ago, track officials announced they would allow 25% capacity at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, with a mandatory face mask protocol in place. That statement was preceded by a late-June announcement indicating a 50% cap on attendance.

The race was originally scheduled to run May 24, but was postponed by Covid-19.

More than two dozen House Democrats sent a letter Tuesday urging congressional leaders to include provisions to boost mask use in the United States in the next round of coronavirus stimulus.

In a letter led by Rep. Ro Khanna and Rep. Adam Schiff, the lawmakers requested that Congress provide free masks to all Americans, funding for a CDC public service announcement campaign about masks, and provisions for research into "mask efficacy and optimal design.”

They said the masks could be distributed by the US Postal Service and made accessible at convenient pick-up locations around the country.

"While nothing short of a vaccine or a cure can truly end the threat of this virus, we must aggressively pursue simple and affordable courses of action that can mitigate infections and save tens of thousands of lives,” they argued.

There are at least 4,732,418 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 155,942 people have died from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases.

On Tuesday at 1 p.m. ET, Johns Hopkins has reported 18,878 new cases and 540 reported deaths. 

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

Here's a look at how the Covid-19 death toll has progressed in the US over time:

The federal government may be buying up possible coronavirus vaccines ahead of time, but buying treatments such as drugs and antibodies is a different matter, a top official said Tuesday.

Dr. Janet Woodcock, a Food and Drug Administration official who leads therapeutics development for Operation Warp Speed, said advanced purchasing of potential Covid-19 therapeutics is much different than the advanced purchase of vaccines.

“The therapeutic landscape is much wider,” Woodcock told a media briefing, adding there are multiple different modalities of therapy.

With vaccines “it's very clear what you're going to do,” Woodcock said. “The primary goal is to vaccinate people and protect them… with therapeutics it's a little more complicated.”

Woodcock said that advanced purchasing of therapeutics is going to be slower, because, “out of these vast inventories of potential candidates, we have to select the most promising ones. We can't just buy advanced purchases of 600 different agents.”

Remember: Operation Warp Speed, the federal government's Covid-19 vaccine program, has contracts to buy hundreds of millions of doses of vaccines from several different companies, including Moderna, AstraZeneca, Pfizer and others.

If any are shown to work safely to protect people against coronavirus, the advanced purchases mean the vaccines could be rolled out immediately without a wait time for their manufacture.