By Jessie Yeung, Adam Renton, Jack Guy, Ed Upright, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya and Mike Hayes, CNN
Updated 12:02 a.m. ET, August 6, 2020
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6:29 p.m. ET, August 5, 2020
Trump signals support for additional assistance for airlines
From CNN's Maegan Vazquez
US President Donald Trump speaks to the press in the Brady Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 5. Olivier Douliery/AFP/Getty Images
President Trump expressed his support for Republican-backed payroll assistance to keep airlines operating on Wednesday.
“Well if they need it … obviously the airlines business is not doing very well. You have shutdowns all over the world and you have airlines that are essentially shut down,” Trump said during a White House news conference.
"I think it’s very important we keep the airlines going,” he continued, later adding, “If they’re looking at that, whether they’re Republican or Democrat, I’d be certainly in favor. We can’t lose our transportation system.”
6:17 p.m. ET, August 5, 2020
Facebook removes Trump post falsely claiming children are "almost immune" to Covid-19
From CNN's Donie O'Sullivan
US President Donald Trump listens to a question during a news conference in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House on August 5, in Washington, DC. Alex Wong/Getty Images
Facebook has removed a post from President Trump's page for containing false claims about Covid-19.
The post was a video of an interview the President gave to Fox News on Wednesday morning.
"This video includes false claims that a group of people is immune from Covid-19 which is a violation of our policies around harmful Covid misinformation," Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement Wednesday evening.
Stone added the specific comments that had run afoul of Facebook's rules were Trump's false claims about children being almost immune to the virus.
6:10 p.m. ET, August 5, 2020
Texas reports nearly 9,000 new coronavirus cases as positivity rate increases
From CNN’s Ashley Killough
Texas reported fewer coronavirus cases on Wednesday with 8,706 new infections, down 461 from Tuesday and down 336 from a week ago, according to numbers released by the Texas' health department.
The positivity rate on Tuesday, 15.58%, jumped nearly two percentage points from Monday and is up more than three percentage points from a week ago. The positivity rate and testing data in Texas is reported one day behind new cases, deaths and hospitalizations.
More details: Newly reported deaths remain high, with 235 reported Wednesday, and hospitalizations continue to drop compared to last week.
The state reported 8,445 hospitalizations, down 219 from Tuesday and down 1,140 from a week ago.
5:51 p.m. ET, August 5, 2020
Brazil records more than 1,400 new coronavirus-related deaths
From Fernanda Wenzel and Maria Ramirez Uribe
A Federal District's employee disinfects a public school in Brasilia, on August 5,. Evaristo Sa/AFP/Getty Images
Brazil's health ministry reported 1,437 new Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the country's total to 97,256.
The country also recorded 57,152 new coronavirus cases, raising the total to 2,859,073, according to the health ministry.
Some context: This new data comes on the same day as one of Brazil's leading indigenous leaders, Chief Aritana Yawalapiti, leader of the Upper Xingu, died of Covid-19.
5:50 p.m. ET, August 5, 2020
A Mississippi school staff member and 6 students have tested positive for coronavirus, district says
From CNN’s Jamiel Lynch
Six students and one staff member have tested positive for Covid-19, a spokesperson for Mississippi's Corinth School District told CNN.
The student population in the district is 2,700.
According to the spokesperson, 116 students who have been considered in “close contact” to a person who has tested positive have been sent home to quarantine for 14 days.
5:26 p.m. ET, August 5, 2020
Adults have gotten seriously ill after drinking hand sanitizer, CDC says
From CNN's Jacqueline Howard
A bottle of Purell hand sanitizer and a box of disposable masks Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images
Several cases of people getting sick after swallowing hand sanitizer have been reported to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in recent months.
Some people suffered impaired vision. Others had seizures. Four people died.
A new paper, published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on Wednesday, described the cases of 15 adults in Arizona and New Mexico who were hospitalized for methanol poisoning after consuming alcohol-based hand sanitizers in May and June.
While an alcohol-based hand sanitizer containing ethanol or isopropanol can be used to disinfect hands, the CDC warns against using hand sanitizer containing methanol and swallowing any hand sanitizer. In their new report, CDC researchers emphasize: “alcohol-based hand sanitizer products should never be ingested.”
A CDC spokesperson told CNN in an email Wednesday that previously, in June, the US Food and Drug Administration announced that methanol was found in some hand sanitizers distributed in the United States – and the new CDC report follows that announcement.
"We wanted to specifically look at adverse events related to methanol because it is known to be toxic and potentially life-threatening when ingested," the spokesperson said.
Some context: In late June, CDC received notification from public health officials and partners in Arizona and New Mexico about methanol poisoning linked with the ingestion of hand sanitizers, according to the new report. Methanol, a substance that can be toxic when absorbed through skin or ingested, can be found in certain hand sanitizers.
CDC researchers and their partners in Arizona and New Mexico reviewed 62 call records to poison centers from May through June to characterize cases that could be methanol poisoning from alcohol-based hand sanitizer. The researchers also obtained medical records for additional details. But the report does not provide information as to why exactly people were ingesting hand sanitizer.
The researchers found that, between May and June, 15 adults met their case definition of hand sanitizer-associated methanol poisoning. All of those adults, ages 21 to 65, were admitted to a hospital after ingesting alcohol-based hand sanitizer.
Six of the adults developed seizures while in the hospital and three were discharged with new visual impairments, the researchers found.
One patient, a 44-year-old man, said that he drank an unknown amount of hand sanitizer in the few days before seeking medical care, according to the CDC paper. The man was hospitalized for six days for acute methanol poisoning, and when he was discharged, he went home with almost complete vision loss.
Overall, four of the adults in the CDC report died.
5:19 p.m. ET, August 5, 2020
NCAA Division II cancels fall sports championships for 2020
From CNN's Jillian Martin
NCAADivision II’s seven fall 2020 championships have been canceled due to the operational, logistical and financial challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Presidents Council said today.
The council made the move after the NCAA Board of Governors directed each division to make a decision on its fall sport championships.
Some context: As of Wednesday, 11 of the 23 Division II conferences had announced they will not compete during the traditional fall season.
5:13 p.m. ET, August 5, 2020
Wisconsin governor calls on National Guard to assist in primary elections
From CNN’s Kay Jones
This image taken from video by the Wisconsin Department of Health Services shows Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers on July 30, in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin Department of Health Services/AP
Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said the Wisconsin National Guard will assist as poll workers for the primary elections held on Aug. 11.
The announcement comes a week after Evers issued an executive order authorizing the activation of the National Guard to support the primary election and operate community Covid-19 testing sites across the state.
“The Wisconsin National Guard has played a critical role in our response to the Covid-19 pandemic and this mission is no different,” Evers said in a press release. “Time and time again the Guard has stepped up to help their neighbors, friends, and communities, as they will be doing on election day by helping to ensure that every Wisconsinite can vote safely without fear for their health.”
The release said the troops will report to duty on Sunday and will be released on Aug. 12, the day after the primary. The mobilized members will complete training provided by the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the release said.
Siblings Paul Adamus, 7, left, and Neva Adamus, 5, put on their backpacks to get ready for their first day of school on August 3, in Dallas, Georgia. Brynn Anderson/AP
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 3,817 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, bringing the total to 201,713.
Georgia is the fifth state to surpass 200,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases.
The department reported 65 additional death on Wednesday, bringing the total number of deaths to 3,984.
There were 362 new Covid-19 hospitalizations, which brings the number of total to 19,788, the department said.
Note: These numbers were released by the Georgia 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.
