August 8 coronavirus news

On Saturday, there were 1,178 new Covid-19 cases reported and 67 additional confirmed deaths in South Carolina, according to a statement from the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). 

South Carolina health officials encourage residents to fight the spread of Covid-19 as evidence increases about "high rates of infection in people who do not have symptoms and don’t know they are infectious." 

DHEC announced its new "Fight the Spread" campaign Saturday to encourage residents to wear masks, practice social distancing and get tested, the statement said.  

The state's current positivity rate is 15.9%, DHEC reported.  

More details: There are now 98,743 total coronavirus cases in South Carolina and 1,931 deaths in the state, DHEC said.  

There are 30,251 Floridians who have been hospitalized since the start of the pandemic, according to Florida Department of Health (DOH).   

This figure includes "anyone who was hospitalized at some point during their illness," according to the department. 

There are currently 6,836 people hospitalized in Florida with Covid-19, down from 7,942 last Saturday morning, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA). 

The counties with the most hospitalizations include Miami-Date with 1,558, Broward with 960 and Palm Beach with 419.

Note: These numbers were released by Florida'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  

The Mid-American Conference (MAC) has postponed all fall sports scheduled this season, including football, due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The conference will also postpone MAC championships.

Seven sports — men's and women's cross country, field hockey, football, men's soccer, women's soccer and women's volleyball — are affected. No decision on winter sports has been made.

Some context: The MAC is the first conference from NCAA's top tier Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) to postpone its football season.

Read the tweet from the MAC:

Maryland has reported 775 new cases of Covid-19 and 11 additional deaths from the virus, according to the state’s official website.

The state currently has a 4.03% infection rate.

Note: The numbers listed were released by the state of Maryland and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project. 

New York state has reported a 0.93% infection rate, according to a press release from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office.

Out of the 74,857 people tested for Covid-19 across the state Friday, 703, or 0.93% people, tested positive, the release said.

At least 573 people are hospitalized with Covid-19 across the state and 133 people are in intensive care units, the release said.

There were five additional Covid-19 deaths reported yesterday, whi brings the statewide total to 25,195 deaths, according to the release.

Note: The numbers listed were released by the state of New York and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project. 

One victim of Friday’s plane crash in the southern Indian state of Kerala has tested positive for coronavirus, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Saturday.

All the passengers who were on the plane will be tested for coronavirus, the minister said in a statement. All 18 victims in the crash, who include the two pilots, have been identified.

The plane was one of the repatriation flights operated by the Indian government to bring back nationals stranded abroad due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, according to the Air India website.

Shailaja Teacher, Kerala's Minister for Health, thanked rescue workers via Twitter for their timely response in the aftermath of Friday’s plane crash.

She added that some rescue workers had to prioritize saving lives and that not everyone was able to follow Covid-19 protocols. 

“We understand that while rushing to the site many of you were not able to follow COVID-19 protocol," she wrote. "Our priority was to save lives. However, now we have to be vigilant again. We urge all who have been to the crash site to take necessary measures to keep yourself and others safe."

As a parent, Liz Pray accepts her 13-year-old son's return to school.

As a school nurse, she doubts the Moses Lake School District in central Washington state is prepared for the challenges that come with schooling amid the coronavirus pandemic.

When the pandemic began, her district and schools across Washington donated personal protective equipment (PPE) to hospitals, clinics and fire stations, Pray tells CNN. Now, with school right around the corner, and Washington facing a resurgence in positive cases, she's not sure nurses will have enough PPE for the academic year.

In Florida, Lisa Kern supervises 45 school nurses who work in over 90 schools in Pasco County, just outside Tampa. Not only were nurses splitting time between schools before the pandemic hit, Kern says, but now she worries about the sustainability of the district's PPE supply.

As school nurses across the United States prepare for the start of the academic year, the National Association of School Nurses says on-campus medics are wholly unprepared because of a lack of funding and nurses.

Nurses who spoke to CNN echo that sentiment. They say keeping children and staff safe won't be tenable if they are not provided more PPE and if school districts don't hire more nurses.

Read more here.

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When James Giannetta first called his brother Russ in late June to tell him that the coronavirus was beginning to spread in his Texas federal prison, Russ could hear the fear in his voice. "This place is exploding," James warned. 

Russ soon got another call: James, a 65-year-old inmate with diabetes and HIV, had tested positive for the virus himself. Within days, he was rushed to a hospital as his oxygen levels plummeted. A few weeks later, after his condition deteriorated and he was placed on a ventilator, he was dead. 

As coronavirus has spread rapidly through prisons and jails around the country in recent months, the Texas lockup where Giannetta spent his last days has emerged as the hardest-hit federal prison in the United States.

More than 1,300 of the roughly 1,750 prisoners at FCI Seagoville prison and camp have tested positive for the virus, according to data from the federal Bureau of Prisons -- a stunning three out of every four inmates.

So far, three inmates at the prison, including Giannetta, have died from Covid-19. 

Five Seagoville inmates told CNN in phone interviews from behind bars that they feared for their lives as the virus rushed through the Dallas-area prison, and that the crowded conditions made it all but impossible for them to stay socially distanced.

Read more here.

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Germany's top virologists have urged mandatory mask wearing in schools, including during classroom lessons, as schools in the country re-open after summer break.

“Due to the real danger of infections between students who are asymptomatic, we urge strict mask wearing in all grades, including during lessons,” the virologists wrote in an open letter published on the website of the Society for Virology on Saturday. 

The experts also recommend smaller learning groups to avoid too much cross-contact among students, increased measures for air circulation in classrooms, and a potential extension of Christmas holidays in case the coronavirus spikes during the winter season. 

The open letter was published as Germany is in the process of re-opening schools after the summer holidays. The northeast state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania was the first to bring children back to classrooms. Two schools were shut down there on Friday after coronavirus infections were confirmed. 

“We are warning of the error to think that children do not play a role in the pandemic and infections. Such ideas are not in line with scientific data,” the virologists wrote in their letter.