Our live coverage of the coronavirus pandemic has moved here.
Children may be able to spread Covid-19 just as easily as they spread another type of coronavirus – the common cold, said William Haseltine, a former professor at Harvard Medical School.
Haseltine warned that children can be infected and infect others, so they should wear masks.
He said that children up to 5 years old can be “highly infectious to other people.”
Mexico recorded 705 new deaths from the novel coronavirus Monday, taking the total number of fatalities in the country resulting from the virus to 53,003.
Only the United States and Brazil have suffered more virus-related fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Mexico’s Health Ministry said 5,558 new Covid-19 cases were identified on Monday, bringing the country’s total number of confirmed cases to 485,836.
Another 44 Covid-19 cases were recorded in China on Monday, including 13 locally transmitted cases and 31 imported cases, the country’s National Health Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.
All of the local cases were reported in the far western region of Xinjiang, according to the NHC. Another 17 asymptomatic cases were also reported Monday, authorities said. China records asymptomatic cases of the novel coronavirus separately.
Since the pandemic began, 84,712 cases of Covid-19 have been recorded in China, according to the NHC.
The number of known cases of the novel coronavirus surpassed 20 million globally on Monday at 8:10 pm ET, according to data held by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center.
JHU reports the current number of known cases around the world is now 20,001,019. At least 733,897 have died globally.
The United States has reported the most deaths and the most confirmed cases worldwide. At least 5,085,821 coronavirus cases have been recorded in the US, including at least 163,370 deaths.
CNN is tracking worldwide coronavirus cases here:
The Cherokee County School District in Georgia reported Monday that 826 students are in quarantine due to possible exposure to Covid-19.
The school returned to in-person learning on Aug. 3.
According to a chart from the district, 42 staff members are in quarantine.
Thirty-eight students and 12 staff members have been tested positive for the virus, according to the district’s website.
The district said it has approximately 42,500 students.
There has been a 90% increase in the number of Covid-19 cases among US children over the last four weeks, according to a report published Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.
According to this new report, expected to be updated weekly, there were 179,990 new Covid-19 cases among US children between July 9 and Aug. 6. The data comes from case numbers provided by state health departments of 49 states, New York City, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.
Some of the increase may be due to more testing, AAP said. Early in the pandemic, testing was reserved for the sickest. A broader number of tests may be identifying children that have fewer or milder symptoms than those who were tested earlier in the pandemic.
Children make up just over 9% of the total cases in states that report cases by age, according to the report. At least 380,174 total child Covid-19 cases reported as of Aug. 6.
As of now, it still appears that severe symptoms are rare among children with Covid-19 infections. Children were between 0.5% and 5.3% of total hospitalizations, according to data from the states that record that information. Children were 0% to 0.4% of all Covid-19 deaths.
Nineteen states have reported no child deaths. In states that tracked the details, 0% to 0.5% of all child Covid-19 cases resulted in death.
The AAP called for an effective testing strategy so that communities can make the right choice about opening schools.
“In areas with rapid community spread, it’s likely that more children will also be infected, and these data show that,” AAP President Dr. Sally Goza said in the news release. “As a pediatrician, I urge people to wear cloth face coverings and be diligent in social distancing and hand-washing. It is up to us to make the difference, community by community.”
The World Health Organization said last week that the coronavirus pandemic is starting to move into the younger population globally, while most cases, by far, are among people ages 25 to 64.
Participating in a 2020 Census interview presents “a low risk of transmission” of Covid-19, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Census Bureau said in a joint statement on the CDC website Monday.
Census takers are highly trained in CDC recommendations to keep the risk low, the statement said, and follow these protocols rigorously.
When participating in a census interview, census takers will wear a mask, keep a six-foot physical distance, have good hand hygiene, and will do the interview outside the home if possible.
The CDC said it is ready to support the work of the Census Bureau and staff and provide technical assistance to make sure that staff and household members stay safe and healthy.
US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he hasn’t spoken to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi or Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer about continuing negotiations for coronavirus relief legislation.
“I’ve spoken to several Democrats. I have not spoken to Schumer and Pelosi since then,” Mnuchin said during a White House press briefing with President Trump on Monday.
Asked if he’d reach out to the Democratic leaders to restart negotiations, Mnuchin said, “Any time they want to meet and they’re willing to negotiate, have a new proposal, we’re more than happy to meet.”
Mnuchin also said he expects unemployment insurance payments to be ready to go out in most states within two weeks.
“I think within the next week or two, most of the states will be able to execute,” Mnuchin said during a White House press conference Monday.
Some background: With negotiations on a new deal stalled, President Trump on Saturday unveiled an executive action that would provide the unemployed $300 a week under a new “lost wages assistance” program, but only if states first agree to put up an additional $100 a week – which the President cited as a total benefit of $400 a week.
With reporting from CNN’s Tami Luhby.
President Trump said he has asked that the G7 meeting be postponed until after the election in November, after a previous delay due to Covid-19 concerns.
The summit was slated to be held at Camp David in June, and after a tentative plan to postpone the meeting and switch to a virtual conference, Trump had floated in May the idea of doing it in person in the fall.
Trump said the White House had not yet formally invited leaders.
“We haven’t sent out invitations. We’re talking to them,” he said. He noted he planned on inviting countries that aren’t formal members of the group of seven.
Asked whether he would invite Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump said he would do so because Putin is an “important factor.”
“I certainly would invite him to the meeting. I think he’s an important factor.”
The Mountain West Conference has announced the indefinite postponement of all scheduled fall sports, the conference announced Monday, because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to a news release, the fall sports affected by the decision are men’s and women’s cross country, football, women’s soccer and women’s volleyball (with the exception of the unique circumstances involved with the military service academies).
On Saturday, the Mid-American Conference (MAC) became the first conference from NCAA’s top tier Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) to postpone its football season. The Mountain West is the second to do so.
Last week, the Mountain West announced that all fall competition in the sports of men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s swimming and diving, men’s and women’s indoor track and field, softball and baseball was canceled.
At this time, the Mountain West said there are ongoing discussions regarding the status of winter sports.
The US Food and Drug Administration has identified more than 700 unproven or fraudulent medical products related to Covid-19, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said Monday in an online conversation with the American Medical Association.
Hahn said that his agency is working with the US Federal Trade Commission to send warning letters to firms marketing products with misleading claims.
The FDA has also sent more than 150 reports to online marketplaces and more than 250 abuse complaints to web registrars.
He asked doctors to be on the lookout for patients who are using some of these unproven treatments and to encourage patients not to take illegitimate or black market drugs.
Brazil has reported 703 people have died of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of people known to have died from coronavirus in the country to 101,752.
The country’s health ministry also recorded 22,048 new coronavirus cases Monday, bringing the total number of infections to 3,057,450.
Brazil continues to trail only the United States in terms of the world’s highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths.
After being abruptly rushed out of the White House press briefing Monday, President Trump came back to the briefing room, saying the situation “seems to be very well under control.”
He told reporters that he had been escorted out of the briefing because there was a shooting outside of the White House.
“I’d like to thank the Secret Service for doing their always quick and very effective work, but there was an actual shooting, and somebody’s been taken to the hospital. I don’t know the condition of the person. Seems that the person was shot by Secret Service, so we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.
Asked by CNN’s Jeremy Diamond if he was taken to the bunker under the White House, Trump replied, “no, we were taken just out to the oval office.”
The President was also asked if he was rattled, he said, “I don’t know, do I seem rattled?”
“I feel very safe with the Secret Service, they’re fantastic people, they’re the best of the best, they’re highly trained,” Trump told reporters. “They just wanted me to step aside for a little while just to make sure that everything was clear outside.”
The suspect shot by Secret Service did not breach “anything,” Trump added.
“I don’t know if he was close or not, he or she,” the President said. He added that he had “such confidence” in the Secret Service.
“I don’t think the person breached anything,” he added. “I don’t believe anything was breached, I asked that question.”
A senior administration official confirmed to CNN’s Dana Bash that there was active shooter and the shooter is in custody.
The incident happened at the corner of 17th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, just outside of the White House grounds and close to Lafayette park.
Trump abruptly departed the briefing room after a Secret Service agent approached him as he was speaking to the press and whispered something in his ear. “Sir, we’re just going to have to step outside,” the agent can be heard saying.
“Excuse me?” Trump asked.
“Step outside,” the agent said.
“Oh,” Trump said before departing the room.
Trump said he never thought about not returning to the briefing after being rushed out.
CNN reporters at the White House report the complex is still under lockdown.
See the moment here:
The superintendent of schools in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, James Gray, announced Monday that the district would delay the start of school by two weeks.
School in the Louisiana district was supposed to start on Aug. 12 and now will start on Aug. 26.
Several school districts have announced delays in reopening, as well as shifts from in person to virtual only models as the start of the school year draws closer and coronavirus outbreaks continue to occur across the country.
Gray announced that Ochsner Hospital for Children will be providing rapid tests for symptomatic parents, teachers and employees beginning Aug. 26, a new initiative that led the district to delay the start of school.
The school district is currently set to open under a combination of in-person and remote learning.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis announced the opening of two free testing sites in Aurora and Adams County on Monday that promise to deliver faster Covid-19 results after people complained they weren’t hearing back for more than a week.
“A lot of the testing being done at the national labs was simply taking too long,” Polis said at a briefing at Water World in Adams County, which is now the location of a free testing site. “People weren’t hearing back for nine, 10 days.”
The governor said the partnership with MAKO Medical will aim to provide “free, quick, easy testing.” Tests will take 15 minutes and the results should be available in two to four days, Polis added.
Polis, who got tested at the new site, stressed that these new sites are accessible to everyone.
“You don’t need appointments, you don’t need a doctor or primary caregiver, you don’t need a note,” he said.
Illinois Department of Public Health reported 1,319 new cases today, for a total of 195,399.
One new death was reported today, bringing that total to 7,637.
The seven day positivity rate for new cases is steady at 4.1%.
IDPH reports that 1,481 people are hospitalized statewide with the virus, with 352 of those in intensive care units.
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.
At least 484 students and 21 staff members in the Cherokee School District have been quarantined since school began on Aug. 3, according to the school’s website.
The district is reporting 25 positive cases among students and six cases among staff.
The district has about 42,500 students, a spokesperson tells CNN.
There are 22 schools in Mississippi that are reporting positive Covid-19 cases, State Health Director Dr. Thomas Dobbs said in a news conference.
Dobbs said there have been 19 cases reported among students and 15 cases among staff.
Last week, Gov. Tate Reeves ordered a two-week mask mandate for every county in the state, including in schools.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom said that President Trump’s unemployment proposal, which would require states to pitch in 25% of a $400 benefit, would cost the state approximately $700 million each week.
Newsom acknowledged that a $400 benefit rather than the current $600 weekly payment would be advantageous for those Californians who are otherwise looking at nothing.
He warned that it would add to the “enormous economic stress” already menacing the California’s government.
“We are at peril of being in a position where we’re making false commitments, false promises,” Newsom said.
The US Food and Drug Administration will not compromise on the safety of a Covid-19 vaccine, even with the speed with which it must evaluate vaccine candidates, FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn told American Medical Association President Dr. Susan Bailey in an online conversation Monday.
Hahn acknowledged that because of the speed with which the agency is working, some experts have questioned if the FDA will compromise its scientific principles in reviewing clinical trial data.
Hahn asked the doctors listening to the conversation to urge patients to take the vaccine once it is approved. He said that he has seen surveys that report a significant part of the public will be reluctant to get a Covid-19 vaccine. A CNN poll in May found one-third of Americans said they would not try to get vaccinated against Covid-19, even if the vaccine is widely available and low cost.
“We hope that you will urge your patients to take an approved vaccine, so that we can seek to establish widespread immunity,” Hahn said.
More context: There are 26 vaccines in human trials around the world with four in the United States. There are also 139 in preclinical trials around the world, according to the World Health Organization.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell confirmed to CNN that the Senate will be in session all week.
Most senators are gone and no votes are scheduled — with no stimulus deal to vote on.
Senators will have 24-hours notice to return if they have to vote.
McConnell wouldn’t answer when CNN asked if he will be negotiating with Democrats this week.
Lebanon has recorded 295 new coronavirus cases on Monday, the day the country’s government stepped down.
The resignation of the prime minister comes less than a week after a massive explosion in Beirut killed more than 160 people and sparked days of violent protests.
Lebanon has also recorded four new coronavirus deaths in the previous 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Public Health. This brings the total number of cases in the country to 6,812 and the total number of deaths to 80.
Some background: Shortly before the ministry reported the rise in cases on Monday, Prime Minister Hassan Diab addressed the nation, announcing his resignation and that of his government in the wake of the deadly blast last week, which he called a “disaster beyond measure.”
In an impassioned speech, Diab berated Lebanon’s ruling political elite for fostering what he called “an apparatus of corruption bigger than the state.”
In a Georgia state election board meeting Monday, the board passed an emergency rule to allow election officials to open and scan absentee ballots two weeks before election day, beginning Monday October 19.
This means election officials will have more time to process the increased number of absentee ballots the state expects to receive due to more people voting by mail during the coronavirus pandemic.
Election officials will not be able to tabulate votes early, they will simply be allowed to open and scan absentee ballots before election day, according to the new rule.
Originally, there was a one-week window where officials could begin processing ballots. This move could help the state tabulate results more quickly on election night.
Syria’s health ministry announced 67 new Covid-19 cases, according to state news agency SANA on Monday, the highest number of cases in a single day since the beginning of the pandemic.
In a statement to SANA, the ministry said the total number of coronavirus cases in the country (in regime-held areas) have reached 1,255, of which 364 cases have recovered and 52 people have died.
The health minister of the Syrian interim opposition government, Dr. Maram al-Sheikh, said in a tweet Monday, “New decisions to be issued, the most important of which is the compulsory wearing of the masks and tightening the social distancing without there being limitation to the freedom of movement, except for the elderly who must stay at home.”
The first coronavirus infection was registered in Syria on March 22, a person who came from abroad, while the first death was on May 29.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that they believe President Trump’s executive actions on coronavirus relief are “unworkable.”
The extension reduced previous federal unemployment benefits to $400 from the $600 level that expired at the end of July after Congress failed to reach a deal on the benefits’ future. States are being asked to cover 25% of the enhanced unemployment benefits.
Both governors said the order would increase the cost on states that are already struggling financially due to economic impacts of coronavirus lockdown and response to the pandemic, and would bankrupt some states.
“My motivation today is not to criticize or suggest that the President’s Executive Order wasn’t intended to help, but simply to make the point that it’s not workable in its current form,” Beshear said, on the call.
Beshear added that he wanted a congressional solution, and for an unemployment benefit “at the $600 level.”
Cuomo said it would cost the state of New York $4 billion between now and December to pay 25% of the unemployment insurance for New Yorkers.
Cuomo added that the executive order “will be challenged in court” and that there are “serious legal questions” about the authority Trump had to issue the order.
Cuomo said Congress would have to pass a federal law to allow a state to go bankrupt. He challenged Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, of Beshear’s home state, to pass such a law.
“I challenge McConnell to propose the law to bankrupt states. And watch the markets plummet overnight. They think they’re going to help bring jobs back? That’s what you’re going to do? By proposing to bankrupt states? Then do it.”
Read more about Trump’s orders here.
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced that he will be awarding $96 million dollars in grant money to 4,933 small businesses that were impacted by Covid-19 in the state, according to a statement released by his office on Monday.
More than 50% of the grants were awarded to historically disadvantaged businesses, the statement said.
The grant money may be used to cover operating expenses during the shutdown as a result of the global pandemic and to help businesses transition to reopening among other things, according to guidelines set forth by the governor’s office.
Just weeks after losing his mother Covid-19, Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia is mourning the death of his stepfather, who also died from coronavirus complications, according to a statement from his office.
Greg O’Donnell, 58, died one day after the memorial service for his wife of 27 years, Gaby O’Donnell, Garcia’s mother.
“We are incredibly saddened to share that my stepfather, Greg O’Donnell, has passed away due to complications from COVID-19. It’s a heartbreaking loss for our entire family, especially for my brother Jake,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.
At least 8,775 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Long Beach and at least 181 people have died from the virus, the city reported.
The National Hockey League announced that it has received no new positive Covid-19 test results during the past week inside the league’s two hub cities of Toronto and Edmonton.
Every member of each team’s traveling party was tested on a daily basis between Aug. 2 and Aug. 8.
Since entering its two hub city “bubbles,” the league has not returned a positive test from any of the 24 teams participating in the NHL’s return to play.
President Trump is calling on college sports leaders to allow the student athletes to play this season, as they consider canceling or postponing play due to the pandemic.
Leaders from college sports’ “Power Five” conferences over the weekend discussed postponing the football season and other fall sports, according to reports from multiple sports news outlets including ESPN, Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports, who all cited several sources.
No decision has been reached yet, and the discussions are expected to continue over the next few days.
“It’s an ongoing conversation we’ve been having for weeks,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told CBS Sports on Sunday night. “We talk almost every day. I’m not aware decisions have been made.”
A source tells CNN that the Power Five conference commissioners have been meeting for months to discuss the fate of fall sports and would continue to do so.
Read the President’s tweet:
There are at least 5,058,464 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 163,100 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
On Monday, Johns Hopkins has reported 13,600 new cases and 162 reported deaths.
The mayor of Mexico City, Claudia Sheinbaum, is in self-isolation Monday following a colleague testing positive for Covid-19, she announced on Twitter.
The city’s Interior Minister, José Alfonso Suárez del Real, tweeted that he tested positive for the virus though he was “feeling fine.” He informed those he has been in contact with to “take precautions,” he added.
Sheinbaum was with Suárez del Real on Sunday, she tweeted Monday.
“In accordance to the protocols, I will stay home the next few days, until I take the test again. I am in perfect condition and attending to everything with remotely,” she added.
The Hong Kong government on Monday extended social distancing measures to Aug. 18 despite a declining number of new cases.
According to a statement, public gatherings of more than two people will be banned during this period. Additionally, in-house dining at restaurants should be limited to only 50% of the venues’ capacity and will not allowed between 6 p.m. to 5 a.m. local time.
“The Government strongly urges the public to stay at home as much as possible, go out less often unless necessary, and avoid dining out and unnecessary social activities (including private gatherings),” the statement said.
Venues such as fitness centers, swimming pools, and beauty parlors will remain closed, the statement added.
Hong Kong on Monday reported 69 new cases, including 67 local infections.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp announced Monday an expansion in testing for the Atlanta area.
A Covid-19 mega-testing site will run from today until Aug. 26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. local time, Monday through Friday in College Park, Georgia.
The site will be able to test 5,000 people per day, and will offer results within 48 to 72 hours, according to the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Today’s announcement comes as a result of US Health and Human Services identifying Atlanta as one of several “hot spots” around the country, according Nancy Nydam of the Georgia Department of Public Health.
Asked why this testing will only be available for 13 days, Nydam said there aren’t adequate resources to continue operating this specific site indefinitely.
During the news conference Monday near Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, both Kemp and US Surgeon General Jerome Adams were asked by reporters, including CNN’s Natasha Chen, whether they want schools to mandate masks.
Just last week, at least 260 students and eight teachers from a suburban school district in Atlanta were quarantined after multiple students and teachers tested positive for Covid-19 during the first week of school.
Meanwhile, Adams said he is “not against” mandates, but doesn’t think that alone will fix the issue.
CNN’s Natasha Chen reports from the testing site:
Cuba reported 93 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday, a record increase in new daily cases since the pandemic began, said the island’s top epidemiologist Dr. Alfredo Durán Garcia.
Cuba had claimed to have brought the spread of the virus under control in July and had begun easing some restrictions.
But the spike in new cases put a halt to plans to reopen the economy of the communist-run island.
On Friday, Cuban officials suspended public transportation and access to the beach and ordered restaurants, bars and pools to shut down in Havana and a neighboring province, the two places that have seen the largest surge in new cases.
Cuba has 2,953 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 88 coronavirus-related deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
There are 107 school districts in New York state that haven’t submitted plans for reopening, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.
Cuomo said that because the viral transmission rate in New York is one of the lowest in the United States, districts can reopen.
“Yes, you can reopen,” Cuomo said. “If you have a smart plan.”
New York City public schools submitted a supplemental plan over the weekend, and Cuomo urged the district to make the plan public and get input from parents and teachers.
“If the parents of NYC and the teachers of NYC say it is a safe plan then it is a safe plan. Education is fundamentally a local responsibility,” he said.
The state of Florida is reporting at least 4,155 new single daily cases of Covid-19 and 91 additional resident deaths on Monday, according to Florida Department of Health.
The number of new infections on Monday is the lowest increase since June 23, according to state data.
There are now 536,961 cases to date including out-of-state residents, Florida officials report. Florida has reported 8,277 resident deaths to date, data shows.
Remember: These numbers were released by Florida’s public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database, which is drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday in a call with reporters that hospitalizations, intensive care unit admissions and intubations for coronavirus patients fell to a “new low” number since the state started seeing cases back in March.
Total hospitalizations fell to 535 — 127 were in ICU and 62 were intubated, Cuomo said.
Of the 54,000 Covid-19 tests yesterday, 476 were positive, with a positivity rate of .88%.
Two New Yorkers died yesterday, Cuomo said.
Parents with children in the New York City public school system were given the opportunity to opt out of the schooling plans announced at the end of last week, but as of Monday, 74% of students say they are planning to participate in in-person learning and/or blended learning which closely mirrored the city survey taken earlier this summer, Mayor Bill de Blasio said today at his daily presser.
The virus positive test rate has been under 3% positive in NYC for two months running, which de Blasio said makes New York City schools ready to open under caution. The positive testing rate on Monday was 1%.
Parents will start to get notification of their kids’ school schedules next Monday and everyone will have that information by the week after that.
When asked about teacher union concerns about city schools without nurses, de Blasio said he’s working on that right now, and there will be a significant testing and contact-tracing presence from the city in schools.
When asked about ventilation in schools, the mayor said schools and custodial staffs are working on it. He said if a classroom can’t be prepared well enough it won’t be used. This in part is why additional learning locations will be necessary. Specifically the mayor said schools will be opening windows as much as possible for ventilation.
When asked about a Daily News report that 650 of 1,500 schools have at least one reported exhaust fan issue, de Blasio said it’s being worked on but reiterated if a classroom isn’t ready, it won’t be used and if there’s a bigger problem in a school, that adjustment will be made.
California’s health director and state public health officer resigned from her post on Sunday, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Dr. Sonia Angell sent an email to staff announcing her departure:
“I want to thank Dr. Angell for her service to the state and her work to help steer our public health system during this global pandemic, while never losing sight of the importance of health equity,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said.
State Health and Human Services Agency Secretary, Dr. Mark Ghaly said he was “grateful to Dr. Angell for her service to the people of California during this unprecedented public health crisis. She has worked tirelessly for all Californians, always keeping health equity in mind. Her leadership was instrumental as Californians flattened the curve once and in setting us on a path to do so again.”
Sandra Shewry will be appointed acting California Department of Public Health Director and Dr. Erica Pan will assume the role of acting State Public Health Officer, according to the CDPH.
California has the dubious distinction of being the state with the most number of coronavirus cases.
The state is currently battling a technical glitch in its disease reporting database (CalREDIE) causing an underreporting in coronavirus cases. Gov. Newsom has launched an investigation.
He will hold a press conference today at 12:00 p.m. PT.
Georgia state representative Beth Moore said she’s received messages from hundreds of anonymous teachers and students since Friday about concerns of Covid-19 and schools.
During a virtual news conference hosted by the Georgia Democrats, Rep. Beth Moore said she posted a video on her social media on Friday asking teachers, students, and school administrators to anonymously send their concerns related to school reopening in the state.
She said she did so after hearing about a student in Paulding County, Georgia who was suspended for posting a picture of her crowded school hallways on Twitter. That suspension was later rescinded.
She read a portion of an email from a high school English teacher in Forsyth County, Georgia who was concerned about class size.
Rep. Moore said the email read, in part, “every class, I teach 5, has 30 to 31 students, except for one that has 33. No masks are required. I am scared to death.”
Watch her interview on CNN:
Covid-19 is brutal in its simplicity and its cruelty, but there are things that can be done to outsmart it, according to World Health Organization officials.
“When we talk about what is the virus trying to do and the virus being an enemy, the virus doesn’t have a brain. We’re the ones with the brains,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, during a news conference in Geneva on Monday.
Ryan described the virus as a simple biologic entity that can enter a human cell and instruct that cell to make more viruses, which can at minimum infect someone else; or in the worst case, kill the person.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for coronavirus, elaborated on how this can be done, saying that the goal of the virus is to reproduce, find individuals to pass between but not kill too many, as it Is unable to pass to another person if it kills its host.
“There’s many, many things that we can do right now with the tools that we have right now, to outsmart this virus,” she said.
While work on therapeutics and vaccines will continue, at this point chains of transmission can be broken, she said.
These include social distancing, contact tracing, quarantining infected individuals, the use of masks when physical distancing isn’t possible, and hand washing.
“If we do all of these things, we can outsmart the virus, and we can prevent this virus from passing from one individual to another,” she said, adding that everyone on the planet needs to understand that they have a role to play in breaking chain of transmission.
As the legal battle over the reopening of Florida public schools continues, at least 12 county public schools systems are planning to reopen this week and offer in-person instruction, according to Mark Richard, Florida Education Association attorney.
According to Richard and the school district websites, the school districts opening this week are Baker, Bradford, Dixie, Franklin, Gilchrist, Hamilton, Suwannee, Martin, Calhoun, Hardee, Union and Wakulla.
CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield said last month that officials in counties with a positivity rate higher than 5% might consider keeping schools closed; and White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx agreed with Redfield’s take on the matter on CNN’s State of the Union with Dana Bash on August 2.
On Saturday, 9 of 12 counties reopening schools this week had a positivity rate above 5%, according to the latest data available from the Florida Department of Health. The same data showed that in the past two weeks, all 12 counties on some days exceeded 5% positivity rate, with some counties far exceeding that metric. For example, Baker County had a 36.9% positivity on Friday and Bradford had a 42% positivity rate on Thursday.
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said the administration is prepared to put more money on the table as stalled stimulus negotiations continue on Capitol Hill, but couldn’t say when his team would meet with Democrats.
Mnuchin declined to say when negotiators would be meeting, but said he heard House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer over the weekend, and “if we can get a fair deal, we’ll do it this week.”
“I’m not gonna comment on the specifics of the logistics of negotiations because I don’t think that’s helpful,” he said when pressed on when they would meet next.
One area where they were willing to compromise is food assistance for children: “I listened to the Speaker over the weekend. She’s right. We started low on food. We realize there’s a lot of kids out there and that there is an issue,” he said, adding that they will “go down the list” on further issues.
He reiterated the administration’s position against funding for state and local governments after the President’s executive action slashed the federal unemployment benefit from $600 to $400, requiring states to pay for 25%.
Trump told reporters late Sunday it will depend on the state and the federal government could pick up the entire cost if governors make a request, but the action received criticism from many governors.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer roundly criticized the move and how it will impact states with “severe holes in our budgets” and suggested it shows he’s more focused than winning the election than fighting the virus.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called it “laughable.” And Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine told CNN he’s not sure if his state will take the federal money.
Mnuchin said House-passed legislation with $1 trillion of aid to state and local governments was an “absurd number.”
He claimed “all 100%” is coming from the federal government and claimed states had “plenty of money.”
“The 25% isn’t really coming from the states because we’re authorizing them to use money out of the $150 billion we just sent them… I have from every single state how much money they have left over. They have plenty of money,” he said.
He suggested states would get that money back in additional legislation.
Mnuchin said he would be on Monday’s governors call and had spoken with many of them amid widespread concern from governors regarding the President’s executive actions.
The closed call is at 3:00 p.m. ET.
Covid-19 is proving exceptionally difficult to stop, and it is important to identify where the human-animal barrier was breached, Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization’s Health Emergencies Programme, said during a news conference in Geneva on Monday.
“This is not an easy virus and not an easy virus, either, to detect. It’s not an easy virus to stop,” he said.
Ryan explained that it is difficult to detect and distinguish between Covid-19 and other syndromes without adequate and immediate testing which is being seen in countries where both Covid-19 and influenza are circulating at the same time.
An epidemiologic investigation will start in Wuhan, because that’s where the first clusters of cases were picked up, he said, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that is where Case Zero was, according to Ryan.
“If you follow the data and the science, you will find, hopefully, the point at which the disease crossed the species barrier,” he said.
Finding Case Zero helps to distinguish this crossing of the barrier between species.
“It is important that we find that, because as long as the animal-human breach has not been discovered, there’s always a chance that that barrier can be breached again,” he said.
Although finding this breach is important, it can take some time, according to Ryan, who said It took years for MERS, and has never been fully established for SARS.
The world is at greater risk for these species breaches, Ryan said.
“We are pressuring the biologic system. We live in a biome. We live in a world of biology. And we are creating – actively creating – the pressures that are driving the breaches of those barriers,” he said. “And we need to do better at managing the risks associated with that.”
US stocks advanced slightly Monday morning as Wall Street tried to gauge how much President Trump’s recent executive actions would stimulate the economy.
Trump announced this weekend he would go around Congress to deliver aid to Americans affected by the pandemic. But a close read of the actual text of the executive actions he signed Saturday suggests that even if they are deemed constitutional, they will not quickly deliver the aid Trump promised. They may not deliver much at all.
Here’s how things looked at the opening:
There was always a chance that Covid-19 would flare up again, even after it was suppressed, and countries need to focus on their response to these flare-ups, according to World Health Organization officials.
“There was always a likelihood that diseases, that we have said – it would spike and there would be flare ups of the virus – because until the virus has gone, there’s always a chance of flare-ups,” said Dr. Mike Ryan, director of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme, during a news briefing in Geneva on Monday.
Countries really need to focus their response on the inevitable flareups, Ryan said – how fast and how effectively they respond to them, and if they are able to shut them down as quickly as possible, and move on to the next flare-up.
Once the virus has been bought down to a low level and these flare-ups do occur, how quickly a country or area is able to respond to them, and how localized they can be in their response, really comes down to how well they have invested in the ability to do things such as surveillance, quarantine and contact tracing, according to Ryan.
While viruses often show seasonality when there are not control measures in place, Covid-19 has not shown this. But, what it has “clearly demonstrated is you take the pressure off the virus, the virus bounces back,” Ryan said.
“That’s the reality. That’s the fact. You can call that a second wave, you can call that a second spike, you can call that a flare-up. You can call it anything you like. Take the pressure off this virus, the virus will bounce back,” he said.
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for Covid-19, agreed with Ryan.
Everyone on the planet should know what their role is in the fight against Covid-19 and manage their own risk, she said.
There is no indication of seasonality. The virus hasn’t gone away and that the majority of the population remains susceptible to infection, she said.
“So, we have to do everything that we can to prevent infections and save lives,” Van Kerkhove said. “Do it all. Physical distance, wear a mask where appropriate, make sure you practice respiratory etiquette, avoid crowded settings, follow national guidance, be informed. All of this needs to be done every day.”
The Trump administration is making new inroads into the operations of the US Postal Service, raising fears that the agency is degrading services ahead of a surge of votes being cast through the mail in the November election.
As President Trump has launched a relentless attack on vote-by-mail elections, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin has inserted himself into the Postal Service’s finances and a major Trump donor was selected to lead the USPS —steps critics warn have opened up the independent government agency to undue political influence.
New Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who took over in June, is under pressure to reverse dramatic cost-cutting measures and prepare the Postal Service for a flood of mail-in ballots this fall.
Last week, Mnuchin struck a loan deal with the Postal Service giving him access to details of its 10 biggest service contracts, likely including Amazon — a move that could give the administration new ammunition to push the USPS to agree to one of Trump’s pet projects, raising its shipping prices.
And in another sign of Mnuchin’s involvement in the Postal Service’s dealings, the Treasury secretary received briefings from the USPS Board of Governors to discuss the appointment of DeJoy as postmaster general earlier this year, a source familiar with the matter told CNN, an irregular arrangement that has not happened in past appointments.
In heated discussions with DeJoy on Wednesday, Democrats demanded that the Postal Service repeal cutbacks that have slowed the mail already, months before the November elections. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer told CNN on Thursday that Democrats called on DeJoy “to pull back on these cutbacks on overtime and employees, so all the mail can be delivered on time on Election Day.”
“We pushed it. It’s gotta be 100%, not 94%, not 97%,” Schumer said, adding: “We don’t fully trust them — with everything Trump has said about the Post Office – and they’re Trump appointees.”
In a letter to DeJoy on Thursday, Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the postmaster general had confirmed the cutbacks in their Wednesday meeting, and they again called on him to reverse them.
Some background: The moves that have unfolded just six weeks into DeJoy’s tenure have cast new doubts about the ability of the Postal Service to handle what is shaping up to be a major increase in mail-in voting in November as the country grapples with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Democrats charge that the service cuts smack of political influence when they come at the same time that Trump is falsely claiming mail-in voting will result in massive fraud.
Read more here.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer denied President Trump’s claim that Democrats called him to resume negotiations, and said he has not seen any evidence that the President is personally involved in the negotiations for the next coronavirus relief bill.
Schumer went on to say, “I’ve seen zero evidence that he’s involved at all.” Schumer noted that during negotiations over the last stimulus bill he spoke to the President, but said that they have not spoken since.
“He just makes things up,” Schumer said of the President’s executive actions over the weekend, adding that he thinks Trump’s measures are “laughable.”
Schumer also criticized Trump’s Director of the National Economic Council Larry Kudlow’s appearance on CNN’s State of the Union yesterday, saying Kudlow “had no idea what the executive order actually said.”
But Schumer also presented an optimistic view of how negotiations could now move forward in light of the President’s executive actions this weekend.
“It may well be that the Republicans are willing to now sit down with us because they see what they were hanging their hat on, these executive orders, are just being more or less regarded at best as ineffective,” Schumer said.
Restaurants help establish the unique character of our communities.
But “restaurants are dying,” says legendary chef Marcus Samuelsson. “Four out of five of our favorite independent restaurants may not survive this shutdown.”
That heartbreak is increasingly common as independent restaurant owners face an economic apocalypse. Together, they make up a half million small businesses across the country, directly employing 11 million Americans, with an economic impact that is felt up and down the supply chain, from farmers to fishermen.
Most survived on small profit margins before the Covid-19 crisis compelled many to temporarily close, and re-open at 25% capacity, operating with skeleton crews doing takeout and serving food outdoors when the weather permits. (But remember: Once the weather turns cold, the outdoor seating work-arounds will no longer be operative — and without a vaccine, many will be forced to close their doors forever.)
Now, they’re trying to convince Congress to throw them a much needed lifeline in the form of the Restaurants Act, a bipartisan bill to establish a $120 billion grant program distributed through the Treasury Department.
Despite one-third of Congress co-sponsoring the bill, it has not been taken up by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell as negotiations for a new round of relief drags on. One of the bill’s original co-sponsors, Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker said in a statement to CNN that, “The growing momentum for the Restaurants Act in the Senate and the House is something that should be considered as the next recovery package comes together …This relief is also critical for other businesses in the restaurant supply chain like farms, bakeries, beverage distributors, and truckers.”
Spanish actor and Oscar nominee Antonio Banderas revealed he has tested positive for coronavirus, in an Instagram post on Monday.
Posting on his 60th birthday, Banderas said he is marking the occasion while in quarantine and is feeling “relatively well, just a bit more tired than normal.”
Banderas added he will use this time of recovery to “read, write, rest” and continue making plans to mark his milestone birthday.
See his Instagram post:
White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany dismissed speculation that Trump’s executive actions, which she specifically called “executive orders,” were a negotiation tactic.
What this is about: With stimulus talks stalled, Trump announced this weekend he would go around Congress to deliver aid to Americans affected by the pandemic. A close read of the actual text of executive actions he signed Saturday suggests that even if they are deemed constitutional, they will not quickly deliver the aid Trump promised. You can read more about what’s in the actions here.
The Cherokee County School District in Georgia says 19 students and 4 members of the teachers and staff have tested positive for coronavirus since the start of the school year one week ago.
The district confirmed the positive cases through their online notification system.
At least 16 schools across the county are impacted the district said.
Impacted students and teachers are being told to self-quarantine for two weeks, according to the district.
This is not the only impacted school district in the state. Last week, Georgia’s largest school district confirmed that around 260 employees have either tested positive for Covid-19 or have been exposed.
The Gwinnett County School District (GCPS) employees won’t be returning to school just yet as districts across the country continue to adjust their back-to-school plans to prevent the spread of the virus.
The US topped 5 million cases of coronavirus early Sunday — and as experts have highlighted before, the true number of infections could be many times higher.
The number means the country holds about a quarter of global cases of the virus and also tops the list with the most reported deaths in the world. As of 9:00 a.m. ET, the US had at least 5,045,564, according to the Johns Hopkins University tally.
To put the number in perspective, that means the United States has had more Covid-19 cases than Ireland has people. The number of cases is also slightly higher than the entire population of Alabama.
To put the speed in which the number is growing in perspective:
“This is such a sobering number,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University.
The pandemic shows no sign of slowing, and deaths continue to climb, with more than 1,000 deaths reported each day over the past five days, according to data from Johns Hopkins University’s Covid Tracker. Since July 21, there have been only four days the US did not report more than 1,000 deaths.
Track the virus in the US here.
More than 97,000 children in the US tested positive for coronavirus in the last two weeks of July, a new report says.
The report, published by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association, said in those two weeks, there was a 40% increase in child cases across the states and cities that were studied.
The age range for children differed by state, with some defining children as only those up to age 14 and one state – Alabama – pushing the limit to 24.
The compiled data comes during back-to-school season as health officials are trying to understand the effects of the virus on children and the role young people play in its spread. Some schools have begun welcoming crowds back to class and others have had to readjust their reopening plans in response to infections.
In one Georgia high school that made headlines after a photo of a crowded school hallway went viral, nine coronavirus cases were reported, according to a letter from the principal. Six of those cases were students and three were staff members, the letter said.
While some US leaders – including the President – have said the virus doesn’t pose a large risk to children, one recent study suggests older children can transmit the virus just as much as adults. Another study said children younger than 5 carry a higher viral load than adults, raising even more questions about their role in transmission.
At least 86 children have died since May, according to the new report. Last week, a 7-year-old boy with no pre-existing conditions became the youngest coronavirus victim in Georgia. In Florida, two teenagers died earlier this month bringing the state’s death toll of minors to seven.
Read more:
On Monday, Iraq’s Ministry of Health reported 3,484 new confirmed cases of coronavirus cases. This brings the total number of cases in the country to at least 153,599.
The health ministry also reported at least 72 Covid-19 related deaths. That brings the total number of deaths in Iraq to at least 5,464.
With stimulus talks stalled, President Trump announced he would go around Congress to deliver aid to Americans affected by the pandemic.
While the House remains out, both members of the House and Senate have been told to be ready to return to Washington, DC should a deal be reached. The Senate is set to convene today at 3 p.m. ET.
A close read of the actual text of executive actions Trump signed Saturday suggests that even if they are deemed constitutional, they will not quickly deliver the aid Trump promised. They may not deliver much at all.
Here’s a breakdown of the actions, the many strings attached and questions about what they actually accomplish.
Unemployment benefits
Trump described the memorandum signed Saturday as an action providing “an additional or extra $400 a week and expanded benefits.”
But in reality, the additional unemployment aid is more complicated than the White House acknowledged and experts say it may not help a lot of the unemployed.
Now, under Trump’s measure, the federal government is requiring states to pick up the tab for 25% ($100) of the as much as $400 additional benefit each person may be able to receive weekly in additional aid. On top of that, a state must agree to enter into this financial agreement with the federal government for any unemployed person living there to get any of the additional benefits.
On Sunday night, Trump said he was open to allowing people to get the enhanced benefit without states picking up some of the cost. He said it was possible that the federal government could pick up the entire cost if governors make a request.
Evictions
The executive action signed by Trump does not reinstate the previous moratorium on evictions, which lapsed in July. The original ban covered mortgages which were backed by federal funds. The nonprofit Urban Institute has estimated that moratorium covered just over 12 million households.
The new measure only states that “the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Director of the CDC shall consider whether any measures temporarily halting residential evictions of any tenants for failure to pay rent are reasonably necessary to “prevent the further spread of COVID-19.”
The action calls for the Housing and Urban Development and Treasury secretaries to identify “any and all Federal funds to provide temporary financial assistance to renters and homeowners” who are “struggling” to pay their mortgages and rents because of the coronavirus.
Experts told CNN that it was unclear based on the process laid out for government agencies how long it would take for anyone to see funding from this.
Payroll tax
The payroll tax measure that Trump signed Saturday does not actually reduce the payroll taxes. It defers the due date for the portion of those taxes paid by employees — 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare — through December 31. It applies to workers whose wages are less than $4,000 on a biweekly basis, or about $104,000 a year.
This is similar to Treasury’s deferring the federal income tax due date this year to July 15, from April 15.
You can read the full breakdown here.
US President Donald Trump’s big executive power move ostensibly meant to support laid-off workers and stimulate the economy is already mired in confusion that threatens to leave millions of jobless Americans waiting in vain for help from Washington.
White House advisers struggled to explain Sunday exactly what the flurry of presidential actions, signed by Trump after the breakdown of talks with congressional Democrats on a new coronavirus rescue package, actually do or how quickly they might work. But it’s already clear the measures fall well short of the President’s billing.
In many ways, his intervention on Saturday is a typical Trump gambit. His executive actions appear hurriedly written and thought out – designed for a political flourish rather than as a sound foundation for governing.
While the President claims to have stepped in to protect American workers, his actions may not deliver the help Americans need – especially since his memorandum on unemployment benefits actually lowers federal payments from the $600 level under a previous Congressional package and his order for “assistance to renters and homeowners” does not extend the eviction moratorium that has already expired. His decision to unveil the measures Saturday in a rambling, hyper political news conference at his New Jersey golf club, playing to a gallery of well-heeled members, bolstered the impression of a political stunt.
That was especially the case since the President accompanied his announcement with untrue claims about election fraud and the true state of the pandemic – which hit the 5 million infections mark on Sunday as more than 1,000 Americans die every day from the disease.
Read the full analysis:
As the global Covid-19 case count approaches 20 million and deaths approach 750,000, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said the virus must be suppressed to safely reopen societies,
“I know many of you are grieving, and that this is a difficult moment for the world,” Tedros said during a news briefing in Geneva on Monday. “But I want to be clear: There are green shoots of hope and no matter where a country, a region, a city or a town it – it is never too late to turn the outbreak around.”
He said there are “two essential elements to effectively addressing the pandemic effectively.”
Tedros highlighted countries such as New Zealand and Rwanda as examples of places that are doing well in the fight against Covid-19.
New Zealand’s Prime Minister celebrated 100 days with no community transmission but stressed the need to stay cautious, Tedros said. Rwanda is seeing progress due to a similar combination, he said. Testing and treatment for Covid-19 is free, people who test positive are isolated, and all their potential contacts are visited and tested by health workers.
“Getting the basics right provides a clear picture of where the virus is, and the necessary targeted actions to suppress transmission and save lives,” Tedros said.
He added that “even in countries where transmission is intense, it can be brought under control by applying an all-of-government, all-of-society response.”
Using tools such as rapid case identification, contact tracing, adequate care for patients, physical distancing, mask wearing and hand hygiene, chains of transmission have been broken.
Countries that have successfully done this have been able to reopen parts of societies, including schools, with a risk-based approach; however they must stay vigilant for potential clusters of Covid-19.
Everyone wants to see schools reopen, Tedros said, but the safety of all those involved must also be ensured.
“My message is crystal clear: Suppress, suppress, suppress the virus,” Tedros said. “If we suppress the virus effectively, we can safely open up societies.”
Bolivia’s Health Ministry reported 944 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the country’s total number of cases to 89,999.
At least 53 new deaths were also reported, bringing the death toll to 3,640.
Sunday marked seven days since protesters started setting up road blockades across the country to oppose the delay of the country’s general election.
At least 60 roadblocks were set up, preventing transport for medical supplies and oxygen needed to fight the pandemic and causing more than 30 deaths, according to health authorities.
Bolivia’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) postponed the country’s general election to September first and later to October due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Dialogue efforts between the government, the opposition party MAS led by former president Evo Morales and union leaders have not been successful.
The novel coronavirus has infected more than 19.8 million people worldwide and caused more than 731,570 deaths. Here’s what you need to know:
Contrary to his predictions, President Trump won’t have a coronavirus vaccine ready by Election Day, vaccine experts tell CNN after reviewing data from Moderna, the first company to begin Phase 3 clinical trials of a coronavirus vaccine in the United States.
Last week President Trump said he was “optimistic” a vaccine would be ready around Election Day on November 3.
“I believe we’ll have the vaccine before the end of the year, certainly, but around that date, yes. I think so,” Trump said Thursday.
CNN obtained part of an email Moderna sent on Friday to the principal investigators of its vaccine trials. It says 4,536 study subjects have enrolled in the trials.
The trial started on July 27, and intends to enroll 30,000 study subjects. The company has said it is “on track to complete enrollment in September.”
Moderna won’t make that 30,000 in September if they continue at the rate of the first two weeks, but it’s likely the speed of enrollment will ramp up, since as of Friday only 54 of the study’s 89 sites were operating, according to the company’s email to its researchers.
Moderna’s numbers did increase significantly from the first week of the trial to the second week.
Even if Moderna does reach its goal of full enrollment during the month of September, the company still won’t have a vaccine on the market by Election Day, infectious disease experts say.
After Moderna enrolls its subjects and gives them their first shot, they then have to wait 28 days before giving them a second shot.
That means participants enrolled at the end of September won’t be getting their second injections until the end of October.
Offit said they then have to wait two weeks for the vaccine to become fully effective.
“That takes you past Election Day,” Offit said.
After that, the researchers have to wait and see who gets sick with Covid-19 and who does not. Half the study participants are receiving the real vaccine, and half get a placebo, or a shot that does nothing. Neither the participants nor the doctors giving the vaccines know who got which injections.
Both Offit and Hotez predict there will be results from the Moderna study in the first quarter of 2021 at the earliest.
Read more:
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says the UK has a “moral duty” to reopen schools full-time next month for children’s wellbeing.
Schools in England closed in March, though many remained partially open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers.
Some pupils in kindergarten, grade 1 and grade 6 went back to school in June.
Johnson visited schools in East London on Monday.
Johnson’s comments come after he wrote an article for British newspaper the Mail on Sunday, declaring school reopening a “national priority.”
He said children were at increased risk of domestic violence, exploitation and addiction if they remained out of school for any longer than necessary.
Johnson has repeatedly said that the risk of children becoming severely ill from coronavirus is “low,” but safely reopening schools remains a fraught process for officials.
A key member of the group advising the government on its Covid-19 response said last week that the UK may need to choose between keeping pubs open or allowing schools to reopen, if it wants to keep coronavirus infection rates down.
When Kim Reeder started teaching in Parker, Colorado, 14 years ago, she found that managing the classroom environment took way more time and energy than actually teaching children, and she couldn’t reach as many of them as she wanted.
Then Reeder discovered virtual school. As a middle school social studies teacher at Colorado Connections Academy for the past 13 years, she’s found that “there’s really no classroom management.”
Online teaching at the academy, a public school for children from kindergarten through to 12th grade, gives her the time, freedom and energy to “give every student what they need.”
Many schools around the world abruptly transitioned to distance learning in March, when Covid-19 forced brick-and-mortar schools to shut.
But much of what students have experienced since then didn’t represent real online schooling, in which teachers are trained to teach remotely and online.
Read more:
Every day, the US is reminded of Covid-19’s ongoing impact as new death counts are published. What is not well documented is the pandemic’s toll on the family members of those whose lives are lost to the virus.
New research suggests that damage is enormous: For every person who dies of Covid-19, nine close family members are affected, researchers estimate – based on complex demographic calculations and data about the coronavirus.
Many survivors will be shaken by the circumstances under which their loved ones pass away — rapid declines, sudden deaths and an inability to be there at the end — and worrisome ripple effects may linger for years, researchers warn.
If 190,000 Americans die from Covid-19 complications by the end of August, as some models suggest, 1.7 million Americans will be grieving close family members, according to the study. Most likely to perish are grandparents, followed by parents, siblings, spouses and children.
Read more:
The 50-year reign of an Australia-based micronation formed by a “prince” has come to an end.
Hutt River, a self-declared principality, issued its own passports and once even declared war on Australia. In recent years, however, it’s been known as a quirky tourist attraction.
But the economic impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with a giant tax bill, have forced the principality to announce it will finally “surrender” to Australia.
Hutt River’s origins as a micronation date back to 1970, when the late Prince Leonard Casley claimed he’d exploited a legal loophole to create the principality in an isolated part of Western Australia, 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of the state capital, Perth.
Set on 75 square kilometers of farming land, it was more than twice the size of Macau, but populated by fewer than 30 people.
Read more:
Former Indian president Pranab Mukherjee has tested positive for coronavirus,
“On a visit to the hospital for a separate procedure, I have tested positive for Covid-19 today,” Mukherjee wrote in a post on his official Twitter account Monday.
“I request the people who came in contact with me in the last week, to please self isolate and get tested for Covid-19.”
Mukherjee served as India’s president from 2012 to 2017, following a career during which he held a string of prominent government roles.
India’s Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah announced on August 2 that he had tested positive for the virus and B.S. Yediyurappa, the chief minister of India’s southern state of Karnataka, announced his positive diagnosis on the same day.
India has more than 2.2 million recorded cases of the virus, and 44,386 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Leaders from US college sports’ “Power Five” conferences discussed postponing the country’s football season and other fall sports over the weekend amid the coronavirus pandemic, according to reports from multiple sports news outlets including ESPN, Sports Illustrated and CBS Sports, who all cited several sources.
No decision has been reached yet, and the discussions are expected to continue over the next few days.
“It’s an ongoing conversation we’ve been having for weeks,” Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby told CBS Sports on Sunday night. “We talk almost every day. I’m not aware decisions have been made.”
The discussion took place in the same weekend the US crossed 5 million cases of the virus. At least 5,044,864 people have tested positive and 162,938 have died as of Monday morning, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.
Read more:
Greece recorded its highest ever daily tally of Covid-19 cases on Sunday.
The country reported 203 new cases, most of which are in its two largest cities – Athens and Thessaloniki. Twenty-two patients in Greece are intubated, up from 14 on Friday.
The Greek government is expected to announce new pandemic measures this week amid the rising numbers.
Greece had previously managed to keep its case count low by enforcing a strict and early lockdown.
The country reopened its borders to tourists from the European Union and a handful of other nations on July 1.
Greece has so far recorded 5,623 coronavirus cases and 212 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
The United States and Taiwan have signed a memorandum of understanding on health cooperation.
According to a news release, the signing was witnessed by US Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar and Taiwan’s Minister of Health and Welfare Shih-Chung Chen.
“This visit represents an acknowledgement of the United States and Taiwan’s deep friendship and partnership across security, economic, health care and democratic, open, transparent values,” Azar said during a news conference after the signing.
Chen added that it marked the beginning of a “new chapter in Taiwan-US relations.”
“This MOU further expands … cooperation in areas including global health security, infectious disease prevention and control, chronic disease prevention and health promotion, maternal infant and adolescent health, environmental health, occupational health, tobacco control, health inequality, digital health, misuse of opioids, health communication and human resources for health,” the press release said.
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic Cultural Representative Office in the United States also signed a different MOU on health cooperation on “global health security, investigation and control of infectious disease, research, prevention and treatment of chronic disease, and the development of drugs and vaccines,” a press release from the AIT said.
Read more:
New Zealand has marked an enviable milestone – more than 100 days since its last coronavirus case was acquired locally from an unknown source.
As of Monday, the country had reported 1,219 confirmed cases, including just 21 active infections, all in managed isolation facilities. No cases had emerged via community transmission in 100 days, authorities announced Sunday, with all new infections coming from abroad.
In total, the island nation of 5 million people has reported 22 coronavirus deaths.
While other countries – including Pacific neighbor Australia and the United States – continue to battle outbreaks, New Zealand has been held up as an example of how to fight Covid-19. One key reason is that although the country appears to have the coronavirus under control, authorities are still testing thousands of people a day.
Read more here about how New Zealand hit its 100-day milestone:
The Health Minister of southwest India’s Karnataka state, B Sriramulu, tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday after showing flu-like symptoms, he said in a tweet.
He added that he is now receiving treatment at a government hospital in Bangalore.
In the last few months, Sriramulu has visited 30 different districts in performing his duties. He has asked anyone who has been in contact with him to take precautionary measures.
Other politicians testing positive: Sriramulu is only the latest politician to test positive for coronavirus in India. Last week, the Indian Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah and the chief minister of Karnataka also tested positive for coronavirus.
Kamal Rani Varun, the minister of technical education in Uttar Pradesh state, died earlier this month in the hospital where she was receiving treatment.
What’s happening in India? Last week, India became only the third country in the world to report more than 2 million total coronavirus cases, only three weeks after announcing it had hit 1 million confirmed infections.
As of Monday, India has reported 2,215,074 cases of coronavirus, including 44,386 deaths and 1,535,743 recoveries. In India, not all patients require a test to be considered recovered.
Read more about India’s outbreak:
Major League Baseball has postponed scheduled games between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Pirates after additional members of the Cardinals’ team and staff tested positive for Covid-19.
The Cardinals organization told CNN Sunday that John Mozeliak, the team’s president of baseball operations, confirmed one additional Cardinals player has tested positive.
A total of 17 members of the organization – 10 players and seven staff – have tested positive for the virus, resulting in the postponement of the three-game series between the teams scheduled for Monday through Wednesday at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
The Cardinals have now had 13 games postponed. The team has not played a game since July 29.
At least three teams in the league have had games postponed since the start of the shortened season after members tested positive for the virus.
The Miami Marlins had an outbreak that put their season on hold after 21 members of the organization tested positive. The Phildelphia Phillies have had two staff members test positive for the virus.
Read the full story:
An additional 46,935 coronavirus infections and 515 virus-related deaths were recorded in the United States on Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University.
That brings the cumulative national total to at least 5,044,864 cases, including 162,938 fatalities.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
CNN’s map, using JHU data, refreshes every 15 minutes:
Japan reported 1,492 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections to 48,702, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare said in a statement on Monday.
Among the new infections, 331 were reported in Tokyo. Okinawa prefecture, which recently announced a state of emergency, recorded a daily high of 196 new infections.
The country also reported seven additional fatalities, bringing the death toll to 1,060.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday that he will not bring back a nationwide state of emergency as it will have a grave impact on the economy.
The US topped 5 million cases of coronavirus early Sunday – and as experts have highlighted before, the true number of infections could be many times higher.
The number means the country holds about a quarter of global cases of the virus and also tops the list with the most reported deaths in the world. Of the country’s 5,044,821 estimated cases, 162,851 have been deadly, according to data collected by John Hopkins University.
To put the number in perspective, that means the United States has had more Covid-19 cases than Ireland has people. The number of cases is also slightly higher than the entire population of Alabama.
To put the speed in which the number is growing in perspective: It took the country 99 days to reach 1 million, 43 days to hit 2 million, 28 days for 3 million and 15 days to surpass 4 million on July 23. The number has jumped to 5 million in 17 days.
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Alex Azar, the United States Health and Human Services secretary, met with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen Monday, the highest-level meeting between Washington and the self-ruled island in decades.
The visit has been condemned by Beijing, which regards Taiwan as Chinese territory, and comes amid an all-time low in US-China relations.
Azar arrived in Taiwan Sunday, where he and his team were given coronavirus tests and were seen wearing face masks. The group was met by members of Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs as well as the director general of the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control and the director of the American Institute in Taiwan, the de facto US embassy.
Speaking Monday, Azar said his trip “demonstrates the robust US-Taiwan partnership on global health and health security, one of many aspects of our comprehensive friendship.”
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The Australian state of Victoria recorded 19 new coronavirus deaths on Sunday – the highest single-day increase in fatalities since the outbreak of the pandemic, Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) said Monday morning.
Victoria also reported 322 new cases of coronavirus from Sunday, the lowest daily increase in cases since July 29, according to the DHHS.
He added that the news is “devastating.”
The numbers: Victoria now has 14,981 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, while the death toll has increased to 229.
Australia has reported more than 21,000 coronavirus cases, including 313 deaths.
Mexico’s Health Ministry reported 4,376 new Covid-19 infections on Sunday, bringing the country’s total number of cases to 480,278.
The ministry also registered 292 new deaths, raising the country’s death toll to 52,298.
Moment of silence: Earlier on Sunday, Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador paid tribute to the victims of the pandemic and healthcare workers by holding a moment of silence in the presidential palace in Mexico City.
In a video posted on his Twitter account, Lopez Obrador can be seen walking down the halls of the presidential palace into an empty courtyard where he joins a soldier.
The President claps after the soldier blows a horn in honor of the victims.
Lopez Obrador said that was the best way to honor the victims of the “tremendous pandemic” and said his government would continue to improve the country’s health system.
One student at Sammy McClure, Sr. Middle School in Paulding County, Georgia, has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to a letter sent to parents by Principal Jaynath Hayes.
The student was in school “for at least some time last week” and reported to the school that they have tested positive, the letter said.
The school is being cleaned by custodial staff and is following Georgia Department of Public Health recommendations, according to the letter.
The school is asking anyone whose child exhibits symptoms to have them tested as soon as possible and notify the school.
The district’s high school has already announced that it will close for at least the next two days for cleaning after nine people tested positive. The school will move to digital learning Monday and Tuesday and announce the next steps Tuesday evening, a letter from the district said.
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has used an online post to criticize coronavirus lockdown measures and news coverage of the pandemic, in his first comments almost a full day after Brazil surpassed 100,000 coronavirus deaths.
In a series of tweets Sunday, Bolsonaro pointed to a story published by the UK’s Daily Mail that criticizes lockdown measures to address the spread of coronavirus.
The Daily Mail article suggests “it is thought that as many as 16,000 people died because they didn’t get medical care between March 23 and May 1.” The story claims – without evidence – that those people didn’t go to hospital during lockdown because they feared catching the virus.
Bolsonaro went on to criticize Brazil’s biggest TV station without specifically naming it, saying the TV station “only spreads panic in the population and the discord among the powers” and “disdained, debauched and discouraged the use of hydroxychloroquine.”
Brazil surpassed 100,000 coronavirus deaths on Saturday the country has reported more than 3 million cases, according to the Brazilian Health Ministry.
Bolsonaro’s only mention of the 100,000 coronavirus deaths reached in his country on Saturday was to criticize the TV station’s coverage of the topic.
Lebanon recorded 294 new coronavirus cases and two deaths on Sunday, according to the Ministry of Public Health website.
The country has now reported a total of 6,517 cases, including 76 deaths, as it continues to recover from a deadly blast that killed at least 158 people and wounded thousands more last week.
Some context: On Friday, Dr. Friass Abiad, the head of Beirut’s Rafik Hariri University Hospital – the main hospital battling Covid-19 – told CNN that hospitals are at capacity.
Abiad commended the country’s health sector for how it handled the dual crisis of Covid-19 and the casualties and fallout of Tuesday’s deadly explosion that rocked the capital.
