August 13 coronavirus news

Adm. Brett Giroir, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said on Thursday that people should not get hung up on a number, when asked if there was a number of tests that the US should be doing.

“We are doing the appropriate amount of testing now to reduce the spread, flatten the curve, save lives – because it’s not the number,” Giroir said during a call with reporters organized by the US Department of Health and Human Services.

They are trying to ensure that sick people who need to be tested are tested, protecting vulnerable and high-risk populations, and supporting public health testing in areas where it is important to test a lot of asymptomatic people, he said.

“Don’t get hung up on a number,” Giroir said. “The people who are peddling numbers are spectators, not part of the system. They do not understand how this should be strategically used.”

Giroir said they have proven “time and time again” that doing strategic testing in support of good policy works.

“A number is meaningless unless it’s used appropriately,” he said.

Giroir did, however, say he supports providing supplies so that at least 2% of the population can be tested per month, because it helps to be able to detect outbreaks, which is usually done by a percent positivity.

The trading day was nothing to write home about, as stocks finished the day the way they started it: mixed. The S&P 500 once again neared its February record close, but it eventually ended the day in the red, down 0.2%.

The headline number on initial jobless claims dropped below 1 million for the first time since mid-March, which economists believe to be a good sign even as the American jobs recovery still has a long road ahead.

Here's where things finished:

Republicans and Democrats have been angrily bickering for weeks over a new economic stimulus package that has bitterly divided the two parties as millions wait for badly needed relief from Washington amid the worsening coronavirus crisis. 

But there is a hardening bipartisan consensus about this: Any new measure will almost certainly have to wait at least until September to become law – and that’s being optimistic.

Here's why: While leaders in both chambers say their members can come back within 24 hours to cast a vote, the reality on Capitol Hill means that the process to draft, review and consider any legislation will take much longer than that. The next two weeks will be dominated by party conventions, taking time and focus away from negotiating any deal.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, herself, will be in California for at least part of the week as the Democrats formally nominate Joe Biden as their party’s nominee. The following week, the GOP will be consumed with renominating President Trump. 

Yet even if they spoke by phone during that time period and agreed to the outlines of a deal, it would take many days for staff to draft the legislative language of such a vast proposal, a process that some believe could take up to a week or more given both its sweeping size and the fraught negotiations that would undoubtedly continue over the finer points of the bill. 

And once the bill is drafted, it would go through the slog of the legislative process, and members would need some time to review it and be briefed on the details. In the House, the Rules Committee would have to meet and consider the bill and set the parameters for floor debate. In the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell would have to take the procedural steps necessary to take the bill up and cut off debate once it passed the House. 

Under the speediest scenario, just the process of voting on the bill alone could take about a week. 

But it could be slowed down, particularly in the Senate, if any senator were to object to speeding up consideration. And that would almost certainly happen – given the staunch opposition voiced by a number of Republicans over passing a package north of $1 trillion. 

And all that means the soonest Congress would act almost certainly would be early-mid September – and only after the White House and Democrats reached a consensus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Americans need to think about returning to some sort of normalcy as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

It is a challenge, but “you can’t interrupt your life, totally, indefinitely. You’ve got to try to safely get back to normal,” he said.

“I think people, sometimes, they go to one extreme versus the other. Either you’re going to lock yourself in a closet, or you're going to be out partying with no mask,” he said. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Fauci said, every night he and his wife go for a four-mile jog. Fauci donned his mask, but kept it below his mouth and nose, along his jawline. Fauci said he then can freely chat with his wife.

“If I see 50 yards ahead, someone coming, I go like that,” Fauci said, pulling up his mask to cover his nose and mouth. "You don't need to be locked down outside."

Russian officials in Moscow have told CNN that they have offered “unprecedented cooperation” with Operation Warp Speed, the US multi-agency body set up to accelerate access to effective Covid-19 vaccines and treatments.  

But the officials have said that the “US is not currently open” to the Russian medical advances.  

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday that President Trump has been briefed on the new Russian vaccine. She said that American vaccines go through “rigorous” phase 3 testing and high standards.

Other US officials told CNN the Russian vaccine is considered so half-baked in the United States that it hadn’t even piqued US interest in a serious way before the rollout.

“There’s no way in hell the US tries this (Russian vaccine) on monkeys, let alone people,” one US government public health official said.   

Russian officials tell CNN that Russia is open to sharing information about vaccine and that it would allow US pharmaceutical companies to produce the Russian vaccine on American soil.     

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is withdrawing his lawsuit against Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and the City Council regarding restrictions Atlanta put in place over coronavirus, including a citywide mask mandate. 

In a written statement, the governor said he would instead address the issue in a new executive order this Saturday. 

Kemp referenced Bottoms concession on the city's phase one roll-back plan, but said she refused to compromise any further in mediation. 

"The Governor’s current Executive Order expires this Saturday, August 15, at which time he will issue a new order with relevant language," according to the statement.

A Cherokee County parent has written an open letter to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, asking him not to “turn a blind eye” to the school district.

Some context: Heath is the mother of two children who attended face-to-face classes in the Cherokee County School District earlier this week. She has since pulled her kids back to distance learning. 

In her letter to Georgia’s governor, Heath claims that Kemp is not doing enough to protect the members of their community.  

“I ask you Mr. Kemp how you could possibly feel like the district of Cherokee County is doing a good job protecting not only our students but teachers,” Heath wrote.  

Presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden emerged from his and Sen. Kamala Harris' coronavirus health briefing from experts Thursday afternoon advocating that a mask mandate be instituted nationwide. 

“It’s not about your rights,” Biden said, seeming to speak directly to Americans who have complained that compulsory mask wearing is a violation of their personal freedom. “It's about your responsibilities as an American."

"Be a patriot. Protect your fellow citizens," he implored. "Protect your fellow citizens. Step up. Do the right thing." 

Biden provided a quick readout of the public health briefing at the top of his remarks, noting that he and Harris spoke with the experts about school reopenings, the distribution of a vaccine, racial disparities that have become expounded as a result of the pandemic, as well as the continued lack of personal protective equipment for health professionals and testing capacity in the US.

The presumptive Democratic nominee has previously said he would support mandating mask-wearing nationally, but this is the first time he has presented the recommendation himself. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the Senate will adjourn for its August recess Thursday despite not reaching an agreement on a Covid-19 stimulus bill. 

The senior senator from Kentucky said the Senate will hold its usual pro forma sessions throughout the “state work period,” which ends Sept. 8, but that if a stimulus deal is reached, there would need to be bipartisan consent to allow the Senate to return to vote on it.

If that were to happen, senators would be given 24 hours’ notice to return.