August 14 coronavirus news

By Helen Regan, Brad Lendon, Melissa Macaya, Zamira Rahim and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

Updated 12:36 a.m. ET, August 15, 2020
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11:36 p.m. ET, August 13, 2020

Japan reports 1,177 new coronavirus cases

From CNN's Yoko Wakatsuki

Japan reported 1,177 new cases of Covid-19 and 10 deaths on Thursday, according to the country's Health Ministry.

The new infections bring Japan's nationwide confirmed total to 52,929 cases, with 712 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The number of deaths stands at 1,086, with 13 from the ship.

Thursday marks the first day in four days that the number of daily cases has risen back over 1,000.

On Thursday, the capital Tokyo counted 206 new infections, while Osaka had 177 cases.

Okinawa prefecture, which has the highest number of infections per capita, extended its own state of emergency for another two weeks, while adding 97 new infections.

11:09 p.m. ET, August 13, 2020

Trump coronavirus adviser claims “young people are not at serious risk” from coronavirus

From CNN Health’s Lauren Mascarenhas

Dr. Scott Atlas listens as President Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, DC on August 10.
Dr. Scott Atlas listens as President Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, DC on August 10. Stefani Reynolds/Pool/Sipa USA

An advisor to President Donald Trump on coronavirus has said that “young people are not at risk for serious disease” from Covid-19.

 Dr. Scott Atlas made the comments to Martha MacCallum Thursday night on Fox News.

Fact check: Adults are more likely to become seriously ill from Covid-19, but children can get sick, and have serious complications. 

Rare complications: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported at least 570 cases of children with MIS-C, a rare but serious coronavirus complication in children that has been associated with fever, rash, inflammation and shock. Ten of those children died.

Increased virus rates in kids: There has been a 90% increase in the number of Covid-19 cases among children in the United States over the last four weeks, according to an analysis by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association released this week. 

“It's not fair to say that this virus is completely benign in children," said Dr. Sean O'Leary, vice chair of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, noting that about 90 children have died in the US from coronavirus.

11:36 p.m. ET, August 13, 2020

New Zealand reports 12 new coronavirus cases as health authorities ramp up testing

From Isaac Yee and Julia Hollingsworth in Hong Kong 

Director-General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield speaks to media during a press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand on August 14.
Director-General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield speaks to media during a press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand on August 14. Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

New Zealand reported 12 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the country's top health official announced today. 

All the new cases were locally transmitted, New Zealand’s Director General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said at a press conference. 

Two of the new cases were students while one case was a pre-school student. 

The two schools and the pre-school the students attended have been closed while close contacts are being traced, according to Bloomfield. 

A total of 771 close contacts of the reported Covid-19 cases this week have been identified by the national contact tracing service, he added.  

Bloomfield also announced that 15,703 coronavirus tests were conducted on Thursday alone -- the highest in a single day in New Zealand since the outbreak began, bringing the total number of tests conducted across the country to 524,414. 

Read more on the situation in New Zealand.

11:36 p.m. ET, August 13, 2020

Mexico surpasses 500,000 coronavirus cases

From Karol Suarez

Mexico’s Health Ministry on Thursday reported 7,371 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the country's total to 505,751.

The ministry also reported 627 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 55,293.

11:38 p.m. ET, August 13, 2020

Fauci says consequences could be "devastating" if the country reopens without the virus under control

From CNN’s Lauren Mascarenhas

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on July 31, in Washington, DC.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on July 31, in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Getty Images/FILE

America needs to get control of Covid-19 and carefully reopen the country, or the consequences could be devastating, Dr. Anthony Fauci told actor Matthew McConaughey in an interview on Instagram Thursday.

“To think that you can ignore the biologic and get the economy back, it's not gonna happen,” said Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious diseases expert. “It's just not gonna happen. You gotta do both. You gotta get control of the biologic as you carefully, open the country.” 

Fauci emphasized the importance of acting in a measured, prudent way. He noted that we have seen the consequences of jumping over the guideposts that have been established for safe reopening.

“It goes beyond the economics,” said Fauci. “If you shut down, even if there was no economic issue, what happens is that psychologically, it could be devastating." 

“If you're really shut down, children may not get their vaccinations. People don't go to hospitals when they get chest pain,” he added. “There's a lot of different things that could go wrong, beyond the economy.”

Fauci gave another grim warning.

“In fact, there's projections that if you stay shut down, the number of deaths unrelated to Covid will go up,” he said. “The number of suicides, overdoses, family issues, such as child abuse and things like that, they all go up.”

Fauci said that he believes the country can come together to overcome the virus.

“I'm old enough to have been a baby during World War II, but I remember how the country absolutely pulled together. We pulled together after 9/11. This is equivalent to that,” he said. “We've got to pull together.”

11:38 p.m. ET, August 13, 2020

Thousands of new Covid-19 cases reported in Georgia

From CNN's Pamela Kirkland 

Georgia's Health Department reported 2,674 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday.  

The statewide Covid-19 total is 228,668.

The department also reported 83 new coronavirus-related deaths, which brings the total in the state to 4,538.  

According to the Department of Health, the state reported 136 deaths Tuesday – its most in a single day since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic – and another 109 deaths Wednesday.

Note: These numbers were released by the Georgia Department of Public Health and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN