August 17 coronavirus news

Several of Maryland’s state agencies banded together to set up a toll-free Covid-19 prevention line for citizens to report concerns about potential situations, where coronavirus precautions are being ignored, according to a statement from Maryland State Police.

According to the statement, the new statewide toll-free hotline and corresponding email address can be used anonymously 24-hours-a-day to report situations of concern where “prevention guidelines are being ignored and the potential for the spread of COVID-19 is high.” 

Information provided to the hotline will be forwarded to local health department officials and depending on the circumstances, teams of local officials from agencies, including the health department, liquor board, and law enforcement, will “assess the situation and take the appropriate action,” according to the statement.

At least five students and two teachers from Bradford County School District in Florida have been placed on quarantine due to exposure to Covid-19, according to David Harris, the district's assistant superintendent.

Harris said two classrooms were impacted and were assigned to remote learning. 

The Bradford County School District reopened last week.

This is the second school district in Florida that has been impacted by Covid-19 since schools reopened last week. Martin County School District has quarantined 151 students as of Monday morning.

Easyjet will close its bases at London Stansted, London Southend and Newcastle starting August 31, said the group on Monday, putting hundreds of jobs at risk. 

It cited the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and related travel restrictions compounded by quarantine measures in the UK. These rules have "created uncertainty for customers and an impact on demand for travel," said Easyjet in a statement. 

The three bases employ 670 people, and Easyjet says it has reached an agreement on voluntary redundancy with staff. London Stansted and Newcastle will remain part of its network, and some domestic and international flights will continue to operate. The airline said it will inform customers of available refunds and transfer options in the coming days.  

Wall Street opened in the higher on Monday, as investors were apparently unfazed by the collapsed stimulus negotiations, renewed US-China tensions and an ongoing pandemic.

Here's how things looked at the opening: 

Both the S&P and the Nasdaq remain close to record highs.

The number of air travelers climbed moderately this weekend – enough to set a new pandemic-era high. 

The Transportation Security Administration said it screened 862,949 people on Sunday. It was the second time the agency screened more than 800,000 people since air travel bottomed out in mid-April – and both of those days have been in August. 

For comparison, the agency saw nearly 2.6 million people on the third Sunday in August last year. 

The agency’s numbers also show the number of people it screened ticked somewhat higher above last week: up to about 29% of last year’s traffic from 27% as of last weekend.  

Health officials are hopeful that a new saliva test could give Americans a fast and inexpensive way to learn if they have Covid-19 and help to prevent increasing spread.

The SalivaDirect test, from researchers at the Yale School of Public Health, received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday.

The test comes as frustration grows over testing delays and shortages. Seventeen states are performing fewer tests this past week compared with the previous week, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

But while testing has gone down in those states, test positivity rates have increased in 34 states.

The test positivity rate is the percentage of tests being performed that come back positive for the virus. It is one of the metrics experts encourage officials to monitor when making reopening decisions.

Part of Illinois will be under new guidelines after three days in a row with a test positivity rate of 8% or higher, according to a news release from Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

It's almost 8:30 a.m. ET in New York and 1:30 p.m. ET in the London, here are the latest coronavirus headlines from around the US and world:

Peru added 10,143 Covid-19 cases to its tally on Sunday evening, including 5,338 new cases in the last 24 hours and a further 4,805 confirmed in the last seven days, according to a statement released by the country’s Health Ministry.

The country has the second-highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Latin America, following Brazil, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

The total number of Peru's confirmed infections now stands at 535,946 while the death toll has reached 26,281, according to the ministry.

Last Thursday, vice health minister Luis Suarez updated the country’s death toll to add 3,658 deaths previously unaccounted for after a revision by a special commission set up by the government. 

More lockdown measures after case surge: Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra announced new lockdown measures last week after the country saw an increase in the number of virus cases during July.

Vizcarra ordered six more regions and 34 provinces under localized lockdown. The government previously eased the country’s lockdown measures on July 1 while imposing localized lockdowns for seven of Peru’s 24 regions. 

The President also announced the return of "mandatory immobilization" across the country on Sundays: social and family gatherings have been banned, while children under 14 are allowed to go out for a walk within 500 meters of their homes for no more than 30 minutes a day, as long as they are accompanied by one adult. 

Peru's state of emergency remains in place until August 31. 

CNN's Max Foster shows us how one school in Scotland has prepared to reopen and the safety measures it has put in place.

WATCH: