August 18 coronavirus news

Honolulu is dramatically tightening its restrictions on public gatherings as coronavirus cases surge in the US state of Hawaii.

Hawaii announced 134 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, with most in Oahu. The rate of daily new cases is seven times higher than it was a month ago, according to the Hawaii State Department of Health.

More than 200 cases in Hawaii are linked to an outbreak at the Oahu Community Correctional Center in Honolulu.

Under the new rules:

The new restrictions in Honolulu begin Wednesday and are scheduled to last for 28 days.

More than 22 million coronavirus cases have now been recorded globally, including nearly 800,000 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The total case count stands at 22,046,135, and the death toll at 778,557.  

The United States has the highest figures, with more than 5.47 million cases and 171,687 deaths. Brazil follows next with 3.4 million cases and 109,888 deaths. 

Earlier Tuesday, the Pan American Health Organization said the Americas account for 64% of the world's Covid-19 deaths.

CNN is tracking worldwide coronavirus cases here:

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Brazil has reported 47,784 new Covid-19 cases and 1,352 deaths in the past 24 hours, the country’s Health Ministry reported Tuesday. 

At least 109,888 people have died from coronavirus in the country, according to the Ministry’s data. The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases now stands at least 3,407,354.

Brazil continues to trail only the United States in terms of the highest number of coronavirus infections and deaths in the world.

New York City's public schools plan to open their doors to students for some in-person learning when the school year starts in just a few weeks, but more than 300,000 students are opting to stay home for all online learning instead.

According to new data from New York City's Department of Education, at least 304,880 students have requested remote learning, a jump of 40,000 from just last week, when approximately 264,000 students planned to start the year remotely.

New York City is preparing for 697,008 students to start the year with blended learning, meaning they will attend at least some school in-person. All students will receive five days of instruction a week, whether through the blended or remote options.

"We’re able to offer a fully-remote learning model for families who are able and wish to keep their children at home. Families can opt in to full-time remote learning at any point," the DOE's release said.

According to the DOE, 37% of the students requesting remote learning are Hispanic, 28% are Asian, 20% are Black, and 12% are White.

"We know that nothing can replace in-person instruction and the many supports, including social emotion and health benefits, that students get in the classroom," the release said.

Some background: Among the top ten largest school districts in the country, New York City, the largest, with more than 1.1 million students, is the only one not planning to start the year with full online learning.

New York City schools are scheduled to return in early September and these numbers are expected to change, as families can opt into remote learning at any time, and can will have certain points to opt into blended learning during the school year.

Iowa State University said in a news release Tuesday that 175 students living in residence halls and campus apartments have tested positive for Covid-19.

Director of Thielen Student Health Center Erin Baldwin said that the goal of move-in testing was to identify positive cases and intervene to mitigate the spread of the infection.

"Students who tested positive are required to isolate for 10 days. About half of the students are isolating in isolation rooms provided by the department of residence," added the release. "Quarantine rooms are also available for students notified through contact tracing that they were exposed to a positive case." 

Students moving into the residence halls after Aug. 16 will complete the required testing at TSHC's mobile lab, according to the release. 

"Now that move-in testing is complete, TSHC will provide testing for students, faculty and staff with symptoms of COVID-19," read the release. "Additional surveillance testing may be used in targeted areas throughout the fall."

Patients with a rare, coronavirus-linked condition called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, suffer sudden, severe inflammation and changes in the blood that promote clotting, British researchers reported Tuesday.

In the most acute phase, the children had raised levels of inflammatory immune system molecules called cytokines, and reduced levels of white blood cells known as lymphocytes. But with treatment, these symptoms returned to normal, the researchers reported in the journal Nature Medicine.

Shankar-Hari’s team studied 25 children with MIS-C. Most, but not all, tested positive for coronavirus. Those who did not, likely had contact with coronavirus patients and may have cleared all signs of the virus by the time they developed the syndrome, the team reported.

MIS-C appears different from symptoms seen in adults with coronavirus, the researchers said. Different types of immune cells are activated or suppressed in each case, which suggests they are distinct syndromes.

In addition, children who tested positive for the virus had more severe illness than the children who tested negative.

Some background: MIS-C remains rare but the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports 570 confirmed cases of MIS-C and 10 deaths in 40 states and Washington, DC.

More than 70% of reported cases have been in Latino or Black children.

“Most children developed MIS-C 2-4 weeks after infection with SARS-CoV-2,” the CDC says. 

Eight members of the Greek life system have tested positive for Covid-19 at North Carolina State University, Senior Media Relations Strategist Lauren Barker tells CNN in a statement.

These students live in either university-owned chapter houses or privately owned chapter houses, the statement says.

The students were all tested at off-campus testing sites and have been instructed to self-isolate by the university’s Student Health Services, the school said in a statement. 

As part of the university’s contact tracing program, all close contacts have been advised to quarantine for 14 days, which in some cases could mean the entire house being placed on quarantine.

In a release on Tuesday, the school said they were also notified by the Wake County Health Department of a cluster at a separate off-campus housing facility on Clark Avenue in Raleigh. The Health Department said reports indicated that a party or other gathering was hosted at the address on Aug. 6, before classes began.

It is unknown how many have tested positive from the cluster, but the state health department identifies a cluster of having five or more cases reported in close proximity.

Classes began on Aug. 10 at the university.

Around 110 Chinese construction workers living in a crowded compound in Petach Tikva, Israel’s fourth largest city, have tested positive for coronavirus, the local authority said.

The Petach Tikva’s Municipality said it received a report on Aug. 13 that 20 Chinese workers were infected, all of whom had lived in a compound with about 300 other Chinese workers at an industrial area on the outskirts of the city.

Mayor Rami Greenberg announced a series of quarantine measures, including the closure of the buildings, and evacuation and testing the residents. Since then, the health ministry has confirmed about 90 more cases.

The buildings are now emptied and will remain closed, the local authority said. The municipality told CNN on Tuesday the compound was in “inhumane sanitary conditions” and “not suitable for human residence.”

So far, local health authorities have tested 267 workers. Mayor Greenberg said those who were confirmed positive were transferred to quarantined motels and to hospitals. The rest were taken to various accommodations in Israel, where they will stay in quarantine for 14 days.

In a statement, the Chinese Embassy in Israel confirmed the situation, adding the infected workers are “all in light or asymptomatic conditions.”

The Chinese Embassy also urged its citizens to cooperate with quarantine measures and to stay alert.

“For those who have lived in related area or been in close contact with infected workers, please do not hide the contact history or your own illness for the sake of other people’s health and safety,” the embassy said. “Contact [the] Health Ministry immediately for a test,” it added.

The number of coronavirus cases in Kentucky has passed 40,000, according to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.

During an afternoon news conference, Beshear said there were at least 627 new cases in the state today, bringing the total number of cases to approximately 40,299. Of the new cases, 76 are in people 18 years of age and younger.  

The state reported at least 12 new deaths but the positivity rate is down to 5.48%, according to Beshear. 

There are currently at least 622 people hospitalized –– 147 of those are in intensive care units, and 88 people are on ventilators in Kentucky.