August 19 coronavirus news

Almost 2,000 K-12 students in Mississippi have been quarantined in the state due to possible exposure to Covid-19.

Dr. Thomas Dobbs, with the Mississippi Department of Health, said that 1,970 students and 328 school staff are quarantined in the state.

Dobbs said the state is also watching two outbreaks at two universities in the state – University of Mississippi and Mississippi University for Women. CNN has reached out to both universities for more information on their Covid-19 outbreaks. 

The state has reported 1,348 new Covid-19 cases and 31 new deaths today. 

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said that today’s numbers are bad and do not follow the downward trend the state has been seeing recently.

Dobbs said a major concern in the state is that the people who are dying have not been exposed to the virus in congregate settings, but are instances of community spread of the disease. 

To note: These numbers were released by the state of Mississippi and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

New York City has 19,005 confirmed and 4,638 probable coronavirus deaths as of Aug. 19, according to the most recent data on the city website.

The New York City Health Department defines probable deaths as people who did not have a positive Covid-19 laboratory test, but their death certificate lists as the cause of death “Covid-19” or an equivalent.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus deaths and probable coronavirus deaths in New York City is 23,643.

There have been 227,419 coronavirus cases in the city and 56,831 people have been hospitalized, according to the city.

The data is from the New York City Health Department and was updated on Aug. 19 at 1 p.m., according to the website.

To note: The numbers may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 2,391 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday. 

The statewide Covid-19 case total is now 243,982.

Georgia DPH reported 56 new deaths. The total number of deaths attributed to Covid-19 in Georgia is now 4,849. 

There were 235 new Covid-19 related hospitalizations recorded.

Note: These numbers were released by the Georgia 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.

France has set a record for new daily coronavirus cases since coming out of lockdown in mid-May, with 3,776 new cases reported by the National Health Agency on Wednesday.

That brings France's total number of confirmed cases to 225,043.

While the latest data released by the French National Health agency shows a decreasing trend of people hospitalized and in intensive care units, the agency said in a statement that “in mainland France, all indicators continue to increase and transmission of the virus intensifies."

"It concerns all age groups and more particularly young adults,” the statement added.

Following the surge in the number of new Covid-19 cases, the French government will make it mandatory to wear masks in enclosed shared spaces such as corporate offices from Sept. 1, announced the Minister of Labor Elisabeth Borne on Tuesday.

There are at least 5,505,074 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 172,418 people have died from the virus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

On Wednesday at 1:45 p.m. ET, Johns Hopkins has reported 22,658 new cases and 597 reported deaths. 

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

The number of deaths from the novel coronavirus in Paraguay have nearly doubled in the last week, according to numbers released by the country's health ministry.

The total number of cases has risen by nearly 25% in the same period.

Paraguay's death toll from the virus was 82 on Aug. 10. The number had reached 161 by Aug. 18.

Paraguay reported 7,519 total coronavirus cases on Aug. 11, and as of Aug. 18 more than 10,000 total cases have been reported. The ministry's statistics show that a rapid increase in the number of active cases — from 1,647 at the beginning of the month to 4,043 on Aug. 18. The vast majority of cases are concentrated in the middle of the country, around the capital, Asuncion.

The health ministry's data shows a high rate of infection among people in their 20s and 30s, who account for over half the total infections. 

Some more context: In the early months of the pandemic, Paraguay had a much lower infection rate than most other Latin American countries.

The Pan American Health Organization Tuesday said that the Americas account for 64% of the world's Covid-19 deaths, according to PAHO Director Dr. Carissa Etienne.

"The Americas have approximately 13% of the world's population, but 64% of officially reported global deaths, so far," Etienne said, adding that more than 400,000 people have died from the virus in North and South America.

Lebanon has now surpassed the 10,000 mark in nationwide coronavirus cases, after registering a record 589 new cases in the past 24 hours, the country's Ministry of Public Health said.

This brings the country's total case count to 10,347. There were also two new fatalities recorded in the last 24 hours, raising the national death toll to 109, the ministry said.

The record high in new daily cases comes just a day after Lebanon's caretaker government announced a two-week countrywide lockdown starting Friday until Sept. 7.

More context: Lebanon has recently witnessed a surge of Covid-19 cases.

This comes as the country is suffering from an economic collapse and dealing with the aftermath of the port blast that ripped through the capital, killing at least 180 people, wounding around 6,000 people and displacing about 300,000 people.

Boston University and Emerson College are both reporting positive cases of Covid-19 as students return to campus.

Boston University is reporting 12 positive cases of Covid-19 since testing began on campus July 27. Four of those positive cases were reported Tuesday, out of 965 tests conducted, which is a 0.4% positivity rate.

According to the university's Covid-19 dashboard, 11 of the students with a positive result are in isolation. The university has conducted nearly 6,500 tests since testing began.

Emerson College is reporting one positive Covid-19 case since they began testing Aug. 10. According to Emerson's website, that person is now "receiving appropriate care."

Emerson says it has tested close to 250 members of its campus community so far.

Illinois Department of Public Health reported 2,264 new Covid-19 positive cases today, the highest daily number of cases reported since May 24.

The state now has a total of 211,889 positive cases with a 4.4% positivity rate being reported over the past seven days. 

The public health agency reported a total of 7,806 deaths statewide, up 25 from Tuesday’s report.

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.