August 20 coronavirus news

Just over one week into the school year, more than 300 students and teachers have had to quarantine in Martin County, Florida, over concerns of possible coronavirus cases.

Laurie Gaylord, superintendent of the county school district, told CNN’s Jake Tapper that schools decided to open on time following the emergency order from the state education commissioner to reopen all brick-and-mortar schools.

Gaylord said “it’s a possibility” that she would’ve kept school closed to in-person learning if there wasn’t an emergency order. There is a digital option for students, and Gaylord said they’ve shipped out at least 12,000 laptops. 

She said it’s important for kids to be back in school, citing not just teacher-student interaction but mental and physical wellness for students. 

Gaylord said there are safety guidelines like social distancing, masks, outdoor lunches, one-way hallways and more. 

Watch:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order Thursday extending the moratorium on Covid-19-related commercial evictions and foreclosures until Sept. 20.

Essentially the extension “gives commercial tenants and mortgagors additional time to get back on their feet and catch up on rent or renegotiate their leasing terms to avoid eviction proceedings and foreclosures moving forward,” a release from Cuomo's office said.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has issued social distancing measures for college and university outdoor stadiums and game day events during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

According to the order, everyone 6 years old and up must wear a mask. Everyone must practice social distancing with people not in their household, and capacity is limited to 25%. No pregame tailgating or rallies outside the stadium are permitted, concession stands are open for grab-n-go food and drink, and contactless and touchless transactions when possible. Elevators occupancy is limited to no more than five people at a time.

The governor said Southern Mississippi has a game in two weeks and that the new rules are meant to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The new order is in effect until Aug. 31 at 8 a.m., according to a press release.

Mississippi's health department has reported 75,449 positive cases of coronavirus and 2,190 deaths. 

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

California reported 5,920 new cases of coronavirus Thursday, marking a fifth straight day of confirmed infections below the state’s rolling 14-day average, according to data from the state's health department.

The health department also reported 163 new deaths for a cumulative total of 11,686. Yesterday, California marked its fifth highest number of deaths reported in single-day at 181.

Hospitalization and intensive care unit rates are also slightly down. The number of positive hospital patients in the state is now 4,890 and the number of ICU positive patients is 1,557.

California's rolling 14-day average of new cases is 8,198. The seven-day positivity rate and two-week positivity rate both stand at 6.6%.

North Carolina State University will move all undergraduate classes online starting Monday because of Covid-19 clusters from large parties, according to an announcement on the university's website.

University officials have received "reports of large parties in off-campus apartments," and identified "three Covid-19 clusters in off-campus and greek village houses" in the last two days alone, said the announcement.

The clusters "can be traced to parties and behavior outside of our community standards and the governor’s mandates," the announcement said.

"The majority of NC State’s course hours are already online, but the remaining in-person and hybrid classes will move to online-only instruction for the remainder of the fall semester," the school added.

Philadelphia will permit indoor dining to resume Sept. 8, under specific restrictions that are “largely consistent with indoor dining restrictions statewide,” Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Thomas Farley announced today.

As part of the City’s new indoor dining restrictions, restaurants cannot be filled to more than 25% capacity and no more than four diners are allowed per table. There will be no bar service and alcohol can only be served with a meal. Last call for all indoor dining orders will be at 11 p.m. local time, as establishments will be required to be closed for service by midnight, among other things.

The Department of Public Health also announced that bowling alleys, arcades and other indoor games will be allowed to resume effective immediately.

Indoor theaters and movie theaters will be allowed to reopen on Sept. 8, with capacities not to exceed 50% and a maximum of 25 people allowed. 

The UK has added Portugal to the list of "travel corridor" countries — meaning people arriving no longer have to quarantine for 14 days, said UK transport secretary Grant Shapps in a series of Thursday tweets.

Meanwhile, people coming from Croatia, Austria and Trinidad & Tobago will now be required to quarantine for 14 days. 

"Data also shows we can now add Portugal to those countries INCLUDED in Travel Corridors. As with all air bridge countries, please be aware that things can change quickly. Only travel if you are content to unexpectedly 14-day quarantine if required (I speak from experience!)," he added.

The new restrictions will go into effect for people arriving after 4 a.m. local on Saturday.

As students return to campuses, at least 15 states are reporting positive cases of Covid-19 at colleges and universities.

Remember: This list represents cases that CNN has reported so far. There could be many other universities and colleges with cases.

Here's where cases have been reported:

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that the city is releasing a back-to-school pledge — a detailed list of everything that’s being done to get schools prepared to reopen safely next month.

Preparations include...

Education Chancellor Richard Carranza, who joined de Blasio on Thursday, added that PPE deliveries are happening “every day” to schools across the city. 

“We are going to make sure these schools are safe and ready, and if we don’t think they’re safe and ready, they won’t open,” de Blasio said.  

De Blasio stressed that the reopening is moving ahead as scheduled. NYC schools are scheduled to reopen on Sept. 10, although various groups have called for that opening to be delayed. 

New York City’s Covid-19 indicators remain below all the thresholds, and the city again reported a positivity rate below 1% on Thursday.