August 24 coronavirus news

Covid-19 hospitalizations in California are down 20% over the past two weeks, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced today. Intensive care unit rates are down 19% over the same reporting period.

A total of 4,946 new cases were added to the state’s total today, well below the seven-day case average of 5,798. This brings California’s case total to 668,615, with 12,152 deaths, according to an update from the state's Department of Public Health.

Five counties – Orange, Napa, Calaveras, Sierra, and Mono – have been removed from a so-called "watch list," Newsom announced today. If the counties can maintain their data for the next 14 days, they can begin reopening more sectors to the public. Currently, 36 counties remain on the monitoring list.

California’s positivity rate is holding steady at 6.5% for the past 14 days.

About 34% of all cases in California are centered in Los Angeles County. This is down significantly from June, when L.A. accounted for almost half of all cases in the state.

Los Angeles Department of Public Health reported just under 1,200 new cases today for a total of 232,893.

Note: These numbers were released by California Department of Public Health and the Los Angeles 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.

Ohio State University issued 228 interim suspensions on Monday to students who they say have broken the university’s Covid-19 regulations around socializing, Benjamin Johnson, the university’s spokesperson, confirmed to CNN. 

In a letter sent to the community on Aug. 21, the vice president of student life, Melissa Shivers, outlined that students must wear a mask, practice social distancing, and that gatherings could not include more than 10 people. Shivers warned that the university’s student conduct team was in the process of opening dozens of cases that would likely result in interim suspensions. Shivers also made clear that student organizations involved in unsafe gatherings could lose their university recognition and funding.

The Office of Student Life is also monitoring off-campus neighborhoods and is reporting individuals to student conduct, Johnson told CNN.

OSU students moved back to campus starting on Aug. 19. Classes are scheduled to begin at the university on Tuesday.

There are at least 5,730,294 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 177,065 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

So far on Monday, Johns Hopkins has reported 28,615 new cases and 263 reported deaths. 

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

There are now 27 cases of Covid-19 in Minnesota linked to the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally that took place in South Dakota earlier this month. 

Kris Ehresmann, director of the Infectious Disease Division at Minnesota Department of Health, said Monday during a briefing that of the 27 cases, 25 said they attended Sturgis and two either worked or volunteered at the event. One person who was hospitalized last week was released after three days, Ehresmann added. 

The health department had reported 15 cases linked to the motorcycle rally last week. 

Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will be regularly tested for coronavirus as the campaign has increased some of its Covid-19 health protocols in the final stretch before Election Day, a campaign official confirmed to CNN. 

The campaign will make public if either the Biden or Harris test positive for the virus, the official said.

Read a statement from Biden campaign staffer Andrew Bates:

 Bloomberg was first to report the news. 

The National Football League announced Monday zero Covid-19 test results among players after 58,397 tests were administered to 8,573 players and personnel from Aug. 12-20.

Of the 8,573 persons tested, six had confirmed positive results, all non-players.

Prior to Aug. 12, 9,983 players and personnel received “intake testing,” with 170 positive tests, or 1.7%. In ongoing testing after intake through Aug. 11, the overall positivity rate dropped to 0.81% among players, 0.46% overall.

The NFL says the overall positivity rate has not exceeded 1.7% for any club since testing began.

Stocks rallied Monday after the Trump administration approved a potential Covid-19 treatment. Wall Street finished in the green, and both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite finished at all-time highs.

The S&P ended up 1%, finishing above 3,400 points for the first time ever. The Nasdaq closed 0.6% higher. Both indexes surpassed the record levels they reached on Friday. 

The Dow closed 1.4%, or 378 points, higher. 

Even though the index performed the best out of the three major benchmarks, it remains more than 4% below the all-time high it hit in February.

Germany has issued a travel warning for Paris and the Cote d'Azur region of southeastern France due to high levels of coronavirus infection, according to a German Ministry of Foreign Affairs statement on Monday. 

"The spread of COVID-19 continues to lead to restrictions on international air travel and have adverse effects on the public life in France," the German foreign ministry said. "There are currently warnings against unnecessary tourist trips to the Île-de-France region (with the capital Paris) and Provence-Alpes-Côte-d'Azur due to the high number of infections."

Travelers returning from these regions will be required to get a free coronavirus PCR test upon arrival in Germany and could be obligated to quarantine for 14 days. 

President Trump gave brief remarks to supporters at the Asheville Regional Airport landing zone, echoing much of what he said in Charlotte, touting the stock market, the employment numbers, and saying the pandemic will go away.

The President also again predicted a vaccine will be announced shortly.

“The vaccines are going to be, I believe, announced very soon,” Trump said, before praising convalescent plasma, calling it an “incredible thing.”

The President also said he expects the economic comeback from coronavirus to be strong next year, saying “next year we are going to have one of the best years economically and in other ways that we have ever had before.”

Some background:  On Saturday, Trump accused, without providing any evidence, the US Food and Drug Administration of deliberately delaying coronavirus vaccine trials, pressuring the man he had picked to head the agency.

"The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics," Trump tweeted, continuing to push his unfounded theory that there is a "deep state" embedded within the government bureaucracy working against his reelection.

He accused the agency of delaying a vaccine for the virus until after the fall election, tweeting, "Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!" Trump ended his tweet by tagging the Twitter account of FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, who he nominated last year to take up the role.

Hahn assured Americans earlier this month that the agency "will not cut corners" to approve a vaccine.

Trump has promised that a vaccine would be available by the end of the year, though vaccinologists told CNN that timeline is unrealistic. And his latest comments won't allay the fears some experts and Americans have that the administration will rush to prepare a vaccine at the expense of science and safety.

The FDA doesn't conduct the trials itself, but instead oversees the people who do, according to the agency. As CNN previously reported, one vaccine candidate, developed by Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, moved to phase 3 clinical trials late last month.