August 25 coronavirus news

Pennsylvania Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine announced the state’s first moving Covid-19 testing facility Tuesday.

The unit – which is officially referred to as Community-Accessible Testing and Education (CATE) – is an RV that made its first official stop in Littlestown, Pennsylvania on Monday. It has the capacity to test between 220 and 250 individuals for Covid-19 and also provides education on how people can care for themselves and others if they or their loved ones get sick.

Tests will be sent to the state’s Exton-based lab where results will be available within 24 to 48 hours, Levine said.

CATE is scheduled to make 30 stops by the end of September and will be focused in south-central and southeastern Pennsylvania, Levine said. The unit will also make stops in Erie and Allegheny Counties.

Anyone is able to get a test without an appointment and regardless of insurance or immigration status, Levine said. CATE will be stopping at local community centers, YMCA’s and churches.

Shelters in Texas will be stocked with PEE, use social distancing to separate people and have testing available, Gov. Greg Abbott said in a press conference as the state prepares for Hurricane Laura.

Abbott said that he made a disaster declaration for 23 counties yesterday and will be adding 36 more to that list. 

The governor, who noted today is the third anniversary of when Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, said that there are more evacuations in the state than they had with Harvey. 

Abbott recommended that residents evacuate to hotels or motels if possible, but said that shelters will be ready and available if needed. 

The state is expecting high winds and up to a possible 10 foot water surge when the eye of the hurricane comes a shore, he said. 

On Tuesday, Iraq’s Ministry of Health reported 3,962 new confirmed cases of coronavirus. The total number of cases in Iraq is now 211,947.  

The health ministry also reported 77 Covid-19 related deaths. That brings the total number of deaths in Iraq to 6,596.

In a joint statement Tuesday, the Los Angeles Chargers and Los Angeles Rams announced their games at the new SoFi Stadium will be held without fans, at least for the immediate future.

The 70,240-seat facility in Inglewood, California, is home to both Los Angeles-area NFL teams, with the Rams set to host the Dallas Cowboys in their home opener the evening of September 13, and the Chargers hosting the NFL champion Kansas City Chiefs the following Sunday.

In Tuesday’s announcement, the Rams pledged to “continue to work with LA County Department of Public Health and the City of Inglewood on a plan that, when circumstances permit, safely brings fans to SoFi Stadium and adheres to local, State, CDC and NFL guidelines.”

According to the Chargers, “While not being able to open SoFi Stadium with fans in attendance is heartbreaking, we are grateful for the opportunity to play NFL football this Fall…

“We know our community, however, is still in the throes of a pandemic, and our only way out is to heed the guidance of state and local health officials and community leaders. Every decision we have made – and every decision we will make in the future – begins and ends with the health and safety of our community, players, coaches and staff in mind.”

If you're just tuning in, here are the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic today.

French health authorities reported a "strong rise" in virus transmission on Tuesday, adding that the situation in France "remains preoccupying."

At least 3,304 new cases were reported on Tuesday, for a total of 248,158 confirmed cases in France. In comparison, last Tuesday saw a rise of 2,238 cases, while the Tuesday before reported 1,397 new cases.

Hospital entries are still decreasing, with 4,600 people currently hospitalized for coronavirus (-90). Intensive care unit numbers, however, continue to steadily increase, with 410 people in ICU (+11).

At least 30,544 people have died from coronavirus in France since the beginning of the epidemic.

Wild polio may have been eradicated from the African continent, but vaccination will have to continue to keep the virus from coming back – and coronavirus is disrupting that effort, a top World Health Organization official said Tuesday.

Teams fought conflict and struggled to reach displaced people to deliver the vaccines that eradicated the virus, Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the World Health Organization’s regional director for Africa, said during a live event on Tuesday. 

However, the battle is not over. The oral polio vaccine uses a weakened but not completely inactive strain of virus that, if it circulates among incompletely immunized people, can mutate into a pathogenic form. Vaccination must continue to keep this strain from causing outbreaks, Moeti said.

The Covid-19 pandemic means that some immunization campaigns are being postponed in 16 countries that are experiencing this type of polio. 

“The eradication of wild polio virus from the African region reminds us of the importance of investing in universal health coverage, in preparedness and response to outbreaks, and in making our societies more equitable, particularly for the most vulnerable among us,” Moeti said.

As students return to campuses, at least 24 states are reporting positive cases of Covid-19 at colleges and universities.

This represents more than 3,300 cases of Covid-19 among students and staff.

Remember: This is list represents cases that CNN has reported so far. There are likely many others.

Here's a look at the colleges and universities reporting coronavirus cases:

Watch:

Dr. Anthony Fauci said because Covid-19 is such a new disease, we “certainly don’t know the whole story. 

"I think we learned the lesson that I think we should have known from our experience with other outbreaks — is that when you're dealing with a work in progress, things change," Fauci said during an interview with the Infectious Diseases Society of America released today.

The interview was recorded last week, before Fauci’s vocal cord surgery. 

We are still “learning things in real time,” Fauci said.

Even today, we’re learning about Covid-19’s transmissibility, asymptomatic transmissibility and the long-range, chronic residual effects, Fauci said.

“As scientists and public health officials, we need to be humbled to realize that any given moment, there may be a lot that we still do not know,” he said.