August 26 coronavirus news

Florida health officials reported 3,220 new Covid-19 cases and 153 additional resident deaths on Wednesday, according to the Florida Department of Health.  

The state is reporting a total of 602,113 coronavirus cases among Florida residents and 608,722 cases across the state since the pandemic began.

The Florida Department of Health shows the total Covid-19 death toll in the state standing at 10,733 Florida residents. There were 153 new deaths reported, 30 less than yesterday’s count.     

There have been more than 4.4 million Covid-19 tests given in Florida, with 86% of them testing as negative. There are 4,430 Covid-19 patients currently hospitalized throughout Florida 

Remember: These numbers were released by Florida’s public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database, which is drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project  

About 20% of the new Covid-19 cases across New York City are coming from people traveling from the 31 states on New York’s quarantine list, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday.

The sheriff’s office has completed more than 3,000 vehicle stops, issued two citations and handed out more than 12,000 face coverings, the mayor said. 

The mayor urged people coming in from one of these places to quarantine, saying in part, “You really have to quarantine, it’s the law.” 

In a televised national address on Wednesday, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the easing of some Covid-19 restrictions as the country's infections have reached a “manageable level.”

Kenyatta lifted a ban on alcohol sales in hotels and restaurants saying, "hotspots like Nairobi and Mombasa have begun to stabilize," as a result of the majority of Kenyans adequately observing Covid-19 guidelines. The national positivity rate has fallen from 13% in June to 8% in August, the president noted, adding “we are reporting more recoveries than infections in some instances”.

Bars and nightclubs will remain closed, and a nationwide curfew from 9 p.m. to 4 a.m. local time will remain in place for another 30 days. 

Despite the progress in major cities, Kenyatta warned the crisis is shifting to other counties with weaker health systems. “The new frontier of this invisible enemy is increasingly shifting to the counties and rural areas,” he said.

At least 213 people tested positive on Wednesday, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to at least 33,016 with 564 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health. 

Airbnb is the latest company to signal that it is bracing for a long pandemic, telling employees they can work from home through next summer, even if their offices reopen before then. 

The hospitality company said in a statement that it wants to give its workers “flexibility and choice.”

In a shift that perplexed some doctors, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has changed its Covid-19 testing guidelines to say some people without symptoms may not need to be tested, even if they've been in close contact with someone known to have the virus.

Previously, the CDC said viral testing was appropriate for people with recent or suspected exposure, even if they were asymptomatic.

CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta is answering viewer questions on this latest guidance and the virus in general.

Watch here:

Democratic State Legislators in Georgia issued a press release Wednesday morning to "urge Gov. Brian Kemp to issue a statewide mandate requiring masks or face coverings in public."

State Representative Shelly Hutchinson also said in the statement, “we now know that President Donald Trump’s White House Coronavirus Task Force has called for our governor to show leadership and implement a statewide mask mandate. This should not be controversial.”

The World Economic Forum in Davos will be rescheduled next year due to coronavirus. The meeting, which is normally held in January, will now be held in the summer. 

WEF will now hold a series of Davos Dialogues in the week of Jan. 25, where key global leaders can share their views on the state of the world in 2021.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday that gyms can reopen at 25% capacity on Sept. 1.

Masks will be required, the governor tweeted.

Read his tweet:

Bed Bath & Beyond is eliminating 2,800 jobs effective immediately, as the troubled retailer tries to streamline its operations and shore up its finances amid the pandemic.

The significant reduction of corporate employees and retail workers will help Bed Bath & Beyond save $150 million in annual pretax cost savings, the company said Tuesday. As of February, the retailer had 55,000 employees, so the cuts amount to 5% of its total workforce. 

Tuesday's "action forms part of a series of changes we are making to reduce the cost of our business, further simplify our operations and support our teams so we can emerge from the pandemic in an even stronger position," CEO Mark Tritton said in the statement.

Some background: Last month, Bed Bath & Beyond announced it was permanently closing 200 stores starting later this year. Brick-and-mortar stores continue to struggle as people shift their shopping online.

The company — which also operates Buybuy Baby, Christmas Tree Shops and Harmon Face Values — has about 1,500 stores. Nearly 1,000 of those are Bed Bath & Beyond locations. 

Tritton was named Bed Bath & Beyond's CEO last October, joining the retailer from Target. In addition to the layoffs and store closures, Tritton is bolstering the company's digital efforts and launching new in-house brands next year.