More than 600 students and staff are in quarantine or isolation in two Florida counties
From CNN’s Rosa Flores and Sara Weisfeldt
More than 600 students and staff members in two Florida counties are in quarantine or isolation due to Covid-19.
The Martin County School District tells CNN that 425 students and 31 employees have transitioned to quarantine and remote learning since August 11, the first day of school.
Hillsborough County, which launched a Covid-19 dashboard yesterday, reports 159 students and employees have tested positive. The health department is helping contact trace, per the district.
CNN has reached out to the Florida Department of Health asking for a full list of Covid-19 cases in K-12 schools and has not heard back.
4:31 p.m. ET, September 1, 2020
Gyms and museums in North Carolina can open starting Friday
From CNN's Gisela Crespo
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper North Carolina Department of Public Safety
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced the state will move to phase 2.5 of reopening during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The state will enter the new phase on Friday at 5 p.m. ET, Cooper said during a news briefing on Tuesday.
"We're encouraged to see North Carolina holding steady on most and decreasing on some of our key data metrics," Cooper said.
"Because of our stable numbers, today we're ready to take a careful step forward," he added.
What's changing: In this new phase, mass gathering limits will increase to 25 people indoors and 50 people outdoors from the current limit of 10 indoors and 25 outdoors. Large venues will remain subject to these limits.
Playgrounds may open, while museums and aquariums may do so at 50% capacity. Gyms and indoor exercise facilities can open at 30% capacity.
Bars, nightclubs, movie theaters, indoor entertainment facilities, amusement parks and dance halls will remain closed.
4:12 p.m. ET, September 1, 2020
New Hampshire rolls out new Covid-19 schools dashboard to track cases in real time
From CNN’s Gregory Lemos
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu Pool
New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu announced the state is rolling out a Covid-19 Schools Dashboard, set to go live today, to track cases in real time.
“You can find your schools, your school district, the number of cases, the clusters of illness, things of that nature, so you can see in real time what the true status is to your child or family’s school as it pertains to the Covid-19 pandemic,” the governor said during a press conference on Tuesday.
“Having that centralized website, kind of a clearing house for real time – real time, and real accurate information I think is going to be a very important tool for everyone," he added.
Sununu thanked parents, teachers, and school administrators in advance for doing the reporting it will require to keep the dashboard accurately updated. It will be run by the Department of Health and Human Service, Sununu said.
New Hampshire State Epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said at the press conference that they are expecting students to get sick with Covid-19 and it’s not a reason for alarm.
“We expect students and staff to be diagnosed with Covid-19 and to have been in the school, right?” Chan said. “So this should not be a surprise or cause significant fear when people look on the data dashboard, for example, and see there is someone with Covid-19 in their school.”
Chan said the plan is for the DHHS to work with schools to identify who was in “close contact” with the infected student and make an appropriate plan depending on the individual circumstance.
4:12 p.m. ET, September 1, 2020
Michigan Athletics projects $100 million loss after canceled fall sports seasons
From CNN's David Close
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel Kirthmon F. Dozier/Detroit Free Press/USA Today Network/magn Content Services
The University of Michigan athletics department has announced layoffs and salary cuts to staff as the school prepares for a $100 million shortfall.
This comes a few weeks after, the Big Ten, the conference Michigan competes in, announced the postponement of the conference’s fall sports season because of coronavirus concerns – including the football season.
Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel appeared on the Conqu’ring Heroes podcast and revealed the impact of the disposed football season has had on the department's budget.
“The impact is upwards of almost half our budget, about $100 million...It is a significant loss, so we have to take as many significant reductions as we can and cutbacks as we have already as we continue to do a budget, salary reductions and those kinds of things," Manual said.
In a Tuesday open letter, Manuel blamed the Covid-19 pandemic for the cuts to the athletic department including the elimination of 21 staff positions, salary reductions and a hiring freeze that will not fill 15 positions.
"I am genuinely sorry for the position we find ourselves and that I had to communicate in this manner. Please support each other and your impacted colleagues during this challenging time," Manual said.
3:48 p.m. ET, September 1, 2020
Oregon governor extends Covid-19 state of emergency for 60 days
From CNN’s Jennifer Henderson
Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has extended the Covid-19 state of emergency in Oregon until November 3, 2020, according to a press release from her office today.
“This Labor Day weekend is another critical moment in this crisis … Small social get-togethers like barbecues and family celebrations have fueled wider community outbreaks in counties across Oregon. This weekend, you have a choice,” Brown said. “Please, stay local this Labor Day, and practice safe COVID-19 habits. Wear a face covering, watch your physical distance, and wash your hands.”
3:48 p.m. ET, September 1, 2020
More than 184,000 people have died from coronavirus in the US
From CNN's Brandon Miller
There are at least 6,055,569 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 184,114 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
So far on Tuesday, Johns Hopkins has reported 24,982 new cases and 517 reported deaths.
The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.
3:36 p.m. ET, September 1, 2020
Are you a student attending in-person classes at a US college or university? Share your story with us
We want to know how you're handling the risk of getting Covid-19 while going back to school. Are you quarantined in your dorm room? What's your college campus like? Do you feel safe?
Share the details with us in the form below and we may reach out to feature you in an upcoming story.
3:21 p.m. ET, September 1, 2020
Florida Department of Health cuts ties with lab company after it failed to report 75,000 tests
From CNN's Erica Henry
Lisa Wiley, of Walmart, sets up for the opening at a drive-up self-administered COVID-19 testing site run by Quest Diagnostics at the Walmart store in Boynton Beach, Florida, Tuesday, June 16. Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/AP/FILE
The Florida Department of Health has cut all ties with Quest Diagnostics after the state says the company did not report nearly 75,000 Covid-19 test results dating back to April.
The Department of Health said the move was at the direction of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Quest told the state that "all individuals that tested positive were notified of their results."
“While significant, this unacceptable dump of test results is a data issue and does not impact the health of individuals or the spread of COVID-19 in Florida," the department stated in a statement
“The law requires all COVID-19 results to be reported to DOH in a timely manner. To drop this much unusable and stale data is irresponsible. I believe that Quest has abdicated their ability to perform a testing function in Florida that the people can be confident in. As such I am directing all executive agencies to sever their COVID-19 testing relationships with Quest effective immediately," DeSantis said in the statement.
Quest Diagnostics acknowledged the delay in its own statement, saying in part, “Quest Diagnostics takes seriously our responsibility to report laboratory data to public health authorities in a timely manner to aid pandemic response."
"Due to a technical issue, our reporting of a subset of public health COVID-19 test data to the Florida Department of Health was delayed. This subset involves nearly 75,000 of the approximately 1.4 million COVID-19 tests we have performed and reported to the state," the statement added.
Quest Diagnostics apologized “for this matter” and went on to say that it regretted “the challenge it poses for public health authorities in Florida.”
The statement said that the issue had been resolved.
3:13 p.m. ET, September 1, 2020
Ohio working on guidance on how to report Covid-19 cases in schools
From CNN’s Rebekah Riess
The Ohio Channel
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said the state will be issuing an education order this week on reporting Covid-19 cases in Ohio's classrooms.
“We’re still working on the exact language for the order and we’ll get it out shortly,” DeWine said at a news conference on Tuesday.
According to the governor, the main goals of the order will be to ensure that parents are notified if their children have been in contact with someone who tested positive for Covid-19. The order would also make sure parents are notified if someone in their child's building tested positive and that the public is aware of cases in their local school districts.
A report of cases in the local districts will issued by the State Health Department once a week, DeWine said.
“Our goal is to be as open and transparent as possible, so families can be informed if there are cases in school,” the governor said.
