Previous coronavirus daily briefing updates, July 9-10
By
Staff, AccuWeather
Published Jul 13, 2020 5:25 PM EDT
Current daily briefings on the coronavirus can be found here. Scroll below to read previous reports from June 30 to July 3, listed in eastern time.
All Starbucks stores will require customers and employees to wear masks starting July 15. Locations in the United States will mandate the policy, including in places where the local government doesn't have a mandate in place. For customers who want to order without a mask, they will have to do so through drive-thru or curbside pickup, according to USA Today. Uber and Costco have also put in mask requirements for customers and workers indefinitely in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
A dog in Texas has become the first animal in the state to catch coronavirus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's veterinary lab received the positive test back on Tuesday that confirmed the dog has been infected with SARS-CoV-2, according to The Dallas Morning News. The dog was tested after the owners contracted the virus. The staff members at the veterinary clinic all wore personal protective equipment when around the dog and its owner. The dog is said to still be healthy. There is currently no evidence that pets play a significant role in spreading the coronavirus to humans, according to Sate Veterinarian Andy Schwartz.
Hong Kong has suspended all schools due to a new surge in coronavirus cases. Most of the schools in the area have been shut since January with many turning to online methods, Thirty-eight new cases were reported in Hong Kong on Friday which continued the sharp increase the city has seen in the last three days. It is reported that 32 of the 38 cases were locally transmitted. The change in online learning has caused hardship in Hong Kong with more than two thirds of parents saying they think their child is having difficultly learning at home. Of 600 low-income students surveyed in Hong Kong, 70% did not have a computer, according to The Society for Community Organisation.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have announced seating capacity will be at 25% at home games this season. The Jaguars said the decision came in compliance with state and local authorities following CDC social-distancing guidelines. This comes after other teams have announced similar reductions to seating capacity, such as the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens. Those with season ticket payments have been given credits to use for the 2021 season, if the holder prefers to defer their seats to next year, according to Pro Football Talk. The option for refunds has also been given by the team. The layout of the stadium is being reconfigured to account for the new guidelines. Season ticker holders will be given priority access to buying tickets for the upcoming season. All fans will be required to wear face masks for the games.
Recent studies may explain why some COVID-19 patients were able to fight the virus off more successfully than others. Some small studies suggest that patients who experience mild symptoms or no symptoms may be eliminating the infection through a T cell response.“There is mounting evidence that people exposed to the virus have a transient (short-lived) antibody response, or have a T cell response in spite of a minor or absent antibody response,” Alessandro Sette, professor and member of the La Jolla Institute’s Infectious Disease and Vaccine Center in California, said, according to Reuters. The patients who developed the T cells came up negative when tested for COVID-19 antibodies. The findings provide evidence that a successful vaccine to fight off the virus will need to trigger a T cell response in the body, as well as antibodies. “T cells are often important in controlling viral infections. We are seeing evidence of that,” Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Immunology John Wherry told Reuters.
The heat in Houston was so brutal on Friday that the Harris County Public Health Department was forced to close all of its COVID-19 testing sites earlier. By early afternoon, temperatures in Houston soared to the upper 90s, and according to the AccuWeather forecast, Houston will bake in triple-digit heat over the next four days. Porfirio Villarreal, public information officer with Houston Health, told Click2Houston that the opening time for test sites was moved from 10 a.m. to 8 a.m. so health workers could do their jobs in the cooler parts of the day. “Other things that we’ve done, we have a tent where they are working to take the samples from the public, so that way they are directly away from the sunlight, so that keeps them cool,” he said. Here's a look at the seven-day forecast for Houston, where cases have been surging. Harris County, which encompasses Houston, was at nearly 41,000 cases as of Friday.
The AccuWeather 7-day forecast for Houston.
New evidence suggests that the coronavirus could cause brain damage in some patients. The neurological complications caused by the virus include inflammation, psychosis and delirium, according to a study conducted by researchers at University College London. The study described 43 cases of patients with COVID-19 who suffered from temporary brain dysfunction, strokes and nerve damage. “Whether we will see an epidemic on a large scale of brain damage linked to the pandemic – perhaps similar to the encephalitis lethargica outbreak in the 1920s and 1930s after the 1918 influenza pandemic – remains to be seen,” Michael Zandi, from UCL’s Institute of Neurology, told Reuters. As of right now, scientists will continue to monitor this new finding as the virus continues to spread. “This disease is affecting an enormous number of people,” Adrian Owen, a neuroscientist at Western University in Canada, said. “That’s why it’s so important to collect this information now.”
Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb believes as many as 1 in 150 Americans could be infected with COVID-19, many unknowingly. He told CNBC that he believes “We must have well over 700,00 infections a day, even though we’re only diagnosing about 60,000.” According to Gottlieb, the conventional wisdom previously was that 1 in 200 people were infected, but he believes that rate is rising.
“It’s going to be hard to get to a point where you could — you’re not going to eliminate the infection — but get it down to levels that are much, much lower,” he said. “The prevalence of actual infection in the country right now must be pretty high.”
New data from Gilead Sciences has shown remdesivir may reduce the risk of death in those sick with coronavirus. In the report published Friday, the company said the treatment remdesivir reduced the risk of death in patients by 62%. Gilead also found that the treatment provided “significantly improved clinical recovery.” The data was analyzed from 312 patients that enrolled in the phase three trial with similar characteristics and disease severity, according to CNBC. The result found that 7.6% of patients treated with remdesivir died compared to 12.5% who did not receive the treatment. Gilead said it will need to further study and conduct additional trials.
Australia will reduce the number of citizens allowed to return back home each week. This announcement comes as Melbourne, the country’s second-largest city, is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases. The state of Victoria reported 288 new cases on Friday, setting a new daily record of cases. “The news from Victoria remains very concerning,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, according to Reuters. Since March, when the pandemic started to spread worldwide, about 457,000 Australian citizens and permanent residents have re-entered the country. However, Australia will now set a new limit of 4,175 people allowed to return home each week. Additionally, they will be sent to a hotel, where they will be quarantined for 14 days. “The decision that we took… was to ensure that we could put our focus on the resources needed to do the testing and tracing and not have to have resources diverted to other tasks,” Morrison said.
More and more world leaders are testing positive for COVID-19 this week, particularly in South America. Just days after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive, Bolivian President Jeanine Anez and Venezuelan socialist party leader Diosdado Cabello also tested positive. Venezuala President Nicolas Maduro also confirmed that Omar Prieto, governor of the state of Zulia, tested positive.
“I feel well, I feel strong, I am going to keep working remotely from my isolation, and I want to thank all the Bolivians who are working to help us in this health crisis,” Anez said, according to Reuters. At least six other Bolivian leaders, including its health minister, have also tested positive.
College football fans hoping for a complete season this fall may be out of luck. On Thursday, the Big Ten conference announced that all fall sports teams will play a conference-only season in an effort to eliminate long-distance travel, preserve scheduling flexibility and make quick, real-time decisions based on new medical advice, according to ESPN. The Big Ten was the first Power 5 conference to make the move official, while the Big 12 conference is considering a similar move and the ACC has already announced that all fall sports would be delayed until at least Sept. 1. On Wednesday, the Ivy League announced that all fall sports would be ruled out.
The U.S. reported 65,551 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, setting a new record for a 24-hour period. This new data, collected by Johns Hopkins University, brings the total number of confirmed cases to more than 3.1 million. The previous record was reported on Tuesday, with more than 60,200 cases in one day. In recent weeks, the U.S. has seen a spike in infections, as most states ease restrictions. “We’re in a very difficult, challenging period right now,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said, according to Barron’s. “I would think we need to get the states pausing their opening process. I don’t think we need to go back to an extreme shutting down.”
Screenshot from Johns Hopkins University data showing the recent spike in daily new cases in the United States.
Here are the latest global COVID-19 numbers, provided by Johns Hopkins University researchers:
-
Total confirmed cases: 12,287,550
-
Total deaths: 555,324
-
Total recoveries: 6,755,829
In the United States, another daily-record high was set on Thursday as the country reached 63,100,00 new cases, according to Johns Hopkins. After never topping 50,000 new cases in a single day before July, the U.S. has now had six such days since the beginning of the month.
There's a famous line from a 17th-century poem by William Congreve about music having the power "to soothe the savage breast" and a nurse who works in a Chilean hospital has taken that old adage to heart. She spends her free time playing music and brightening the days of patients suffering from COVID-19. Even after long shifts of exhaustive work, Damaris Silva still takes the time to put a smile on the faces of dozens of coronavirus patients at Hospital El Pino in Santiago, Reuters reported. Twice a week after she finishes her shift at 6 p.m., she picks up her violin and walks through the corridors as she plays a mix of popular Latin songs to the patients. “As soon as I walk in the patients brighten, they seem happier; they smile and applaud,” Silva told Reuters. Currently, Chile is close to surpassing 300,000 cases of the virus, with more than 6,000 deaths. However, things are starting to look up, as the Chilean health minister said that there has been a sustained decrease in infections and positive tests in Santiago. Below, watch the video and hear from of Silva's playing.
A man who tested positive for COVID-19 wandered around city streets after escaping quarantine in New Zealand. The 32-year-old man was staying at one of the country’s mandatory quarantine hotels where people must stay for 14 days after arriving in the country, Bloomberg reported. “There is no evidence at this point that the person has come into contact with people while they were out on their walk, and also they were asymptomatic. The combination of those factors creates a very low risk profile,” New Zealand Health Minister Chris Hopkins said. Despite the low risk of spread, a store that he visited was closed for cleaning and all staff members were being tested for COVID-19. The country’s mandatory quarantine for arriving travelers is one reason why the rate of infection has been very low with New Zealand only reporting 1,540 people testing positive leading to 22 fatalities.
A study published on Thursday reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic could be taking quite a toll on people physically, regardless if they have contracted the virus themselves. Two hospitals in Ohio have seen an increase in Stress-induced cardiomyopathy or Takotsubo syndrome, or “broken heart syndrome,” when the muscles weaken and can lead to chest pain and shortness of breath. The condition presents itself similarly to a heart attack and is triggered by stressful events, CNN reported. Patients are two times likelier to have broken heart syndrome during the pandemic, the study concluded. According to the study, the increase was likely due to the "psychological, social, and economic stress" caused by "imposed quarantine, lack of social interaction, strict physical distancing rules, and its economic consequences in people's lives."
The Mouse and friends will be welcoming guests to Walt Disney World as soon as Saturday, July 11. However, the rise in coronavirus cases in the state of Florida has caused potential guests to hesitate and brought increased scrutiny on the company. “We are still knee-deep in the first wave of the pandemic, with cases now exceeding three million in the U.S.,” Dr. Ravina Kullar, a Los Angeles-based infectious disease specialist epidemiologist and spokeswoman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told CNBC. “Data has shown us that SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks have happened from people screaming, talking loudly, and coughing and screaming.” Kullar went as far as to call theme parks a “breeding ground” for COVID-19 transmission, and says they should remain closed until there is a decrease in cases. “I think the world survives just fine without Disney,” Carlos Del Rio, an Atlanta-based infectious disease specialist, told CNBC. Florida has the third-highest number of confirmed cases at over 232,000, trailing California and New York, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Within the past two weeks, the state recorded nearly 114,000 new cases, according to the Florida Department of Health. Disney plans on only opening Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom to visitors on Saturday, followed by Epcot and Hollywood Studios on July 15. New safety protocols will include a mandatory mask policy, temperature checks, empty seats on rides and around 4,000 additional sanitation stations.
Layoffs continue to drive millions and millions of Americans towards unemployment as more than 1.3 million applied for unemployment benefits last week, according to The Associated Press. Data from the Labor Department shows 16 straight weeks with at least 1 million new applications, including the all-time high of 6.867 million new filings for the week ending March 28. Before the pandemic, the country had never seen a single week with more than 700,000 new unemployments.
Tulsa has seen a surge in coronavirus cases following Donald Trumps campaign rally two weeks ago. High numbers are currently being reported in the city, with nearly 500 new cases emerging the last two days, according to Executive Director of the Tulsa Health Department Dr. Bruce Dart. The Tulsa Health Department also reported 266 new cases on Wednesday which brought the county to over 4,500 confirmed cases and over 17,500 in the state of Oklahoma, according to Forbes. Dart said that the Trump rally was one of several large events to take place a little over two weeks ago. The coronavirus has a lengthy incubation period, waiting three to 14 days before any symptoms may show. About 6,200 people attended the rally, according to Tulsa Fire Department There is currently no city-wide face covering mandate, but it is still being encouraged, according to CNN.
A summer camp in Missouri has become a hotspot for coronavirus infections after 82 people tested positive. Kanakuk Kamps, a network of Christian sports camps in Missouri, saw its number of positive cases jump from 42 to 82 in just a few days at its location in Lampe, according to the Stone County Health Department (SCHD). The camp announced its closing for the summer this week, saying “The decision to close has resulted in all campers, counselors and staff to return to their homes."
Outbreaks at summer camps have also been reported in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Other states, including Oregon, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have opted against the opening of summer camps, as a measure to slow the spread of the virus.
After three months of lockdown, the resort island of Bali has lifted some of its restrictions on Thursday, but it will still be a long time before normal operations resume. More than 7,000 tourists were stranded at the popular tourist destination in Indonesia after the lockdown began in early April and had to be granted visa extensions, according to ABC News. While these tourists could not leave, new ones could not arrive, resulting in a major economic toll all across the island. “This outbreak has hammered the local economy," a local businesswoman said. “We have to move on but be safe by observing health protocols to protect Bali from the second wave of coronavirus spread.” Bali has reported nearly 2,000 cases of COVID-19, leading to 25 fatalities, ABC News said.
The 2020 Summer Games would have been kicking off in Tokyo a few short weeks from now if not for the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the Olympics to be postponed until July 2021. Many are skeptical the games will be held next year, a new poll shows, according to The Associated Press. Some 77% of those surveyed by the Japan News Network indicated they believe the games cannot be held in Tokyo next year. Just 17% responded that they were optimistic the games will go on as planned. The pessimistic public sentiment comes just as Tokyo health officials reported the city's largest single-day spike in new coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Officials reported 224 new cases, the AP reported, eclipsing the previous 24-hour record of 204 set back in April. Still, Olympics spokesperson Masa Takaya said organizers expect the games will go on without a hitch and downplayed the poll results suggesting the way poll questions were worded "may result in very different messages." He added that the city is planning to open the games on July 23, 2021.
A small town has started printing its own currency to help coronavirus relief. Tenino, Washington is home to a wooden printing press that has been unused for 90 years, but has now brought it back to life. Twenty-five dollar wooden bills with the town's name and the words "COVID Relief" and "Habemus autem sub potestate" (We have it under control) are now being printed from the press. The press previously helped revive the town's local economy in 1931 in the wake of the Great Depression, according to Reuters. The banknotes started being printed in April, and anyone with a loss of income from the pandemic is eligible for up to $300 a month in the local currency. Tenino's city government has backed the local currency which merchants can trade in for U.S. dollars at city hall.
Greenhouses are popping up in Los Angeles, but they aren’t for plants. Lady Byrd Cafe has constructed small glass cabins to house tables and guests, isolating them from others for safe outdoor dining. “The CDC guidelines are really you just have to be six feet apart, right? I just went the extra step to make sure that people feel extra comfortable,” owner Misty Mansouri said. “Many of the people who have dined here, this has been their first experience and they feel super-safe.” The glass cabins are built so that air can flow through the structure to prevent it from getting too hot inside and are cleaned and sanitized between each use, Reuters said.
Fall sports have been canceled for all Ivy League schools, including college football. Wednesday’s announcement made the Ivy League the first Division I conference to announce changes to the fall sports schedule amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, there is still the chance that some games will be played during the spring semester. "A decision on the remaining winter and spring sports competition calendar, and on whether fall sport competition would be feasible in the spring, will be determined at a later date," the Ivy League said in a press release. This announcement also puts other college sports in jeopardy of being canceled later in the academic year. "If things don't get better, we're not even going to pay basketball," the source told CBS News. "[Decision makers are] holding out hope we can play basketball."
Other college leagues across the country could follow similar actions, including the Pac-12. Last week during a video chat broadcasted on Twitter, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said, "Unless we see a change in the trajectory of the spread of the virus and its impact pretty quickly, I think the situation's a lot more perilous than it was a few weeks ago.”
As the coronavirus keeps spreading in the U.S., testing delays have become a problem for a lot of Americans. Sam Lee, a resident of Austin, Texas, had to go to four different testing centers, before he finally got tested on June 29. Even then, he had to wait in line for more than two hours. “If you have symptoms and you are just driving around the city trying to figure out how you can get a test, for people who are positive, it is not ideal,” Lee told The Associated Press. His results didn’t come until seven days after being tested. With some sites running out of kits and testing materials, Americans are frustrated, as they can’t get tested, even if they are experiencing symptoms that could potentially indicate infection.
“It’s a hot mess,” said 47-year-old Jennifer Hudson of Tucson, Arizona. “The fact that we’re relying on companies and we don’t have a national response to this, it’s ridiculous. It’s keeping people who need tests from getting tests.” Currently, the U.S. has reported three million infections in four months and more than 130,000 deaths. However, this number could be much higher. Health officials suspect that the real number of infections is about 10 time higher, and due to inadequate testing, a lot of cases are not being reported.
Here are the latest global COVID-19 numbers, provided by Johns Hopkins University researchers:
-
Total confirmed cases: 12,062,863
-
Total deaths: 549,846
-
Total recoveries: 6,605,246
Previous coverage:
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from July 4-5.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 30-July 3.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 28-29.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 25-27.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 22-24.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 19-21.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 17-18.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 14-16.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 10-13.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 7 - June 9.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 3 - June 6.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 31 - June 2.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 28-30.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 26-27.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 23-25.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 20-22.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 17-19.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 13-16.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 10-12.
Click here previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak.
Reporting by Lauren Fox, John Murphy, Brian Lada, Mark Puleo, Maria Antonieta Valery Gil, Kevin Byrne, Chaffin Mitchell, Adriana Navarro, John Roach, Dexter Henry, Bill Wadell, Jonathan Petramala, and Monica Danielle
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News / Health
Previous coronavirus daily briefing updates, July 9-10
By Staff, AccuWeather
Published Jul 13, 2020 5:25 PM EDT
Current daily briefings on the coronavirus can be found here. Scroll below to read previous reports from June 30 to July 3, listed in eastern time.
July 10, 9:55 p.m.
All Starbucks stores will require customers and employees to wear masks starting July 15. Locations in the United States will mandate the policy, including in places where the local government doesn't have a mandate in place. For customers who want to order without a mask, they will have to do so through drive-thru or curbside pickup, according to USA Today. Uber and Costco have also put in mask requirements for customers and workers indefinitely in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
July 10, 9 p.m.
A dog in Texas has become the first animal in the state to catch coronavirus. The U.S. Department of Agriculture's veterinary lab received the positive test back on Tuesday that confirmed the dog has been infected with SARS-CoV-2, according to The Dallas Morning News. The dog was tested after the owners contracted the virus. The staff members at the veterinary clinic all wore personal protective equipment when around the dog and its owner. The dog is said to still be healthy. There is currently no evidence that pets play a significant role in spreading the coronavirus to humans, according to Sate Veterinarian Andy Schwartz.
July 10, 7:30 p.m.
Hong Kong has suspended all schools due to a new surge in coronavirus cases. Most of the schools in the area have been shut since January with many turning to online methods, Thirty-eight new cases were reported in Hong Kong on Friday which continued the sharp increase the city has seen in the last three days. It is reported that 32 of the 38 cases were locally transmitted. The change in online learning has caused hardship in Hong Kong with more than two thirds of parents saying they think their child is having difficultly learning at home. Of 600 low-income students surveyed in Hong Kong, 70% did not have a computer, according to The Society for Community Organisation.
July 10, 6 p.m.
The Jacksonville Jaguars have announced seating capacity will be at 25% at home games this season. The Jaguars said the decision came in compliance with state and local authorities following CDC social-distancing guidelines. This comes after other teams have announced similar reductions to seating capacity, such as the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens. Those with season ticket payments have been given credits to use for the 2021 season, if the holder prefers to defer their seats to next year, according to Pro Football Talk. The option for refunds has also been given by the team. The layout of the stadium is being reconfigured to account for the new guidelines. Season ticker holders will be given priority access to buying tickets for the upcoming season. All fans will be required to wear face masks for the games.
July 10, 4:36 p.m.
Recent studies may explain why some COVID-19 patients were able to fight the virus off more successfully than others. Some small studies suggest that patients who experience mild symptoms or no symptoms may be eliminating the infection through a T cell response.“There is mounting evidence that people exposed to the virus have a transient (short-lived) antibody response, or have a T cell response in spite of a minor or absent antibody response,” Alessandro Sette, professor and member of the La Jolla Institute’s Infectious Disease and Vaccine Center in California, said, according to Reuters. The patients who developed the T cells came up negative when tested for COVID-19 antibodies. The findings provide evidence that a successful vaccine to fight off the virus will need to trigger a T cell response in the body, as well as antibodies. “T cells are often important in controlling viral infections. We are seeing evidence of that,” Director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Institute for Immunology John Wherry told Reuters.
July 10, 3:03 p.m
The heat in Houston was so brutal on Friday that the Harris County Public Health Department was forced to close all of its COVID-19 testing sites earlier. By early afternoon, temperatures in Houston soared to the upper 90s, and according to the AccuWeather forecast, Houston will bake in triple-digit heat over the next four days. Porfirio Villarreal, public information officer with Houston Health, told Click2Houston that the opening time for test sites was moved from 10 a.m. to 8 a.m. so health workers could do their jobs in the cooler parts of the day. “Other things that we’ve done, we have a tent where they are working to take the samples from the public, so that way they are directly away from the sunlight, so that keeps them cool,” he said. Here's a look at the seven-day forecast for Houston, where cases have been surging. Harris County, which encompasses Houston, was at nearly 41,000 cases as of Friday.
The AccuWeather 7-day forecast for Houston.
July 10, 1:09 p.m.
New evidence suggests that the coronavirus could cause brain damage in some patients. The neurological complications caused by the virus include inflammation, psychosis and delirium, according to a study conducted by researchers at University College London. The study described 43 cases of patients with COVID-19 who suffered from temporary brain dysfunction, strokes and nerve damage. “Whether we will see an epidemic on a large scale of brain damage linked to the pandemic – perhaps similar to the encephalitis lethargica outbreak in the 1920s and 1930s after the 1918 influenza pandemic – remains to be seen,” Michael Zandi, from UCL’s Institute of Neurology, told Reuters. As of right now, scientists will continue to monitor this new finding as the virus continues to spread. “This disease is affecting an enormous number of people,” Adrian Owen, a neuroscientist at Western University in Canada, said. “That’s why it’s so important to collect this information now.”
July 10, 12:33 p.m.
Former Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb believes as many as 1 in 150 Americans could be infected with COVID-19, many unknowingly. He told CNBC that he believes “We must have well over 700,00 infections a day, even though we’re only diagnosing about 60,000.” According to Gottlieb, the conventional wisdom previously was that 1 in 200 people were infected, but he believes that rate is rising.
“It’s going to be hard to get to a point where you could — you’re not going to eliminate the infection — but get it down to levels that are much, much lower,” he said. “The prevalence of actual infection in the country right now must be pretty high.”
July 10, 11:32 a.m.
New data from Gilead Sciences has shown remdesivir may reduce the risk of death in those sick with coronavirus. In the report published Friday, the company said the treatment remdesivir reduced the risk of death in patients by 62%. Gilead also found that the treatment provided “significantly improved clinical recovery.” The data was analyzed from 312 patients that enrolled in the phase three trial with similar characteristics and disease severity, according to CNBC. The result found that 7.6% of patients treated with remdesivir died compared to 12.5% who did not receive the treatment. Gilead said it will need to further study and conduct additional trials.
June 10, 10:44 a.m.
Australia will reduce the number of citizens allowed to return back home each week. This announcement comes as Melbourne, the country’s second-largest city, is experiencing a spike in COVID-19 cases. The state of Victoria reported 288 new cases on Friday, setting a new daily record of cases. “The news from Victoria remains very concerning,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said, according to Reuters. Since March, when the pandemic started to spread worldwide, about 457,000 Australian citizens and permanent residents have re-entered the country. However, Australia will now set a new limit of 4,175 people allowed to return home each week. Additionally, they will be sent to a hotel, where they will be quarantined for 14 days. “The decision that we took… was to ensure that we could put our focus on the resources needed to do the testing and tracing and not have to have resources diverted to other tasks,” Morrison said.
June 10, 10:11 a.m.
More and more world leaders are testing positive for COVID-19 this week, particularly in South America. Just days after Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro tested positive, Bolivian President Jeanine Anez and Venezuelan socialist party leader Diosdado Cabello also tested positive. Venezuala President Nicolas Maduro also confirmed that Omar Prieto, governor of the state of Zulia, tested positive.
“I feel well, I feel strong, I am going to keep working remotely from my isolation, and I want to thank all the Bolivians who are working to help us in this health crisis,” Anez said, according to Reuters. At least six other Bolivian leaders, including its health minister, have also tested positive.
June 10, 9:57 a.m.
College football fans hoping for a complete season this fall may be out of luck. On Thursday, the Big Ten conference announced that all fall sports teams will play a conference-only season in an effort to eliminate long-distance travel, preserve scheduling flexibility and make quick, real-time decisions based on new medical advice, according to ESPN. The Big Ten was the first Power 5 conference to make the move official, while the Big 12 conference is considering a similar move and the ACC has already announced that all fall sports would be delayed until at least Sept. 1. On Wednesday, the Ivy League announced that all fall sports would be ruled out.
June 10, 9:30 a.m.
The U.S. reported 65,551 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, setting a new record for a 24-hour period. This new data, collected by Johns Hopkins University, brings the total number of confirmed cases to more than 3.1 million. The previous record was reported on Tuesday, with more than 60,200 cases in one day. In recent weeks, the U.S. has seen a spike in infections, as most states ease restrictions. “We’re in a very difficult, challenging period right now,” Dr. Anthony Fauci said, according to Barron’s. “I would think we need to get the states pausing their opening process. I don’t think we need to go back to an extreme shutting down.”
Screenshot from Johns Hopkins University data showing the recent spike in daily new cases in the United States.
July 10, 6:47 a.m.
Here are the latest global COVID-19 numbers, provided by Johns Hopkins University researchers:
Total confirmed cases: 12,287,550
Total deaths: 555,324
Total recoveries: 6,755,829
In the United States, another daily-record high was set on Thursday as the country reached 63,100,00 new cases, according to Johns Hopkins. After never topping 50,000 new cases in a single day before July, the U.S. has now had six such days since the beginning of the month.
July 9, 9:30 p.m.
There's a famous line from a 17th-century poem by William Congreve about music having the power "to soothe the savage breast" and a nurse who works in a Chilean hospital has taken that old adage to heart. She spends her free time playing music and brightening the days of patients suffering from COVID-19. Even after long shifts of exhaustive work, Damaris Silva still takes the time to put a smile on the faces of dozens of coronavirus patients at Hospital El Pino in Santiago, Reuters reported. Twice a week after she finishes her shift at 6 p.m., she picks up her violin and walks through the corridors as she plays a mix of popular Latin songs to the patients. “As soon as I walk in the patients brighten, they seem happier; they smile and applaud,” Silva told Reuters. Currently, Chile is close to surpassing 300,000 cases of the virus, with more than 6,000 deaths. However, things are starting to look up, as the Chilean health minister said that there has been a sustained decrease in infections and positive tests in Santiago. Below, watch the video and hear from of Silva's playing.
July 9, 7:55 p.m.
A man who tested positive for COVID-19 wandered around city streets after escaping quarantine in New Zealand. The 32-year-old man was staying at one of the country’s mandatory quarantine hotels where people must stay for 14 days after arriving in the country, Bloomberg reported. “There is no evidence at this point that the person has come into contact with people while they were out on their walk, and also they were asymptomatic. The combination of those factors creates a very low risk profile,” New Zealand Health Minister Chris Hopkins said. Despite the low risk of spread, a store that he visited was closed for cleaning and all staff members were being tested for COVID-19. The country’s mandatory quarantine for arriving travelers is one reason why the rate of infection has been very low with New Zealand only reporting 1,540 people testing positive leading to 22 fatalities.
July 9, 6:26 p.m.
A study published on Thursday reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic could be taking quite a toll on people physically, regardless if they have contracted the virus themselves. Two hospitals in Ohio have seen an increase in Stress-induced cardiomyopathy or Takotsubo syndrome, or “broken heart syndrome,” when the muscles weaken and can lead to chest pain and shortness of breath. The condition presents itself similarly to a heart attack and is triggered by stressful events, CNN reported. Patients are two times likelier to have broken heart syndrome during the pandemic, the study concluded. According to the study, the increase was likely due to the "psychological, social, and economic stress" caused by "imposed quarantine, lack of social interaction, strict physical distancing rules, and its economic consequences in people's lives."
July 9, 5 p.m.
The Mouse and friends will be welcoming guests to Walt Disney World as soon as Saturday, July 11. However, the rise in coronavirus cases in the state of Florida has caused potential guests to hesitate and brought increased scrutiny on the company. “We are still knee-deep in the first wave of the pandemic, with cases now exceeding three million in the U.S.,” Dr. Ravina Kullar, a Los Angeles-based infectious disease specialist epidemiologist and spokeswoman for the Infectious Diseases Society of America, told CNBC. “Data has shown us that SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks have happened from people screaming, talking loudly, and coughing and screaming.” Kullar went as far as to call theme parks a “breeding ground” for COVID-19 transmission, and says they should remain closed until there is a decrease in cases. “I think the world survives just fine without Disney,” Carlos Del Rio, an Atlanta-based infectious disease specialist, told CNBC. Florida has the third-highest number of confirmed cases at over 232,000, trailing California and New York, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Within the past two weeks, the state recorded nearly 114,000 new cases, according to the Florida Department of Health. Disney plans on only opening Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom to visitors on Saturday, followed by Epcot and Hollywood Studios on July 15. New safety protocols will include a mandatory mask policy, temperature checks, empty seats on rides and around 4,000 additional sanitation stations.
July 9, 3:50 p.m.
Layoffs continue to drive millions and millions of Americans towards unemployment as more than 1.3 million applied for unemployment benefits last week, according to The Associated Press. Data from the Labor Department shows 16 straight weeks with at least 1 million new applications, including the all-time high of 6.867 million new filings for the week ending March 28. Before the pandemic, the country had never seen a single week with more than 700,000 new unemployments.
July 9, 2:35 p.m.
Tulsa has seen a surge in coronavirus cases following Donald Trumps campaign rally two weeks ago. High numbers are currently being reported in the city, with nearly 500 new cases emerging the last two days, according to Executive Director of the Tulsa Health Department Dr. Bruce Dart. The Tulsa Health Department also reported 266 new cases on Wednesday which brought the county to over 4,500 confirmed cases and over 17,500 in the state of Oklahoma, according to Forbes. Dart said that the Trump rally was one of several large events to take place a little over two weeks ago. The coronavirus has a lengthy incubation period, waiting three to 14 days before any symptoms may show. About 6,200 people attended the rally, according to Tulsa Fire Department There is currently no city-wide face covering mandate, but it is still being encouraged, according to CNN.
July 9, 12:20 p.m.
A summer camp in Missouri has become a hotspot for coronavirus infections after 82 people tested positive. Kanakuk Kamps, a network of Christian sports camps in Missouri, saw its number of positive cases jump from 42 to 82 in just a few days at its location in Lampe, according to the Stone County Health Department (SCHD). The camp announced its closing for the summer this week, saying “The decision to close has resulted in all campers, counselors and staff to return to their homes."
Outbreaks at summer camps have also been reported in Texas, Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee. Other states, including Oregon, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have opted against the opening of summer camps, as a measure to slow the spread of the virus.
July 9, 11:49 a.m.
After three months of lockdown, the resort island of Bali has lifted some of its restrictions on Thursday, but it will still be a long time before normal operations resume. More than 7,000 tourists were stranded at the popular tourist destination in Indonesia after the lockdown began in early April and had to be granted visa extensions, according to ABC News. While these tourists could not leave, new ones could not arrive, resulting in a major economic toll all across the island. “This outbreak has hammered the local economy," a local businesswoman said. “We have to move on but be safe by observing health protocols to protect Bali from the second wave of coronavirus spread.” Bali has reported nearly 2,000 cases of COVID-19, leading to 25 fatalities, ABC News said.
July 9, 11:25 a.m.
The 2020 Summer Games would have been kicking off in Tokyo a few short weeks from now if not for the coronavirus pandemic, which caused the Olympics to be postponed until July 2021. Many are skeptical the games will be held next year, a new poll shows, according to The Associated Press. Some 77% of those surveyed by the Japan News Network indicated they believe the games cannot be held in Tokyo next year. Just 17% responded that they were optimistic the games will go on as planned. The pessimistic public sentiment comes just as Tokyo health officials reported the city's largest single-day spike in new coronavirus cases since the beginning of the pandemic. Officials reported 224 new cases, the AP reported, eclipsing the previous 24-hour record of 204 set back in April. Still, Olympics spokesperson Masa Takaya said organizers expect the games will go on without a hitch and downplayed the poll results suggesting the way poll questions were worded "may result in very different messages." He added that the city is planning to open the games on July 23, 2021.
July 9, 11:09 a.m.
A small town has started printing its own currency to help coronavirus relief. Tenino, Washington is home to a wooden printing press that has been unused for 90 years, but has now brought it back to life. Twenty-five dollar wooden bills with the town's name and the words "COVID Relief" and "Habemus autem sub potestate" (We have it under control) are now being printed from the press. The press previously helped revive the town's local economy in 1931 in the wake of the Great Depression, according to Reuters. The banknotes started being printed in April, and anyone with a loss of income from the pandemic is eligible for up to $300 a month in the local currency. Tenino's city government has backed the local currency which merchants can trade in for U.S. dollars at city hall.
July 9, 10:35 a.m.
Greenhouses are popping up in Los Angeles, but they aren’t for plants. Lady Byrd Cafe has constructed small glass cabins to house tables and guests, isolating them from others for safe outdoor dining. “The CDC guidelines are really you just have to be six feet apart, right? I just went the extra step to make sure that people feel extra comfortable,” owner Misty Mansouri said. “Many of the people who have dined here, this has been their first experience and they feel super-safe.” The glass cabins are built so that air can flow through the structure to prevent it from getting too hot inside and are cleaned and sanitized between each use, Reuters said.
July 9, 9:56 a.m.
Fall sports have been canceled for all Ivy League schools, including college football. Wednesday’s announcement made the Ivy League the first Division I conference to announce changes to the fall sports schedule amid the coronavirus pandemic. However, there is still the chance that some games will be played during the spring semester. "A decision on the remaining winter and spring sports competition calendar, and on whether fall sport competition would be feasible in the spring, will be determined at a later date," the Ivy League said in a press release. This announcement also puts other college sports in jeopardy of being canceled later in the academic year. "If things don't get better, we're not even going to pay basketball," the source told CBS News. "[Decision makers are] holding out hope we can play basketball."
Other college leagues across the country could follow similar actions, including the Pac-12. Last week during a video chat broadcasted on Twitter, Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott said, "Unless we see a change in the trajectory of the spread of the virus and its impact pretty quickly, I think the situation's a lot more perilous than it was a few weeks ago.”
July 9, 9:29 a.m.
As the coronavirus keeps spreading in the U.S., testing delays have become a problem for a lot of Americans. Sam Lee, a resident of Austin, Texas, had to go to four different testing centers, before he finally got tested on June 29. Even then, he had to wait in line for more than two hours. “If you have symptoms and you are just driving around the city trying to figure out how you can get a test, for people who are positive, it is not ideal,” Lee told The Associated Press. His results didn’t come until seven days after being tested. With some sites running out of kits and testing materials, Americans are frustrated, as they can’t get tested, even if they are experiencing symptoms that could potentially indicate infection.
“It’s a hot mess,” said 47-year-old Jennifer Hudson of Tucson, Arizona. “The fact that we’re relying on companies and we don’t have a national response to this, it’s ridiculous. It’s keeping people who need tests from getting tests.” Currently, the U.S. has reported three million infections in four months and more than 130,000 deaths. However, this number could be much higher. Health officials suspect that the real number of infections is about 10 time higher, and due to inadequate testing, a lot of cases are not being reported.
July 9, 7:05 a.m.
Here are the latest global COVID-19 numbers, provided by Johns Hopkins University researchers:
Total confirmed cases: 12,062,863
Total deaths: 549,846
Total recoveries: 6,605,246
Previous coverage:
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from July 4-5.
Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 30-July 3.
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Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from June 25-27.
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Reporting by Lauren Fox, John Murphy, Brian Lada, Mark Puleo, Maria Antonieta Valery Gil, Kevin Byrne, Chaffin Mitchell, Adriana Navarro, John Roach, Dexter Henry, Bill Wadell, Jonathan Petramala, and Monica Danielle
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