Category Archives: Economy Reopening

Live updates: U.S. sets another single-day record for new coronavirus cases, surpassing 40,000 for first time

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Clinical Testing, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, Crisis, Crisis Management, Economic Crisis, Economic Recovery, Economy Reopening, Health Policy, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Leadership Decentralized, Mortality, National Strategy, Pandemic, Public Health, Public Safety, Quarantine, Social Distancing • Leave a comment

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/26/coronavirus-live-updates-us/?fbclid=IwAR2rv7BC74tY4bLlGXlh70tcuv3V3vGz52MCFrCX2FYdMvhkOxd_XJoUsgM&utm_campaign=wp_main&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook

Coronavirus latest: Global coronavirus infections top 1 million ...

The United States has set a record for new covid-19 cases for the third time in three days, passing the 40,000 mark for the first time, according to tracking by The Washington Post.

Twelve states set their own records for the average number of new cases reported over the past seven days: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Idaho and Utah.

Six states set new single-day highs, led by Florida with 8,942 cases, more than 60 percent higher than its previous high set on Wednesday. Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Idaho and Utah also set new single-day records.

Florida announced Friday morning that bars must close immediately, a move echoed by Texas, a state also dealing with a surge in cases and nearing its capacity to care for those suffering.

“The trajectory that we’re on right now has our hospitals being overwhelmed, probably about mid-July,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler (D) said during an appearance on CNN.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) issued an executive order that revives restrictions on bars, restaurants and certain types of outdoor recreation, one day after suggesting he would not.

Here are some significant developments:

  • The Dow Jones industrial average slid 730.05 points, about 2.8 percent, as rising coronavirus infections roiled investors Friday.
  • Vice President Pence said during a White House coronavirus task force news briefing that it is “very encouraging news” that half of the increasing cases in Florida and Texas are among Americans under 35, because younger people tend to have less-serious outcomes.
  • The Trump administration official coordinating tests for the novel coronavirus did a partial pivot Friday, announcing that the government would briefly extend its management of five testing sites in Texas, a state with a recent spike of cases and hospitalizations.
  • Anthony S. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious-disease doctor, urged Americans to see their role in taking safety precautions as a “societal responsibility.” He begged them not to let their guards down even if the risk to their own health is considered minimal, because they can still transport it.
  • In another sign that hopes of a swift economic recovery may be losing steam, the number of homeowners delaying their mortgage payments shot up by 79,000.
  • Portugal is reinstating lockdown measures for about 700,000 people in 19 civil parishes around Lisbon next week after a worrying rise in cases in communities in the capital’s outskirts.

Six states set record number of new cases

As the United States logged a record number of infections Friday, six states announced their own new single-day high case totals: Georgia, Utah, South Carolina, Tennessee, Idaho and Florida.

Georgia reported four straight days of more than 1,700 new infections and two days in a row of records. The 1,900 cases reported by state health officials Friday surpassed the previous record, 1,714 cases, announced Thursday.

The seven-day average of new infections also hit a new high — 1,569 — and has been rising steadily since late May. That figure is up about 77 percent from a week ago and nearly 115 percent since Memorial Day.

In Utah, the single-day case total hit 676 and set a record for the fourth day in a row. The rolling average has also been on a steady upward swing for 10 days.

Current hospitalizations of Utah’s confirmed covid-19 patients are rising quickly, from 149 a week ago to 174 on Friday. Hospitalizations were at 102 when the month began.

South Carolina’s 1,301 new cases and 1,094 rolling average also set records. The state started the month with an average of 281 daily cases.

Tennessee announced 1,410 new infections, surpassing its previous record number of single-day cases by more than 200.

Current hospitalizations are also rising in South Carolina and Tennessee.

In addition to the states that set records, Louisiana has joined the states with rapidly increasing case numbers. Health officials announced 1,354 new cases Friday, compared with 523 two weeks ago and none two weeks before that.

 

 

 

Florida reports massive single-day increase of 9,000 coronavirus cases

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Clinical Testing, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, Crisis, Crisis Management, Economic Crisis, Economy Reopening, Health Policy, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Leadership Decentralized, Mortality, Pandemic, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Public Health, Public Safety, Quarantine, Social Distancing • Leave a comment

https://www.axios.com/florida-single-day-increase-coronavirus-cases-a6d5578b-527c-4be4-88e6-eb7289a7be97.html?stream=health-care&utm_source=alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts_healthcare

Florida reports massive single-day increase of 9,000 coronavirus ...

Florida on Friday reported nearly 9,000 new coronavirus cases in 24 hours totaling 122,960 cases.

Why it matters: The state is one of many that are experiencing a fresh surge of infections.

Go deeper: The coronavirus surge is real, and it’s everywhere

 

 

 

3 moral virtues necessary for an ethical pandemic response and reopening

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Access, Access & Quality of Healthcare, Communication, Compassion, Core Values, Coronavirus, Economic Crisis, Economy Reopening, Equality, Ethics, Justice, Misinformation, Misleading, Mixed Message, Morals, Pandemic, Public Health, Public Safety, Social Determinants of Health, Solidarity, Virtues • Leave a comment

https://theconversation.com/3-moral-virtues-necessary-for-an-ethical-pandemic-response-and-reopening-140688?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%2026%202020%20-%201662516009&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20June%2026%202020%20-%201662516009+Version+A+CID_98447eb9cb25b06b85aed07c7fd721bd&utm_source=campaign_monitor_us&utm_term=3%20moral%20virtues%20necessary%20for%20an%20ethical%20pandemic%20response%20and%20reopening

3 moral virtues necessary for an ethical pandemic response and ...

The health and economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic are not equally felt. From the United States to Brazil and the United Kingdom, low-wage workers are suffering more than others and communities of color are most vulnerable to the virus.

Despite the disparities, countries are reopening without a plan to redress these unequal harms and protect the broader community going forward. Our ethics research examines the potential for using virtues as a guide for a more moral coronavirus response.

Virtues are applied morals – actions that promote individual and collective well-being. Examples include generosity, compassion, honesty, solidarity, fortitude, justice and patience. While often embedded in religion, virtues are ultimately a secular concept. Because of their broad, longstanding relevance to human societies, these values tend to be held across cultures.

We propose three core virtues to guide policymakers in easing out of coronavirus crisis mode in ways that achieve a better new normal: compassion, solidarity and justice.

1. Compassion

Compassion is a core virtue of all the world’s major religions and a bedrock moral principle in professions like health care and social work. The distinguishing characteristic of compassion is “shared suffering:” Compassionate people and policies recognize suffering and take actions to alleviate it.

As the French philosopher André Comte-Sponville said, compassion “means that one refuses to regard any suffering as a matter of indifference or any living being as a thing.”

Individual acts of compassion abound in the coronavirus crisis, like frontline health care professionals and neighbors who deliver food, among other examples.

Compassion and solidarity on display at New York’s Elmhurst Hospital, during the April peak of the city’s coronavirus outbreak. Noam Galai/Getty Images

Some pandemic-era policies also reflect compassion, such as regulations preventing evictions and expanding unemployment benefits and giving food aid to poor familes.

A compassion-guided reopening aimed at preventing or reducing human suffering would require governments to continually monitor and alleviate the pain of their people. That includes addressing new forms of suffering that arise as circumstances change.

2. Solidarity

In a global pandemic, the actions people do or don’t take affect the health of others worldwide. Such shared emergencies require solidarity, which recognizes both the inherent dignity of each individual person and the interdependence of all people. As United Nations officials have emphasized, “we are all in this together.”

Public health measures like stay-at-home orders, social distancing and wearing masks reflect solidarity. While compliance in the United States has not been universal, data indicate broad approval for these measures. A new study found that 80% of Americans nationwide support staying home and social distancing and 74% support using face coverings in public.

To achieve these acts of solidarity, the leaders most praised in their countries and abroad – from U.S. National Institutes of Health director Dr. Anthony Fauci to New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern – have relied primarily on moral persuasion, not threats of punishment.

By delivering clear information, giving simple and repeated behavioral guidance, and setting a good example, they’ve helped convince millions to take personal responsibility for protecting their community.

Face masks signal that wearers care about protecting others around them. Islam Dogru/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

3. Justice

Justice focuses on the fair distribution of resources and the social structures that enable what the Dutch philosopher Patrick Loobuyck has called a “condition of equality.”

Justice-oriented policies are necessary for a moral reopening because of the pandemic’s disproportionate health and economic impacts. The evidence clearly shows that communities of color, low-income populations, people in nursing homes and those on the margins of society, such as homeless people and undocumented immigrants, are hardest hit.

Justice-oriented policies would aim for equitable balancing of necessary pandemic resources. That means directing testing and health equipment toward vulnerable communities – as identified by COVID-19 tracking data and risk factors like housing density and poverty – and ensuring free, widespread vaccine distribution when it becomes available.

In the U.S., economic justice will also require aggressively investing in minority-run businesses and poorer areas to guard against further harm to owners, employees and neighborhoods.

Similarly, all American school children have lost critical classroom hours, but lower-income children have been disproportionately damaged by remote learning in part due to the digital divide and loss of free lunch programs. Justice would demand channeling additional resources to the students and schools that need them most.

A moral reopening

Using virtues to guide social policies is an old idea. It dates back at least to the Greek thinker Aristotle.

Social distance stickers to prepare Nepal’s empty Tribhuwan International Airport for reopening. Narayan Maharjan/NurPhoto via Getty Images

New Zealand is a good example of virtuous pandemic policymaking, even considering its advantages in having wealth, low density and no land borders. Its coronavirus response included not only aggressive public health measures but also a well articulated message of being united in the COVID-19 fight and recurring government payments so workers did not have to risk their health for their job.

Note that it isn’t enough to apply just one virtue in a crisis of this magnitude. Policies built on compassion, solidarity and justice should be deployed in combination.

A compassionate post-pandemic response that does not address underlying inequalities, for example, ignores certain communities’ specific needs. Meanwhile, tackling specific injustices without engaging everyone in efforts like mask-wearing endangers the public health.

Bolstered by scientific evidence, virtue ethics can help nations reopen not just economically but morally, too.

 

 

 

 

Jobless claims: Another 1.48 million Americans file for unemployment benefits

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Coronavirus, Deferred Healthcare, Economic Crisis, Economic Recovery, Economy Reopening, Employee Furlough, Employee Hiring Freeze, Employee Layoffs, Employee Pay Cuts, Employer-Based Health Insurance, Health Insurance Coverage Adequacy, Health Policy, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Job, Job Market, Job Search, Job Security, Out of Pocket Expenses, Pandemic, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA), Underinsured, Unemployment, Unemployment Insurance, Uninsured • Leave a comment

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/coronavirus-covid-weekly-initial-jobless-claims-june-20-195644738.html

More than three months into the COVID-19 crisis in the U.S., countless Americans are still unemployed. According to the U.S. Labor Department, weekly initial jobless claims data showed yet another week of claims exceeding 1 million.

Another 1.48 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits in the week ending June 20, exceeding economists’ expectations for 1.32 million. The prior week’s figure was revised higher to 1.54 million from the previously reported 1.51 million claims. While this week’s report marked 12 consecutive weeks of deceleration, more than 47 million Americans have filed for unemployment insurance over the past 14 weeks.

“Jobless claims are not falling fast enough,” Renaissance Macro’s Neil Dutta said in an email Thursday. “Everything we have seen in the last week or two between rising case counts/hospitalizations, stalling economic progress in some important states, government job cuts, means one thing: the Phase 4 of fiscal stimulus must be bigger. Things should be better in 3-4 weeks, but the news will get worse before it gets better. Take some chips off the table and reload the chamber for August.”

Continuing claims, which lags initial jobless claims data by one week, totaled 19.52 million in the week ending June 13, down from 20.29 million in the week ending June 6. Consensus expectations were for 20 million continuing claims.

“Initial jobless claims continue to moderate only gradually,” Nomura economist Lewis Alexander wrote in a note Wednesday. “While the labor market remains exceptionally weak, signs of gradual improvement suggest another month of NFP gains during June.”

In the week ending June 20, California reported the highest number of jobless claims at an estimated 287,000 on an unadjusted basis, up from 241,000 in the previous week. Georgia had 124,000, down from 132,000, Florida reported 93,000, New York had roughly 90,000 and Texas reported 89,000 jobless claims.

Additionally, Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program claims, which include those who were previously ineligible for unemployment insurance such as self-employed and contracted workers, was also closely monitored in Thursday’s report.

PUA claims totaled 728,120 on an unadjusted basis in the week ending June 20, down from the prior week’s 770,920.

As states reopen their economies, cases and hospitalization figures are back on the rise. As of Thursday morning, there were more than 9.4 million cases and 483,000 COVID-19 deaths around the world, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The U.S. had 2.3 million cases and 121,000 deaths.

 

 

Coronavirus Cases may be 10x higher than official count says CDC

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Antibodies, Asymptomatic Transmission, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Chronic Care Management, Chronic Conditions, Chronic Diseases, Clinical Testing, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, Economy Reopening, False Hope, False Narrative, Health Policy, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Leadership Decentralized, Mislead, Misleading, Mortality, National Strategy, Pandemic, Preexisting Conditions, Public Health, Public Safety, Quarantine, Social Distancing, Vulnerable Populations • Leave a comment

https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-vitals-59e9ac1a-ab86-4f8a-917a-8c9d52f5835f.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=newsletter_axiosvitals&stream=top

NC coronavirus update June 25: North Carolina's mask mandate goes ...

The real number of U.S. coronavirus cases could be as high as 23 million — 10 times the 2.3 million currently confirmed cases — the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told reporters yesterday, Axios’ Marisa Fernandez reports.

Between the lines: The new estimate is based on antibody testing, which indicates whether someone has previously been infected by the virus regardless of whether they had symptoms.

  • “This virus causes so much asymptomatic infection. The traditional approach of looking for symptomatic illness and diagnosing it obviously underestimates the total amount of infections,” CDC director Robert Redfield said.

The agency also expanded its warnings of which demographic groups are at risk, which now include younger people who are obese and who have underlying health problems.

  • The shift reflects what states and hospitals have been seeing since the pandemic began, which is that young people can get seriously ill from COVID-19.

The new guidance also categorizes medical conditions that can affect the severity of illness:

  • Conditions that increase risk: Chronic kidney disease; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; obesity; weakened immune system from solid organ transplant; serious heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease or cardiomyopathies; sickle cell disease; Type 2 diabetes.
  • Conditions that may increase risk: Chronic lung diseases, including moderate to severe asthma and cystic fibrosis; high blood pressure; a weakened immune system; neurologic conditions, such as dementia or history of stroke; liver disease; pregnancy.

 

 

 

 

500 Delta Airline Staff Test Positive for Coronavirus, 10 Dead

Posted on by • Posted in Air Travel, Clinical Testing, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, Crisis, Crisis Management, Economic Crisis, Economy Reopening, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Mortality, Pandemic, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Public Health, Public Safety, Quarantine, Social Distancing • Leave a comment

https://www.newsweek.com/500-delta-airline-staff-test-positive-coronavirus-10-dead-1513016

Coronavirus Travel: What Happens to Planes Grounded by Covid-19 ...

Hundreds of staff at Delta Air Lines have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Ten workers have died after contracting the virus, the company confirmed.

According to a transcript of the company’s latest shareholders meeting held on a phone conference June 18, Delta’s Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said: “We have had approximately 500 employees that have tested positive for COVID-19. The vast majority have recovered, thankfully. Unfortunately, we have lost 10 employees to the disease.”

Speaking to Newsweek, a spokesperson for Delta noted the latest tally of infected employees is “inclusive of all positive cases reported to us since March out of our 90,000 employees worldwide.

“Since initial reporting in March, Delta has seen a significant reduction in positive employee COVID-19 tests and is currently tracking at a rate five times lower than the national average.”

Bastian said: “We have recently announced that we are going to be testing all of our employees. In fact, we started this week in Minneapolis for both the blood serology, as to whether they have already been exposed to the disease and have antibodies, as well as the active test to see if they, indeed, are carrying the virus. And that test is being led by Mayo Clinic.”

“And we are also working very closely with Quest Diagnostics in that we will have all 90,000 of our employees available to be tested. And from getting a good baseline, we will be able to provide better protection for our people and then, eventually, certainly, our customers as we go forward,” Bastian confirmed on the call.

It is unknown whether the infected staff members are cabin crew or ground-level workers and which flights they may have been operating. The majority of Delta’s employees are reported to be flight attendants, pilots and airport agents, while less than 10,000 are administrative staff, most of whom are working from home, according to Bastian.

“Given that we are a frontline customer service business, the majority of our employees need to be at work to conduct business,” Bastian said.

On Monday, Delta announced it will resume flights between the U.S. and China. The carrier will operate a service between Seattle and China’s Shanghai Pudong International Airport via South Korea’s Incheon International Airport twice a week from June 25.

From July, the airline will operate weekly flights from Seattle and Detroit to Shanghai, also via Incheon International Airport. Delta is the first U.S. airline to resume services between the U.S. and China since the temporary suspension of flights in February following the outbreak.

Earlier this month, Delta announced it will be suspending flights to 11 U.S. airports from July 8 while “customer volume is significantly reduced,” the carrier confirmed in a statement.

These airports make up five percent of the airline’s domestic operations. “All of these airports will continue to receive service from at least one other carrier after Delta suspends its operations,” the statement added.

The 11 airport locations include Aspen in Colorado (ASE), Bangor in Maine (BGR), Erie, PA (ERI), Flint in Michigan (FNT), Fort Smith in Arkansas (FSM), Lincoln in Nebraska (LNK), New Bern/Morehead/Beaufort in North Carolina (EWN), Peoria in Illinois (PIA), Santa Barbara, California (SBA), Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania (AVP) and Williston in North Dakota (XWA).

“Delta has announced an 85 percent reduction in our second-quarter schedule, which includes reductions of 80 percent in U.S. domestic capacity and 90 percent internationally,” including service to Canada’s Ottawa International Airport in the province of Ontario which was suspended indefinitely from June 21, the statement confirmed.

Last month, Delta also announced the temporary suspension of operations at airports in locations with “more than one Delta-served airport to allow more frontline employees to minimize COVID-19 exposure risk while customer traffic is low.”

“Delta will continue providing essential service to impacted communities via neighboring airports,” the statement said.

The 10 airports where operations were temporarily suspended include Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW) in Illinois, Oakland International Airport (OAK), Hollywood Burbank Airport (BUR) and Long Beach Airport (LGB) in California, T. F. Green International Airport (PVD) in Rhode Island, Westchester County Airport (HPN) and Stewart International Airport (SWF) in New York, Akron-Canton Airport (CAK) in Ohio, Manchester-Boston Regional Airport (MHT) in New Hampshire and Newport News/Williamsburg International Airport (PHF) in Virginia.

Services at Canada’s Saskatoon International Airport were also temporarily suspended last month.

Delta extended its waiving of change fees and the flexibility to travel through September 30, 2022, to customers with canceled flights through September 2020.

“Eligible customers include those who have upcoming travel already booked between now and September 30 as of April 17, 2020,” and those with “canceled travel on flights between March 2020 and September 2020,” the airline said.

From May 4, Delta has required all passengers to wear a face mask or other appropriate face covering on its flights. Other safety measures introduced include sanitizing all aircraft with electrostatic spraying before departure and disinfecting all high-touch points throughout the aircraft interior.

Aircraft are also equipped with “state-of-the-art air circulation systems with HEPA [high efficiency particulate absorbing] filters that extract more than 99.99 percent of particles, including viruses,” the company said in a statement Monday.

Last week, American Airlines flight crew asked a passenger to disembark a plane after the man refused to wear a mask on board a flight.

In the same week, a survey by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) found that 45 percent of travelers said they would fly within two months after the novel coronavirus is no longer seen as a threat, down from 60 percent in April.

The novel coronavirus, first reported in Wuhan, China, has infected more than 9.2 million people across the globe, including over 2.3 million in the U.S. More than 477,800 have died following infection, while over 4.6 million have reportedly recovered from infection, as of Wednesday, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.

 

 

 

Houston ICUs at 97 Percent Capacity as Texas Coronavirus Cases Break Records

Posted on by • Posted in Clinical Testing, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, Crisis, Crisis Management, Economic Crisis, Economy Reopening, Health System, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Intensive Care (ICU), Mortality, Pandemic, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Public Health, Public Safety, Quarantine, Social Distancing • Leave a comment

https://www.newsweek.com/houston-icus-90-percent-capacity-texas-coronavirus-cases-break-records-1513077

Coronavirus Briefing: What Happened Today - The New York Times

Almost all intensive care unit beds at Houston hospitals were occupied on Wednesday as Texas reported a record number of statewide patient admissions related to the novel coronavirus.

During a City Council meeting Wednesday morning, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said 97 percent of the city’s ICU beds were filled. A report from the Texas Medical Center (TMC) said 27 percent of those beds were occupied by COVID-19 patients.

According to data published earlier this week by the TMC, a network of health care and research institutions based in Houston, 90 percent of the city’s ICU beds were filled as of Monday. Virus patients accounted for more than one-quarter of those occupancies.

The TMC’s latest report incorporated ICU admission numbers from seven affiliate hospitals in the Houston area: CHI St. Luke’s Health, Harris Health System, Houston Methodist, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Memorial Hermann, Texas Children’s Hospital and University of Texas Medical Branch. The hospitals can collectively admit 1,330 ICU patients at regular capacity, when 70 to 80 percent of total beds are typically occupied, according to the TMC.

The TMC’s Monday report noted that an additional 373 beds could become available under its “sustainable surge” plan, a procedure that would indefinitely increase ICU capacities as needed during the pandemic. Another 504 beds could be added to Houston ICUs under an emergency “unsustainable surge” plan, which the TMC would implement to address a “significant, temporary” influx of patients, according to its report.

Houston’s heightened ICU admissions were reported as cases and hospitalizations related to the coronavirus are spiking throughout Texas. Ongoing data released by the Texas Department of State Health Services show that of all the state’s regions, the Houston area is one of the hardest hit in terms of virus incidence and hospital admissions. The latest DSHS data estimated that 179 ICU beds were available at medical facilities located in the Greater Houston area as of Tuesday afternoon.

The number of patients hospitalized with the virus peaked in Texas on Tuesday, as the DSHS confirmed more than 4,000 current admissions. The state has set new records for hospitalizations related to COVID-19 every day since June 12, when 2,166 patients were reported.

On Monday, the Houston Health Department said hospitalizations due to the virus had increased 177 percent throughout the surrounding county since May 31. It also noted a 64 percent increase in ICU patients who had tested positive for the virus.

Texas also saw its highest daily increase in virus cases on Wednesday, with 5,489 new diagnoses confirmed. The latest single-day record surpassed its previous high of 4,430 new cases reported last Saturday. Cumulative diagnosis data reflected in graphics published by the DSHS show a sharp upturn in cases reported statewide since the start of June, when about 64,800 total cases were confirmed. As of Tuesday afternoon, the number had risen to more than 120,300. The DSHS estimated that roughly 47,400 of those cases remain active.

Businesses in Texas started to reopen at the beginning of May. Although Texas Governor Greg Abbott has not required residents to wear face masks in the state’s public spaces during the reopening process, he did encourage people to do so earlier this week in response to increasing case counts and hospitalizations.

“Wearing a mask will help us to keep Texas open. Not taking action to slow the spread will cause COVID to spread even worse, risking people’s lives and ultimately leading to the closure of more businesses,” he said during a news conference on Monday.

 

 

Coronavirus live updates: New York activates quarantine for travelers from hotspots as Florida shatters daily record

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Clinical Testing, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, Crisis, Crisis Management, Economic Crisis, Economic Recovery, Economy Reopening, Health Policy, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Leadership Decentralized, Market Outlook, Market Trends, Mortality, National Strategy, Pandemic, Public Health, Public Safety, Quarantine, Scientists, Social Distancing • Leave a comment

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/24/coronavirus-live-updates.html?utm_source=&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=30961

Chart of daily new coronavirus cases in the United States through June 23, 2020.

The coronavirus continues to surge in states around the country, mostly in the South and West. Testifying before members of Congress on Tuesday, White House health adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said parts of the U.S. are beginning to see a “disturbing surge” and described the overall situation as a “mixed bag” across different regions and states.

  • Global cases: More than 9.29 million
  • Global deaths: At least 478,289
  • U.S. cases: More than 2.34 million
  • U.S. deaths: At least 121,279

The data above was compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

California reports more than 7,000 cases, biggest daily jump so far

3:30 p.m. ET — California reported an additional 7,149 Covid-19 cases since Tuesday, a 69% increase in two days, bringing the state’s total to 190,222 cases, according to the state’s health department.

While the daily case numbers are growing, Gov. Gavin Newsom said that the state performed a record number of tests in the last 24 hours. However, the percent of tests coming back positive has slightly increased in the last two weeks, sitting at 5.1% on a 14-day average, he said.

Hospitalizations from Covid-19 in California have also increased 29% in the last 14 days, totaling 4,095 as of Tuesday, Newsom said.

“We cannot continue to do what we have done over the last number of weeks. Many of us understandably developed a little cabin fever, some I would argue developed a little amnesia, others have frankly taken down their guard,” Newsom said at press briefing. —Noah Higgins-Dunn

The pandemic still hasn’t peaked in the Americas, WHO says

2:30 p.m. ET — Coronavirus outbreaks in the Americas, which include North, South and Central America, haven’t reached their peaks yet, the World Health Organization warned.

Over a third of the new cases reported Tuesday were from five countries in the Americas, according to WHO data. The U.S. reported the most cases and is the worst-hit country in the world with more than 2.3 million cases and at least 121,279 deaths as of Wednesday.

The comment by the WHO came a day after Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States’ leading infectious disease expert, expressed concern a “disturbing surge” in coronavirus infections as states continue to reopen.

One WHO official said that parts of the Americas had not “reached a low enough level of transmission “with which we can achieve a successful exit of successful and social distancing measures.” —Berkeley Lovelace Jr.

The entrance to the Magic Kingdom at Disney World is seen on the first day of closure as theme parks in the Orlando area suspend operations for two weeks in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Paul Hennessy/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

1:04 p.m. ET — More than 7,000 people have signed an online petition urging Disney and local government officials to reconsider the reopening of Disney World next month.

The petition comes as coronavirus cases in the state are rapidly rising.

It is difficult to determine how many of the signees of the online petition are actually Walt Disney employees or if the petition is union-backed. There is no mention in the petition itself of any affiliation with an employee union.

“The safety and well being of our cast members and guests are at the forefront of our planning, and we are in active dialogue with our unions on the extensive health and safety protocols, following guidance from public health experts, which we plan to implement as we move toward our proposed, phased reopening,” Disney said in a statement to CNBC. —Sarah Whitten

Florida shatters record for new cases in a day

People wait for a health assessment check-in before entering Jackson Memorial Hospital, as Miami-Dade County eases some of the lockdown measures put in place during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Miami, Florida, U.S., June 18, 2020.

12:15 p.m. ET — The Florida Department of Health reported 5,508 new coronavirus cases, surpassing the previous record single-day increase of 4,049 new cases reported on Saturday.

Florida is among a handful of states that includes Arizona and Texas that are experiencing expanding outbreaks of the virus.

As cases continue to rise by the thousands every day in Florida, the percent of total tests coming back positive has also risen. On Wednesday, the state reported that 15.91% of all tests came back positive, up from 10.82%. That increase indicates that the surge in new cases is not due solely to ramped up testing. —Will Feuer

NY, NJ and CT impose quarantine on travelers from hotspot states

11:51 a.m. ET — The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut jointly announced a 14-day quarantine for travelers entering the states from coronavirus hotspots.

The Northeastern bloc of states has successfully combated their own outbreaks, having brought peak infection rates down considerably, and are now worried about visitors reintroducing high transmission rates.

“We worked very hard to get the viral transmission rate down. We don’t want to see it go up because a lot of people come into this region and they can literally bring the infection with them,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a press conference with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont.

The hotspot states included in the advisory so far are: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington. —Sara Salinas

New York City Marathon canceled

Lelisa Desisa of Ethiopia crosses the finish line to win the Men's Division during the 2018 TCS New York City Marathon in New York on November 4, 2018.

10:29 a.m. ET — The 2020 TCS New York City Marathon has been canceled amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, according to an announcement from the race’s organizers. Scheduled for Nov. 1, the event was supposed to commemorate the 50th running of the marathon.

New York Road Runners, which organizes the race, said the decision was made from a health perspective in partnership with the New York City Mayor’s Office.

“While the marathon is an iconic and beloved event in our city, I applaud New York Road Runners for putting the health and safety of both spectators and runners first,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement.

NYRR said runners will receive a full refund of their entry fee or complimentary entry for 2021, 2022 or 2023. They will also be invited to participate in a virtual marathon event taking place from Oct. 17 to Nov. 1.

The New York City race is the world’s largest marathon and counted 53,640 finishers in 2019, according to NYRR. —Hannah Miller

More states are reporting increases in new Covid-19 cases as U.S. 7-day average continues to grow

A patient is wheeled into Houston Methodist Hospital as storm clouds gather over the Texas Medical Center, amid the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Houston, Texas, U.S., June 22, 2020.

0:11 a.m. ET — As of Tuesday, the seven-day average of daily new Covid-19 cases in the U.S. increased by more than 32% compared to one week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Cases are growing by 5% or more in 30 states across the country, including Arizona, Texas, Montana and Idaho. Since Monday, four more states have seen growth in their 7-day average of daily new cases.

Texas health officials reported an all-time high of 5,489 new cases on Tuesday, surpassing 5,000 cases in a single day. The state has also been seeing record spikes in hospitalizations in recent weeks. As of Tuesday, there are 3,335 people currently hospitalized in Texas based on a 7-day moving average, which is a 49% increase compared with a week ago, according to Covid Tracking Project data.

California also broke its record for daily number of positive cases on Tuesday, adding 6,712 new cases, according to Johns Hopkins data. The state surpassed 6,000 new cases for the first time on Monday. —Jasmine Kim

IMF slashes forecasts for U.S. economy, GDP

9:47 a.m. ET — The International Monetary Fund slashed its economic estimates for global GDP and the U.S. economy amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and warned that governments’ debt levels will continue to soar as they combat the crisis.

The IMF forecast a contraction of 4.9% in global GDP and estimated that the U.S. economy will contract by 8% in 2020, CNBC’s Silvia Amaro reports. The new estimates were downward revisions from what the IMF forecast in April.

The Washington-based institution said the new figures were due to expectations that social-distancing measures will likely remain in place during the second half of 2020, hurting productivity and supply chains.

The Fund also downgraded its 2020 estimates for the euro zone and its GDP forecast for 2021. —Hannah Miller

The U.S. will eclipse its first peak, Dr. Scott Gottlieb says

8:20 a.m. ET — Daily new cases of coronavirus will surpass the country’s first peak in April, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC.

“We’re going to eclipse the totals in April, so we’ll eclipse 37,000 diagnosed infections a day,” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “But in April we were only diagnosing 1 in 10 to 1 in 20 infections, so those 37,000 infections represented probably half a million infections at the peak.“

Since April, the U.S. has significantly ramped up the country’s capacity to test broadly for the virus, including among asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic patients. That means even though confirmed cases will likely peak again, the underlying outbreak probably isn’t as large as it was in April, Gottlieb said.

“The total number of deaths is falling because the total infection burden in the country is a lot lower now than it was in April,” he said. —Will Feuer

Most recent 1 million cases were reported in just a week, WHO says

Chart of global daily new coronavirus cases by region

8:08 am ET — The pandemic is still accelerating, with the most recent 1 million cases being reported in one week, World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, according to Reuters.

During a virtual conference on vaccine development and access across the continent, Tedros added that every country in Africa has now developed laboratory capacity to conduct diagnostic testing for the virus.

The virus has sickened more than 9.27 million people around the world and killed at least 477,807 people. There is still no U.S.-approved treatment or vaccine for the disease. —Will Feuer

India reports record single-day spike in cases

Health workers wearing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) carry the body of a person who who died due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a crematorium in New Delhi, India, June 24, 2020.

7:12 a.m. ET — India has reported its highest spike of new cases of infections since the virus took hold in the country of more than 1.3 billion people, according to The Associated Press. 

In 24 hours, the country reported 15,968 new cases and 465 deaths, the AP reported. That means the virus has now infected more than 456,183 people in India, killing at least 14,476, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Maharashtra, New Delhi and Tamil Nadu are the hardest-hit states, making up almost 60% of all confirmed cases in the country. New Delhi, in particular, is emerging as a cause for concern in the federal government, the AP reported, due to poor contact tracing infrastructure and limited hospital capacity.

India has the fourth worst coronavirus outbreak in the world, based on total number of confirmed cases, behind only the U.S., Brazil and Russia. —Will Feuer

The EU is discussing reopening its borders, but US citizens could remain barred

A general view of almost desert Pantheon square during Italy's lockdown due to Covid-19 pandemic.

6:51 a.m. ET — The European Union is discussing how to reopen its external borders as the region looks to revive its economies, but visitors from the U.S., and elsewhere, could be barred from entering the bloc for now.

Thirty European countries decided to close their external borders back in March to contain the spread of Covid-19, but that measure is due to be lifted on Tuesday. Representatives of the EU governments are discussing the criteria to lift the travel restrictions from abroad, and at the moment, the main requirement is the coronavirus infection rate in the country of origin.

This means that countries with high rates, such as the United States and Brazil, could remain barred from entering European nations, at least for some time. —Silvia Amaro

 

 

 

 

WHO Reports Largest Single-Day Spike In Coronavirus Cases

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC), Clinical Testing, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, Economic Crisis, Economy Reopening, Health Policy, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Leadership Decentralized, Mortality, National Strategy, Pandemic, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Public Health, Public Safety, Quarantine, Scientists, Social Distancing, World Health Organization (WHO) • Leave a comment

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/who-reports-largest-single-day-spike-in-coronavirus-cases

WHO reports largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases

The World Health Organization on Sunday reported the largest single-day increase in coronavirus cases by its count, at more than 183,000 new cases in the latest 24 hours.

The UN health agency said Brazil led the way with 54,771 cases tallied and the U.S. next at 36,617. Over 15,400 came in in India.

Experts said rising case counts can reflect multiple factors including more widespread testing as well as broader infection.

Overall in the pandemic, WHO reported 8,708,008 cases — 183,020 in the last 24 hours — with 461,715 deaths worldwide, with a daily increase of 4,743.

More than two-thirds of those new deaths were reported in the Americas.

In Spain, officials ended a national state of emergency after three months of lockdown, allowing its 47 million residents to freely travel around the country for the first time since March 14. The country also dropped a 14-day quarantine for visitors from Britain and the 26 European countries that allow visa-free travel.

But there was only a trickle of travelers at Madrid-Barajas Airport, which on a normal June day would be bustling.

“This freedom that we now have, not having to justify our journey to see our family and friends, this was something that we were really looking forward to,” Pedro Delgado, 23, said after arriving from Spain’s Canary Islands.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez urged people to take maximum precautions: “The virus can return and it can hit us again in a second wave, and we have to do whatever we can to avoid that at all cost.”

At a campaign rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Trump said Saturday the U.S. has tested 25 million people, but the “bad part” is that it found more cases.

“When you do testing to that extent, you’re going to find more people, you’re going to find more cases,” Trump said. “So I said to my people, ‘Slow the testing down, please.’″

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on CNN that Trump was being “tongue-in-cheek” and made the comment in a “light mood.”

Democratic rival Joe Biden’s campaign accused Trump of “putting politics ahead of the safety and economic well-being of the American people.”

The U.S. has the world’s highest number of reported infections, over 2.2 million, and the highest death toll, at about 120,000, according to Johns Hopkins. Health officials say robust testing is vital for tracking outbreaks and keeping the virus in check.

In England, lockdown restrictions prevented druids, pagans and party-goers on Sunday from watching the sun rise at the ancient circle of Stonehenge to mark the summer solstice, the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. English Heritage, which runs the site, livestreamed it instead. A few people gathered outside the fence.

“You can’t cancel the sunrise,” druid Arthur Pendragon told the BBC.

The number of confirmed virus cases is still growing rapidly not only in the U.S. but in Brazil, South Africa and other countries, especially in Latin America.

Brazil’s Health Ministry said the total number of cases had risen by more than 50,000 in a day. President Jair Bolsonaro has been downplaying the risks even as his country has seen nearly 50,000 fatalities, the second-highest death toll in the world.

South Africa reported a one-day high of almost 5,000 new cases on Saturday and 46 deaths. Despite the increase, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced a further loosening of one of the world’s strictest lockdowns. Casinos, beauty salons and sit-down restaurant service will reopen.

In the United States, the virus appears to be spreading across the West and South. Arizona reported over 3,100 new infections, just short of Friday’s record, and 26 deaths. Nevada also reported a new high of 445 cases.

In Europe, a single meatpacking plant in Germany has had over 1,000 cases, so the regional government issued a quarantine for all 6,500 workers, managers and family members.

In Asia, China and South Korea reported new coronavirus cases Sunday in outbreaks that threatened to set back their recoveries.

Chinese authorities recorded 25 new confirmed cases — 22 in Beijing. In the past week, Beijing tightened travel controls by requiring anyone who wants to leave the Chinese capital, a city of 20 million people, to show proof they tested negative for the virus.

In South Korea, nearly 200 infections have been traced to employees at a door-to-door sales company in Seoul, and at least 70 other infections are tied to a table tennis club there. But South Korean officials are reluctant to enforce stronger social distancing to avoid hurting the economy.

 

 

 

 

 

Nebraska governor says he’ll withhold federal money from counties that require masks

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Coronavirus, Economic Crisis, Economic Stimulus, Economy Reopening, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Leadership Decentralized, Mixed Message, National Strategy, Pandemic, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Public Health, Public Safety, Quarantine, Social Distancing, The CARES Act • Leave a comment

https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2020-06-18/nebraska-governor-mask-requirement-will-cost-counties-money

Nebraska governor: Mask rules will cost counties money meant to ...

Nebraska’s governor told local governments they will not receive any federal money to help fight the effects of the coronavirus pandemic if they require people to wear masks in public buildings.

The mandate from Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts seems at odds with his usual message, often delivered at his regular news conferences to address the COVID-19 outbreak, encouraging people to wear masks to slow the spread of the virus, the Omaha World-Herald reported.

Ricketts stands by that advice, his spokesman Taylor Gage said. Local governments can encourage mask-wearing in courthouses and other county government buildings, he said, but the governor “does not believe that failure to wear a mask should be the basis for denying taxpayers’ services.”

“Counties are not prohibited from requiring masks, but if they want CARES Act money, they have to be fully open, and that means they cannot deny service for not wearing a mask,” Gage said.

The mandate is drawing objections from county officials, who say it runs counter to Nebraska’s long-held bent toward local control and the advice of public health officials.

In Lincoln, officials planned to require all visitors to wear masks when entering the City-County Building, but those rules were dropped when officials learned that doing so would cost Lancaster County any chance at the $100 million that has been allotted to Nebraska counties as part of the federal economic rescue law.

“We’d like to have a little bit more ability to call the shots in our courthouse, but we realize that he has the right to set the rules,” said Deb Schorr, a longtime Lancaster County Board member.

Dakota County Assessor Jeff Curry said the order could have dire consequences in his county, which is home to a Tyson Foods meatpacking plant and has been one of the hardest-hit counties in the nation for the virus.

Curry said he was hoping that a mask requirement could be in place for the courthouse through July 1.

Nebraska continues to pull back on restrictions meant to slow the spread of the virus, even as more cases are recorded. On Wednesday, the state saw nearly 200 news cases of the virus reported, bringing Nebraska’s total to 17,226, according to the state’s online virus tracker. Nebraska has seen a total to 234 deaths related to the COVID-19 virus.