Category Archives: Health Policy

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

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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

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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

 

 

 

U.S. Healthcare System vs. Socialized Medicine during the Pandemic

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, Deferred Healthcare, Employer-Based Health Insurance, Essential Health Benefits, Health Insurance Coverage Adequacy, Health Policy, High Deductible Health Plans, High Drug Prices, High Premiums, High Prices, Managed Care, Medicare for All, Out of Pocket Expenses, Preexisting Conditions, Single Payer Health System, Single Payer Healthcare System, Underinsured, Uninsured, Vulnerable Populations • Leave a comment

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“All countries successfully combatting this virus have robust public health systems, which provide for coordination of effort.”

A recent rise in cases of Covid-19 and the overt failure of the for-profit healthcare system throughout the pandemic in the U.S. are making the case for Medicare for All, advocacy groups and activists say, as countries with socialized systems see their infection rates decline.

“All countries successfully combatting this virus have robust public health systems, which provide for coordination of effort,” remarked a popular healthcare advocate who uses the @AllOnMedicare handle on Twitter.

Calls for the U.S. to adopt a single-payer heathcare system have increased as the pandemic has raged around the country. Cases and deaths in the U.S are now the highest in the world, a result critics blame on both the private healthcare system and the mismanagement of the crisis by President Donald Trump.

Public Citizen’s health care policy advocate Eagan Kemp told Common Dreams that the current for-profit healthcare system that has driven millions of Americans in to bankruptcy and leaves millions more without care will only continue to exacerbate the pain of the outbreak. 

“While no health care system can completely protect a country from Covid-19, the U.S. has failed to respond for a number of reasons, not least of which is a for-profit health care system where Americans are too afraid to go to the doctors for fear of the cost,” said Kemp. “Far too many Americans will face medical debt and even bankruptcy if they are lucky enough to survive getting Covid-19, something unheard of in all other comparably wealth countries.”

As University of Massachusetts professor Dean E. Robinson wrote in a piece that appeared at Common Dreams earlier this month, the coronavirus is impacting people of color at a disproportionate rate in cities and communities nationwide—a dynamic that bolsters the call for a universal Medicare for All program to help close those gaps.

“The obvious and immediate need of Black and other working class populations caught in the teeth of the pandemic is the right to health care treatment without the burden of cost,” wrote Robinson. “Even before the pandemic, lower-income, Latino, and younger workers were more likely to be uninsured. Undocumented workers had the highest rates of uninsurance.”

On June 18, Ralph Nader in an opinion piece for Common Dreams expressed his hope that the ongoing pandemic would make essential workers in the health field “the force that can overcome decades of commercial obstruction to full Medicare for All.”

 

 

 

 

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

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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.

 

 

 

 

ACA enrollment up 46%

Posted on by • Posted in 2020 Election Issues, ACA, Coronavirus, Employer-Based Health Insurance, Essential Health Benefits, Health Insurance Coverage Adequacy, Health Policy, Medicaid, Medicaid Expansion, Out of Pocket Expenses, Preexisting Conditions, Underinsured, Unemployment, Unemployment Insurance, Uninsured • Leave a comment

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Obamacare Coverage Spikes After Covid-Related Job Losses

The number of people who lost jobs and related health coverage and then signed up for Affordable Care Act health plans on the federal website was up 46% this year compared with 2019, representing an increase of 154,000 people, the federal government said in a new report.

The bottom line: The government said the rush of people going to HealthCare.gov was tied to “job losses due to COVID-19,” Bob writes.

Yes, but: Medicaid enrollment due to coronavirus-related job losses appears to be growing even faster than enrollment in ACA plans, according to the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute.

Go deeper: Medicaid will be a coronavirus lifeline

 

 

 

 

Coronavirus Dashboard

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https://www.axios.com/coronavirus-latest-news-quick-highlights-57a186a3-7547-45bf-852a-83019849d8d5.html

Coronavirus dashboard: Catch up fast - Axios

 

  1. Global: Total confirmed cases as of 9 a.m. ET: 9,635,935 — Total deaths: 489,922 — Total recoveries — 4,861,715 — Map.
  2. U.S.: Total confirmed cases as of 9 a.m ET: 2,422,312 — Total deaths: 124,415 — Total recoveries: 663,562 — Total tested: 29,207,820 — Map.
  3. Public health: America’s workers still aren’t protected from the coronavirus — Gilead says coronavirus drug should likely cost no more than $2,800.
  4. White House: Trump administration asks Supreme Court to overturn ACA during pandemic.
  5. Sports: Universities cut sports teams, as they struggle with coronavirus fallout.

 

 

 

 

America’s workers still aren’t protected from the coronavirus

Posted on by • Posted in Clinical Testing, Contact Tracing, Coronavirus, Employee Protections, Employer-Based Health Insurance, Essential Businesses, Essential Workers, Front Lines, Health Insurance Coverage Adequacy, Health Policy, Infection Control, Infection Control Plan, Infectious Virus, Leadership Decentralized, Mortality, National Strategy, Out of Pocket Expenses, Pandemic, Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), Preexisting Conditions, Public Health, Public Safety, Quarantine, Social Distancing, Underinsured, Uninsured, Vulnerable Populations, Worker Protection, Workflow Environment • Leave a comment

https://www.axios.com/americas-workers-vulnerable-coronavirus-944e3451-4458-4f1d-83d2-c86a1beb1117.html

America's workers still aren't protected from the coronavirus - Axios

Essential workers have borne the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic for months, but the U.S. is still doing relatively little to protect them.

Why it matters: With no end to the pandemic in sight, America’s frontline workers still must choose between risking their health and losing their source of income.

Driving the news: The Trump administration said this week that health insurers aren’t required to cover coronavirus diagnostic tests performed as part of workplace safety or public health surveillance efforts.

  • It didn’t say who is supposed to pay for these tests. If employers are stuck footing the bill, that makes the testing less likely to happen.

The big picture: There’s been no national effort or initiative to protect essential workers, and America is still failing to implement basic public health measures as new cases skyrocket.

  • Masks have become a political flashpoint and aren’t required in many of the states that are emerging coronavirus hotspots.
  • That means essential workers go to work each day without any guarantee that the people they’re interacting with will take one of the most basic and effective steps to prevent transmission of the virus.
  • No one is even talking about mass distribution of personal protective equipment beyond health care workers. And even some health care workers — particularly those who work in nursing homes — don’t have the protective gear that they need.

More broadly, the financial incentives for frontline workers, particularly those who are low-income, to keep working make it nearly impossible for them to avoid health risks.

  • At least 69 million American workers are potentially ineligible for the emergency paid sick leave benefits that Congress passed earlier this year, per the Kaiser Family Foundation.
  • An estimated 25-30 million people — particularly lower-wage workers in service industries — are unable to work from home but also face a high risk of severe infection, KFF’s Drew Altman wrote earlier this week.

What we’re watching: The line between essential workers and those who are required to return to the office by their employer has become blurry, and millions more Americans are facing dilemmas similar to those faced by grocers and bus drivers.

  • The sickest — and thus most vulnerable — Americans may feel the most pressure to return to work, as that’s often where they get their health insurance, the NYT points out.
  • Nearly a quarter of adult workers are vulnerable to severe coronavirus infections, per KFF.

The bottom line: Essential workers and their families will continue to feel the impact of America’s coronavirus failures most acutely.

Go deeper: “Disposable workers” doing essential jobs

 

 

 

 

Credit downgrades aren’t attributable to COVID-19 but cash flow will be a challenge

Posted on by • Posted in ACA, Cash, Cash Reserves, Coronavirus, Cost Management, Credit Quality, Credit Ratings, Crisis, Crisis Management, Debt Service, Debt Service Covenants, Economic Crisis, Economic Recovery, Economic Stimulus, Elective Procedures, Elective Surgery, Health Insurance Coverage Adequacy, Health Policy, Health System, High Deductible Health Plans, Hospital, Hospital Industry, Liquidity, Out of Pocket Expenses, Underinsured, Uninsured • Leave a comment

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Just How Bad Is My Bad Credit Score? | Credit.com

The coronavirus is mainly affecting the credit outlook for the rest of the year and beyond as hospitals adapt to new financial realities.

While the COVID-19 coronavirus is likely to cause cash flow and liquidity issues for hospitals through the end of the year and into 2021, the credit outlook for the healthcare industry isn’t as dire as some had feared. While there have been some downgrades this year, most of those are attributable to healthcare financial performance at the end of 2019.

At a virtual session of the Healthcare Financial Management Association on Wednesday, Lisa Goldstein, associate managing director at Moody’s Investors Service, said the agency is taking a measured approach to issuing credit ratings and will “triage” these ratings based on factors such as liquidity and cash flow.

“Changes are happening daily, and sometimes hourly with funding coming from the federal government,” said Goldstein, “so we’re taking a very measured approach.”

Healthcare is among the most volatile industries being affected by the coronavirus due to the fact that it operates like a business, with a general lack of government support to pay off debt.

Credit downgrades are on the rise, but there’s historical precedent at play. Looking at data beginning with the 2008 financial crisis, there were consistently more downgrades than upgrades in the healthcare industry, owing to its inherent volatility. It was and has generally been subject to public policy and competitive forces. In any given year, downgrades exceed upgrades.

After passage of the Affordable Care Act, however, the number of uninsured Americans hit an all-time low. Hospitals grew in occupancy and revenues improved. The situation started to worsen once more when it became clear that there was a national nursing shortage, as well as top-line revenue pressure from government and commercial payers lowering their rates, but credit downgrades didn’t truly explode until this year. There have been 24 downgrades so far this year, already exceeding the 13 downgrades in all of 2019.

The rub is that it’s not the coronavirus’s fault.

“Most downgrades were in the first quarter of the year,” said Goldstein. “We did have a lot of downgrades in March, which is when the pandemic really started – when it became a pandemic – but even though there were 11 downgrades in March, it was based on what we’d seen through the end of 2019. There were problems that were appearing that had nothing to do with the pandemic.”

Basic fundamental operating challenges were becoming more pronounced during that time. A decline in inpatient cases, a rapid rise in observation stays, a decline in outpatient cases to competing clinics and health centers, and staffing and productivity challenges all contributed to material increases in debt.

COVID-19’s effects on hospital credit ratings are in the outlook for the rest of the year and beyond. Interestingly, in March, Moody’s changed its outlook from negative to stable.

“We haven’t seen anything like this,” said Goldstein. “The industry has been through shocks, but something this long in duration has been something we think will have an impact on financial performance going forward.”

Moody’s anticipates cash flow will remain low into 2021, mostly from the suspension of elective surgeries, rising staffing expenses and uncertainty around securing enough personal protective equipment. Liquidity is still a concern, but is more of a side issue due to Medicare funding providing a Band-Aid of sorts. The CARES act will help to fill some of that gap, but not all of it, said Goldstein.

She added that the $175 billion in stimulus funding is favorable, but modestly so, since it is estimated to cover only about two months’ worth of spending. The good news is that the opportunity to apply for grant money, which doesn’t have to be repaid, can help to fill some of the gap.

Some hospital leaders are concerned that if they violate covenants – also known as a technical default – their credit outlook will be downgraded. Goldstein sought to assuage those concerns.

“Debt service covenants are expected to rise, but an expected covenant breach or violation won’t have an impact on credit quality because it’s driven by an unusual event happening,” she said. “It doesn’t speak to your fundamental history as an operating entity.”

 

 

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