Coronavirus USA news summary: Friday 24 July
Coronavirus live USA: latest news - 24 July
US coronavirus latest: 15:00 PT / 18:00 ET on Friday 24 July (00:00 CEST)
According to the latest figures published by Johns Hopkins University, 15,649,261 cases have been detected worldwide, with 636,752 deaths and 8,923,575 people recovered.
In the USA, there have been 4,097,270 confirmed cases and 145,184 deaths, with 1,233,269 people recovered from the virus.
Trump to sign orders to lower prescription drug prices
(Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Friday he was signing four executive orders aiming at lowering prices that Americans pay for prescription drugs as he faces an uphill re-election battle and criticism over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
One order would allow for the legal importation of cheaper prescription drugs from countries like Canada, while another would require discounts from drug companies now captured by middlemen to be passed on to patients, Trump said.
Stimulus check: who'll qualify for second Economic Impact Payment?
Senate Republicans are preparing to present CARES 2, a proposal for a coronavirus relief bill that is set to include a second stimulus check.
Dogs "can detect Covid-19"
(Via Kansas City Star) Preliminary findings, published Thursday in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases, suggest dogs might be able to replace some laboratory tests that are subject to delay during the pandemic, and be used in public areas such as airports, sporting events and borders to prevent the virus from spreading undetected.
“Dog odor detection is far better than the general public can imagine,” study co-author Dr. Esther Schalke, behavioral researcher and dog trainer with the Bundeswehr School of Official Dogs in Ulmen, said in a news release. “We were amazed at how quickly our dogs could be trained to recognize samples from SARS-CoV-2 infected individuals.”
Coronavirus USA: What is the statewide mask mandate and where has it been applied?
As confirmed Covid-19 cases spike in the U.S., which has become the epicenter of the pandemic, many states are enforcing public mask-wearing.
Washington imposes quarantine restrictions
Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has announced she will sign an order requiring travelers from coronavirus hot spots in the US to quarantine for two weeks when arriving. The order, which takes effect July 27, will not apply to Maryland and Virginia.
Schumer slams Republican “dithering” over relief bill
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has hit out at Republicans over their “dithering” over the next coronavirus relief package.
“This weekend, millions of Americans will lose their Unemployment Insurance, will be at risk of being evicted from their homes, and could be laid off by state and local government,” he wrote. “There is only one reason: Republicans have been dithering for months while America’s crisis deepens.”
Having resisted the HEROES Act, a $3tn stimulus bill passed by the House of Representatives in May, Republicans in the GOP-controlled Senate are due to present their proposal for the next package, called CARES 2, early next week.
National Zoo reopens for first time start of Covid-19 crisis
Reporters stand under the statue of a lion, decorated with a face mask, on Friday as the Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington, DC reopens for socially-distanced patrons for the first time since the start of the coronavirus disease.
(Photo: REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)
Latest Pew Research Survey
The percentage who say the US will have more influence in world affairs after the coronavirus outbreak compared to before the outbreak has dropped in a Pew Research Survey....
Wall St dips on Sino-U.S. friction, surging virus cases
Wall Street opened lower on Friday as U.S.-China tensions and fears over mounting COVID-19 cases weighed on investor sentiment, erasing all gains for the benchmark S&P 500 index so far this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 118.92 points, or 0.45%, at the open to 26,533.41. The S&P 500 opened lower by 17.08 points, or 0.53%, at 3,218.58, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 167.01 points, or 1.60%, to 10,294.41 at the opening bell. (Reporting by Reuters)
Public Citizen calls out United Health
Non-profit consumer advocacy organization, Public Citizen, calls out United Health after the insurer refused to to extend its offer of free coronavirus care to members despite reportedly posting $6.6 billion in profit last quarter...
Second stimulus check: on who will McConnell focus second payment?
McConnell has a focus, but relief bill delayed further
A second check for American households is in discussion as part of the latest coronavirus relief package, but people want to know who the beneficiaries will be.
Texas hospital sending patients home to die
A hospital in Starr County, Texas, is so overrun with coronavirus cases that it will choose which patients to use its resources on, and will send those most likely to die back home to their families.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported that Dr. Jose Vasquez, the health authority for Starr County, said the county is creating guidelines to help health workers decide how to use resources on patients with the best chance of survival.
Vasquez added that a committee will decide which patients are most likely to die at Starr County Memorial Hospital, the only hospital in the county, and will send them home.
Covid-19 spikes discussed by Dr Deborah Birx
The White House coordinator talks to Savannah Guthrie about the rising coronavirus cases.
Ocean City becoming one of Maryland's coronavirus hot spots
Maryland’s governor has asked residents not to travel outside the state because of coronavirus spikes – but traveling within the state may also be a concern.
The number of restaurants in Ocean City that are restricting service or even closing their doors because some workers are testing positive is growing.
Donald Trump's cognitive test: how difficult is it really?
The test, the explanation, the aftermath
Following the discussions over the test - not all of it positive for the president - Donald Trump decided to speak out again about it, giving more information about its difficulty. He also repeated his desire for Joe Biden to sit it.
WHO scientist sees regulators cooperating to speed Covid-19 vaccine approval
Regulators that normally work within their own countries or regions will likely harmonize efforts on potential Covid-19 vaccines to speed up their approvals once they become available, WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on Friday, via Reuters.
Swaminathan, answering questions on social media platforms, also said testing vaccines for safety and efficacy - usually a years-long process - could be accelerated to just six months in the midst of the pandemic, if data satisfied regulators that they have enough information to issue approvals. Still, she said, safety would be paramount. 'Whilst speed is important, it cannot be at the cost of compromising on the safety or the efficacy standards,' she said. 'It's not the case that the first vaccine is going to be rushed through into injecting millions of people without having established the fact whether it's really protecting you and whether it's safe enough for use in large populations.'
There are more than 200 Covid-19 vaccines in development, with two dozen in human trials and a handful now entering late-stage studies in thousands of patients. Swaminathan cited Moderna's experimental mRNA vaccine, another which is a collaboration between Oxford University and AstraZeneca , China's Cansino Biologics candidate, and vaccine development project in Russia.
Coronavirus spread across California
Most of the state is on notice. Deteriorating conditions have prompted the governor to put 36 counties on his watchlist. Together they are home to 94% of the state population.
Cases and deaths are increasing. Records have been shattered in recent days, with a new highest single-day death toll and 14 counties failing the governor's standard for new cases.
Hospitalizations keep climbing. The number of patients with a confirmed case has increased by 11% over the last two weeks, threatening a goal of the stay-at-home policies.
More tests are coming back positive. The statewide positivity rate has increased to 8%.
Check out the rest of the data
School openings continue to split opinion
Metro Nashville Schools are set to kick off the school year on 4 August. Nearby Wilson and Sumner counties as well as Williamson are all slated for early August too.
Florida hospitals stretched to capacity by acute coronavirus outbreak
The emergency department at Jackson health system, wedged between Little Havana and the vibrant murals of Wynwood in Miami, has overflowed with Covid-19 patients for weeks.
Patients wait for beds in hallways and in the lounge. Some need oxygen minutes after arrival, while others are sent home for bed rest and to quarantine. Intensive care unit beds, the number of which has already expanded, are “snatched” up minutes after they become available. Not a single one of the 164 in the hospital is free.
“The last three weeks have been some of the busiest shifts in my entire life,” said Dr Mark Supino of Jackson health system’s emergency department. “We’ve seen some of the sickest patients we’ve ever seen.”
President Trump's Covid-19 timeline
With the death toll for the coronavirus pandemic continuing to escalate, the Lincoln Project released a new ad condemning President Donald Trump for bringing the country to this moment.
The NeverTrump Republican political organization released a new video entitled Failure on Thursday, and it presents a collection of statements and predictions Trump made about Covid-19 since the start of 2020. The comments include Trump dismissing the pandemic’s severity, his claim that it’s “under control,” a prediction that the virus will eventually “disappear,” false statements on tests, and statements bragging about himself throughout the crisis.
Trump's message on schools softens
Softening his earlier stance, President Donald Trump on Thursday acknowledged that some schools may need to delay their reopening this fall as the coronavirus continues to surge.
It marks a shift from Trump’s previous demand for a full reopening of the nation’s schools. In recent weeks, Trump has said that it's safe to open schools and that Democrats have opposed it for political reasons.
But speaking at a White House news conference, Trump said districts in some virus hot spots “may need to delay reopening for a few weeks." He said the decision will fall to governors.
Trump cancels GOP Florida convention
US President Donald Trump announced that he was scrapping next month's Republican Party nominating convention in Jacksonville, Florida, because of the coronavirus outbreak.
Ann Taylor owner files for bankruptcy
Ascena Retail Group Inc., the parent company of Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant, has filed for bankruptcy with plans to permanently close up to 1,600 stores and reduce its debt by about $1 billion in a debt-for-equity swap with lenders, the latest apparel seller unable to ride out the economic damage caused by coronavirus restrictions.
Can masks save us from more lockdowns? The science
The American conversation around masks and Covid-19 has taken a dizzying turn. For months, wearing masks has been politicized as a sign of liberal leanings. But in recent days, ever more governors - many of them Republican - have moved to mandate masks. This week President Trump - arguably the nation's most visible mask un-enthusiast - started referring to wearing them as "patriotic."
Now prominent scientists are proposing a radical - and hopeful - possibility: Even as coronavirus cases spiral upward across the United States to levels surpassing this spring's surge, these experts argue that if Americans start wearing masks en masse, the U.S. may yet avoid a return to lockdown measures.
Tokyo 2020 must be simple and safe, says IOC's Coates
Senior Olympic official John Coates has reiterated that Tokyo must stage a simplified Summer Games next year with the health and safety of athletes the most important consideration in the planning.
Australian Coates heads up the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Tokyo 2020 Games, which have been postponed until 2021 because of the global Covid-19 pandemic. 'The good news is that all 42 Games' venues ... have been resecured. The competition schedule is the same,' the IOC Vice President wrote in Sydney's Daily Telegraph on Friday, a day after the one-year countdown to the opening ceremony.
'But we must reduce the cost impact of postponement as well as simplify the Games to ensure they can be organised efficiently, safely and sustainably, in this new context. 'With one year to go, there is no clear picture of what shape the simplified Games will take. The situation with COVID-19, both domestically and internationally, is constantly changing.'
New Mexico delays in-person school through Sept 7
New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday said in-person learning in the state would be delayed through at least Sept. 7 due to coronavirus levels that were “too problematic.”
Georgia's governor and Atlanta's mayor ordered to mediate coronavirus mask fight
A Georgia judge on Thursday ordered the governor and Atlanta’s mayor to enter mediation over the governor’s lawsuit aimed at stopping the city from enforcing its requirement that people wear masks in public during the coronavirus pandemic.
Fulton Superior Court Judge Jane Barwick ordered Governor Brian Kemp and Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms to attend mediation with another judge and try to resolve the dispute before an emergency hearing scheduled in the case for Tuesday.
Earlier this month, Kemp, a Republican, barred local leaders from requiring people to wear masks. Even so, several Georgia cities, including Democratic-led Atlanta, Savannah and Athens, defied the governor’s order and kept local mandates in place in an effort to slow the spread of the virus.
U.S. records over 1,000 Covid-19 deaths for third day running
The United States recorded more than 1,000 deaths from Covid-19 for the third day in a row on Thursday, as the outbreak strained hospitals in California, Florida and Texas, according to a Reuters tally.
The rise in the U.S. death toll has not seen back-to-back days with over 1,000 lives lost since early June. Many states and local governments in May lifted restrictions and reopened beaches, restaurants and businesses, triggering a surge in cases in June and an increase in fatalities in July.
So far in July, 17 states have broken one-day records for increases in Covid-19 deaths, according to a Reuters tally. With not all states reporting yet, deaths rose by at least 1,014 to a total of 144,211 on Thursday compared with a rise of 1,135 on Wednesday and a jump of 1,141 on Tuesday.
Total cases across the United States surpassed 4 million and rose by at least 60,000 on Thursday. Even though deaths are rising in the United States for a second week in a row, they remain well below levels seen in April, when 2,000 people a day on average died from the virus. Among the 20 countries with the largest outbreaks, the United States ranks sixth highest globally for deaths per capita, according to a Reuters analysis.
Major League Baseball season starts
The Washington Nationals and New York Yankees launched the Covid-19-delayed Major League Baseball season on Thursday, but reminders of the pandemic were everywhere, from a stadium devoid of fans to Dr. Anthony Fauci throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
From players wearing face masks to mandatory testing, the new reality thrust on baseball by the coronavirus was unavoidable despite high-tech efforts to provide a comforting facade with the soothing sounds of a packed ballpark piped into the television broadcast.
FOX Sports said on Thursday it would use 'virtual fans' to provide the illusion of a full stadium during its broadcasts, with thousands of avatars cheering or booing at the push of a button.
Washington learned it would start the abbreviated 60-game regular season without star slugger Juan Soto. The defending World Series champions said he had tested positive for the coronavirus and it placed him on the injured list, where he will stay until he has two negative tests. The Nationals were already without veteran infielder Ryan Zimmerman and pitcher Joe Ross, who both opted to sit out the season because of health concerns related to Covid-19.
Trump cancels Republican party convention in Florida
President Donald Trump has cancelled the Republican party convention in Florida, citing the coronavirus "flare-up" as US cases passed four million. "It's not the right time for that," he said, adding that he would still give a convention speech in a different form. Some Republican delegates will still gather in Charlotte, North Carolina, the original venue for the convention.
Trump had moved part of the event to Florida because of social distancing rules introduced by North Carolina.
Nearly half the guests at a Seattle cocktail party became sick with the coronavirus, even though nobody seemed sick at the time. It was another clue about silent spread.
Arizona extends closure of gyms, bars and water parks to control coronavirus
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey on Thursday extended the closure of gyms, bars, nightclubs, water parks, movie theaters and other businesses in the state despite a decline in new daily cases of coronavirus during July.
“There is no victory lap, there is no celebration, we have to continue,” Ducey told a press briefing on the closure extension, which will be reviewed every two weeks.
Coronavirus hospitalizations on the rise
According to a New York Times study, nearly as many people in the U.S. are currently hospitalized with the coronavirus than at any time in the pandemic. As the graphic demonstrates, Florida and Texas are among the hardest hit areas with New York showing a marked downturn in hospital admissions.
Trump cancels Republican convention in Florida after coronavirus spike
(Reuters) President Donald Trump on Thursday said he would no longer hold part of the Republican Party's nominating convention in Florida in August because of a spike in coronavirus cases in the state.
Trump had already had to move part of the convention from North Carolina to Florida because of restrictions on gathering due to the virus. He said it was not the right time to hold a large gathering.
"The timing for this event is not right," Trump said in a White House press briefing. "It's just not right with what’s happened recently, the flare up in Florida. To have a big convention it’s not the right time."
Who is Ted Yoho and what did he say to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
Here's the full story on that.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez responds to Ted Yoho
The war of words between the Democratic U.S. Representative for New York's 14th congressional district and Ted Yoho, a Republican serving Florida's 3rd congressional district, shows no signs of abating as AOC took to the floor to say she needed no apology after apparently being insulted on the steps of the House by Yoho.
Second stimulus check: could eligible criteria change with new legislation?
Republicans and Democrats are debating a new economic package with both parties reportedly in agreement over a second round of stimulus checks.
1.4 million more Americans file for unemployment
1.4 million Americans filed for first-time unemployment benefits last week, the US Department of Labor has today revealed. As CNN notes, this is the first increase in this figure in 16 weeks.
WHO says U.S. Brazil and India can 'deal with' pandemic
(Reuters) The World Health Organization said on Thursday that the United States, Brazil and India, which are all suffering fast rises in coronavirus cases, can still get on top of the pandemic.
They are "powerful, able, democratic countries who have tremendous internal capacities to deal with this disease", Dr Mike Ryan, head of the WHO emergencies programme, told a Geneva briefing.
US coronavirus cases pass the 4-million mark
The total number of cases rose to above four million on Thursday amid concerns over the rapid rise in the number of daily infections across the USA.
Full story:
Financial Times front page for 24 July
The leading business newspaper highlights US unemployment on its front for 24 July with the ongoing debate in the Senate over the exact terms of a new stimulus package for the economy also covered.
Coronavirus: the complete guide to the Covid-19 pandemic
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Hello and welcome to our rolling news coverage of the Covid-19 pandemic in the United States
The number of positive cases across the States continues to rise steeply, as California and Florida, in particular, slide towards overtaking New York as the worst hit region since the pandemic began.
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the US has now exceeded 4 million while the death toll has passed 143,000.