Coronavirus News
U.S. States Report Record Covid-19 Counts, but Trump Plays Down Threat – The Wall Street Journal
States and cities grappled with how to contain the coronavirus while trying to reopen their economies as the number of infections in the U.S. climbed to more than 3.8 million. Amid a “steady increase in new cases,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday said the city was tightening restrictions on some businesses. Starting Friday, bars…
States and cities grappled with how to contain the coronavirus while trying to reopen their economies as the number of infections in the U.S. climbed to more than 3.8 million.
Amid a “steady increase in new cases,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday said the city was tightening restrictions on some businesses. Starting Friday, bars must stop indoor operations, restaurants and bars must limit table sizes to six people and gyms must cap indoor classes.
Chicago’s seven-day rolling average of cases a day was 233 on Sunday. Similar to many areas across the country, the city said cases have been rising among people between 18 and 29 years old, as social activity has increased.
“No one relishes making this move but it’s the right thing to do as we work to prevent a resurgence of Covid-19 similar to what we’re seeing in many states around the country,” said Chicago Department of Health Commissioner Allison Arwady in a statement. “This virus has had a disproportionate impact on Black and Latinx individuals, many of whom are essential workers who have continued to go to work, and we can’t afford to see a resurgence that would mean more cases and more deaths.”
Chicago’s moves came one day after Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said his city is on the brink of returning to shutdown mode, as Los Angeles County saw its highest hospitalization rate since the outbreak occurred.
California added San Francisco County to its county watch list, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday. Cases and coronavirus-related hospitalizations have roughly doubled in San Francisco since mid June, according to health department data. California’s watch list has grown to 33 counties, and includes the majority of the state’s population. Mr. Newsom said last week that counties on the watch list would be starting the school year virtually.
California on Monday reported 6,846 new cases of coronavirus. Its seven-day average of new cases was 8,911 and the percentage of positive tests in the state over the past 14 days held at 7.4% from a week ago. Over a 7-day period, the rate of positive tests fell to 7.2% from 7.7% a week ago.
Daily reported Covid-19 deaths in the U.S.
Notes: For all 50 states and D.C., U.S. territories and cruises. Some fluctuation in data, such as the June 25 spike, is due to states revising criteria for deaths due to Covid-19. Last updated
Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering
Daily reported Covid-19 cases in the U.S.
Note: For all 50 states and D.C., U.S. territories and cruises. Last updated
Source: Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Monday the city was stepping up enforcement after a weekend in which crowds of unmasked people gathered closely together in Queens, ignoring social distancing guidelines. The city entered phase four of its reopening Monday, but Mr. de Blasio said the city is holding back on allowing museums, malls and indoor dining to reopen.
“When we agreed to let this part of our life come back, it was not meant to be business as usual,” Mr. de Blasio said about the crowds gathering.
Educators in hard-hit Florida moved to halt the state’s school reopening plans. The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, filed a lawsuit against Gov. Ron DeSantis and other state officials Monday, calling the state’s reopening plans for schools unsafe and warning of the potential health risks to Florida’s students, teachers and parents. The lawsuit argues the expected return to in-person instruction in schools violates the state constitution.
“The governor needs to accept the reality of the situation here in Florida, where the virus is surging out of control,” Florida Education Association President Fedrick Ingram said in a statement. “Florida’s Constitution demands that public schools be safe. Teachers and parents want our schools to meet that basic standard.”
A representative for Mr. DeSantis didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has been pressuring schools to reopen for in-person instruction in the fall.
Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs painted a dire picture of the situation in the state’s capital of Jackson. He said Monday that 31 legislators have contracted the virus and that there is only a single bed available in the intensive-care units of the metro area’s four biggest medical centers. Nine hospitals statewide are out of beds, according to Dr. Dobbs. He noted that 40% of cases in ICUs are virus patients, up from 31% on Friday.
“If we don’t see a decrease in transmission immediately then it’s pretty likely that the health-care system is going to be thoroughly overwhelmed,” Dr. Dobbs said.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves, left, listens as State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs discusses state’s efforts to limit transmission of Covid-19.
Photo:
Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press
Mississippi, which on Monday reported 1,251 new cases and three deaths, expanded its list of counties where masks and social distancing are required. Including the 10 counties added Monday, 23 of the state’s 82 counties are on that list.
“Just assume that everyone has it,” Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday. “If every Mississippian would take that approach, it would go a long way towards helping us slow the spread of this virus.”
In hard-hit Louisiana, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards invited people to join him for three days of fasting and prayer.
“I believe in the power of prayer and I believe in the power of working together and being good neighbors to overcome Covid-19,” the governor wrote on Twitter.
Cases in the state jumped 17.4% over the past week, to more than 91,000, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The seven day average percentage of people testing positive for the virus in the state was more than 10%, according to data from Johns Hopkins.
The percentage of tests that come back positive, known as the positivity rate, is a key metric for understanding the virus’s spread because it controls for increased testing.
In the U.S., the seven-day-moving-average positivity rate has hovered above 8% since early July, according to Johns Hopkins. The rate had declined from a high of more than 20% around the end of March, when testing wasn’t widely available and was limited largely to first responders and those who were showing symptoms. As testing increased, the positivity rate dropped to a low of around 4.3% in the middle of June, before climbing again.
The positivity rate has stayed steady even as the number of tests increased to roughly 700,000 tests a day during the past week, from around an average of 600,000 a day in early July. The percentage of positive tests should go down as testing increases.
Understanding Coronavirus
At a state level, the positivity rate has climbed much higher. Arizona’s positivity rate is 23.6%, the highest of any state. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada, South Carolina and Texas each had a seven-day-moving-average positivity rate of more than 15%. Connecticut and Vermont both had rates of 0.8%, the lowest of anywhere in the U.S.
Dr. Mercedes Carnethon, professor and vice chair of preventive medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University, said the rapid rise in rates in some states could threaten progress in other areas of the country.
She said the U.S. positivity rate won’t fall to zero even with a vaccine, since not everyone will get vaccinated. But she said “we want it as low as possible” to eliminate transmission of the virus.
U.S. stocks rose Monday amid optimism that a vaccine for coronavirus could be ready for production this year. But the resurgence of virus cases and shutdowns are dashing hopes of a quick recovery, prompting a variety of businesses to again shift their strategies and staffing.
Another potential threat to the economy looms as some 25 million Americans are set to lose $600 a week each in federal unemployment benefits at the end of the month. Analysts say the spending has provided vital support to the economy, but critics say it discourages people from returning to work. Congress is set to consider the issue during negotiations for another round of coronavirus aid this week.
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Confirmed global deaths from the coronavirus pandemic climbed to more than 606,000. The U.S. topped the chart with more than 140,000, according to Johns Hopkins data. The number of confirmed infections surpassed 14.5 million, including 3.77 million in the U.S. and more than 2 million in Brazil.
India recorded its biggest single-day jump Monday with 40,425 fresh cases, taking its total tally to more than 1.1 million, according to the country’s health ministry. Deaths in the past 24 hours were reported at 681, bringing total fatalities to 27,497.
In Brussels, negotiations among the European Union’s 27 leaders for recovery plans valued at €1.8 trillion ($2.06 trillion) dragged into a fourth day Monday, leading to tense exchanges and fears of a breakdown.
Russia reported 5,940 new confirmed cases, raising its tally to 777,486, the fourth-largest in the world.
Write to Allison Prang at allison.prang@wsj.com and Jennifer Calfas at Jennifer.Calfas@wsj.com
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