Category: Breaking News

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Trump claims US has lowest COVID mortality rate

President Donald Trump insisted during an interview with Fox News Sunday that the U.S. has the “lowest mortality rate” from the novel coronavirus pandemic, even as anchor Chris Wallace fact-checked the claim, pointing out that the U.S. actually has one of the “worst” fatality rates. Trump has said multiple times over the past couple weeks that the U.S. has the “lowest” or “one of the lowest” mortality rates due to the pandemic. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has also made the claim, but the data available to the public does not support this assessment. Wallace confronted Trump over this fact during an interview aired Sunday morning.

“Sir, we have the seventh highest mortality rate in the world. Our mortality rate is higher than Brazil, it’s higher than Russia and the European Union has us on a travel ban,” the anchor told Trump during the interview.

The president responded by saying he believed it was the “opposite” of what Wallace had said. “I think we have one of the lowest mortality rates in the world,” Trump said.

https://youtu.be/_Ge5ErdK–M

“That’s not true, sir. We, we, we have a – we had 900 deaths on a single day…” Wallace replied. Trump then insisted that the data be checked, insisting that Wallace was wrong and suggesting he was “fake news.” Wallace said that the president could check the data, and said he did not believe he was “fake news.” “You said we had the worst mortality rate in the world … and we have the best,” Trump insisted. An analysis by Johns Hopkins University, which Wallace said was his reference, showed that the U.S. currently has the eighth highest observed case-fatality ratio of the countries most affected by the pandemic. It stood at seventh last week when the interview was filmed. That ratio shows the U.S. now has a 3.8 percent fatality rate. The U.S. fairs worse when looking at the number of deaths per 100,000 people. As of now, more than 42 people have died for every 100,000 people in the U.S. due to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel virus. That’s the third highest number of the most affected countries. When compared to all countries, not just the most affected, the U.S. ranks 10th highest in terms of the number of deaths out of 100,000 people. Meanwhile, the number of new infections in the U.S. continues to surge as deaths are rising. The U.S. continues to be the country in the world with the highest number of confirmed cases and deaths – with more than 3.7 million infections and over 140,000 deaths. Trump told Wallace that he ultimately accepts responsibility for the U.S. response to the pandemic, but also suggested that some governors have done a poor job handling the situations in their respective states. “Look, I take responsibility always for everything because it’s ultimately my job, too. I have to get everybody in line,” the president said. “Some governors have done well, some governors have done poorly. They’re supposed to have supplies they didn’t have. I supplied everybody.”

Trump and Wallace
In this screengrab, President Donald Trump sits across from Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace for an interview at the White House in Washington, D.C. broadcast on July 19 Fox News Sunday

The president’s insistence that the U.S. has one of the “lowest” fatality rates wasn’t the only disagreement he had with facts pointed out by Wallace during the interview. Trump also insisted falsely that his Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, has called for defunding or abolishing the police. While Biden has backed some reforms, he and most Democratic lawmakers have not supported the defunding movement. “And Biden wants to defund the police,” Trump said. Wallace replied: “Sir, he does not.” The president then became frustrated and said: “Look, he signed a charter with Bernie Sanders.” Wallace interrupted, pointing out that the charter “said nothing about defunding the police.” Trump then insisted a copy of the document be brought for review. As Wallace noted in a preview of the interview, the president found “a lot of things that he objected to” but there were not any mentions of defunding or abolishing the police.

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One Texas county says it’s had 85 babies less than 1 year old test positive for coronavirus

https://youtu.be/qjZvZAcHX1s

  • Nueces County, Texas officials say 85 babies under the age of one have tested positive for coronavirus.
  • Texas is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases, and Nueces County has the fastest growth in new cases on average of any other metropolitan county, one official said.
  • 8,100 people have tested positive for coronavirus in Nueces County so far and 82 have died.

Officials from Nueces County in Texas are asking people to take care to curb the spread of COVID-19 as 85 children under the age of one have tested positive for the virus.

“We currently have 85 babies under the age of one year in Nueces County that have all tested positive for Covid-19,” said Annette Rodriguez, director of public health for Corpus Christi Nueces County.

Texas is experiencing a surge in coronavirus cases, and Nueces County, in particular, is seeing a spike. “Nueces County has the fastest growth in new cases on the seven-day average than any other metropolitan county in the state,” said Corpus Christi city manager Peter Zanoni. “You can see the trend line is relatively flat until July, and this is where we have had that huge spike in cases, and this is why it’s turned into a major problem for Nueces County,” he added. Thus far, Nueces County has had 8,100 people test positive for COVID-19, of which 82 have died. In July 2019 the county’s population stood at 362,000, per the US census. Texas’ coronavirus outbreak has worsened over the past several weeks. To date, Texas has had a total of 321,000 coronavirus cases and 3,889 deaths. Dr. Peter Hotez, the dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told Business Insider’s Rhea Mahbubani that Texas had “opened prematurely” when Gov. Greg Abbott decided to proceed with an “Open Texas” plan on May 1. Abbott has since halted reopening, as coronavirus cases and hospitalizations spiked in the state.

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31% of kids in Florida tested for COVID-19 are positive

Before pushing to reopen schools, consider how many Florida kids are testing positive for COVID-19

Health officials in Florida have started reporting a truly scary trend: They say 31.1 percent, or nearly one-third, of children in Florida who are tested for COVID-19 end up returning a positive result. With as many questions as we still have about how this virus affects children — and their role in spreading it to the adults we already know are vulnerable to more severe infections — this is pretty alarming, especially considering the national push to reopen schools in time for the fall semester, which is just weeks away in some states. State data from Florida shows that the 31.1 percent positivity rate is much higher than the overall statewide rate, which is around 11 percent. That means almost three times as many children who are tested are getting positive results than adults who are tested. That creates two main concerns for health officials: First, it shows that COVID-19 is spreading more rapidly among children than adults. And second, it creates huge fears because of how little we know about the virus’s long-term effects, especially in kids. There’s already evidence that COVID-19 causes lasting lung damage in adults, even if they don’t have severe cases.

“They are seeing there is damage to the lungs in these asymptomatic children. … We don’t know how that is going to manifest a year from now or two years from now,” Alina Alonso, the health department director of Palm Beach County, told reporters this week. “Is that child going to have chronic pulmonary problems or not?”

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Florida officials shut down the state’s emergency operations center

12 staffers test positive for COVID-19 – even though they ALL passed the building’s checks and protocols

TALLAHASSEE — Florida officials shut down the state’s emergency operations center on Thursday after 12 staffers tested positive for COVID-19 in recent weeks. The building, which functions as the state’s command center during statewide emergencies, is closed until Monday and will undergo a deep cleaning, according to the Division of Emergency Management, which operates the center. The positive cases were discovered after the state started testing employees for COVID-19 twice per week in June. All 12 were not displaying symptoms and passed the building’s screening protocols, which include a questionnaire and temperature checks, according to division Director Jared Moskowitz. None of them caught the virus from being in the building, and they’re now isolating at home, Moskowitz said.

The center, about 20 minutes from the Capitol, is typically activated during hurricanes and operates around the clock. But state officials activated it in March, after the state reported its first cases of COVID-19. Since then, staffers, which come from multiple state agencies, have been working around the clock to procure and distribute medical supplies around the state and, recently, dispatching nurses to hospitals that need them, Moskowitz said. The center has been at Level 1 — its highest level — longer than for any other disaster. To help state workers adapt, officials have allowed them time off and to bring their dogs to work.

“There’s no light at the end of the tunnel for them,” Moskowitz said.

Until the center reopens on Monday, staffers are working from home or at their individual offices nearby. Moskowitz said those private offices are safer than the emergency operations center, which mostly consists of a large, shared workspace.

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WHO reports record global daily coronavirus cases increase

WHO reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 237,743 in 24 hours.

  • The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 237,743 in 24 hours.

  • India’s coronavirus caseload topped one million, with the United States and Brazil the only other nations with more infections.

  • More than 13.7 million people around the world have been diagnosed with COVID-19, while more than 7.7 million have recovered and more than 588,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Here are the latest updates.

Friday, July 17

20:46 GMT – Austria’s Kurz says rejects current EU recovery plan, expects new proposals

Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz said he rejected the current proposal for a mass economic stimulus to help lift EU economies from recession brought by the coronavirus pandemic.

“Our most important central demand is that there should be no long-term debt union… but that what is decided here remains a one-time action,” Kurz told broadcaster ORF.

Kurz said he just had talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of a summit of all 27 national EU leaders in Brussels.

“There will be new proposals over night,” he said. “There is a dynamic in our direction,” he said.

20:22 GMT – WHO reports record daily increase in global coronavirus cases

The World Health Organization reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases, with the total rising by 237,743 in 24 hours.

The biggest increases were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 230,370 on July 12. Deaths have held steady and averaged less than 5,000 a day in July.

Total global coronavirus cases were approaching 14 million on Friday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed more than 590,000 people in seven months.

20:03 GMT – US Senate Republicans seek liability protections for coronavirus bill

US Senate Republicans are seeking temporary protections against coronavirus-related lawsuits for a broad range of entities including businesses, schools, churches, charities and government agencies, according to a draft document reviewed by Reuters.

The legal safeguards, which Democrats have largely resisted, would be part of a forthcoming coronavirus relief package and would sunset at the end of a federal COVID-19 emergency declaration or 2024, whichever comes later, according to the document.

19:39 GMT – Google bans ads from sites spreading coronavirus conspiracy theories

Google announced it would ban publishers and advertisers that use its platform from showing ads on “dangerous content” that contradicts scientific consensus on the coronavirus pandemic, including conspiracy theories on the virus’ origin.

Content that will not be allowed to monetize on Google’s platforms include conspiracy theories such as claims that the virus is a hoax, or was created as a bioweapon or by billionaire Bill Gates.

Google already prohibits ad and publisher content that makes harmful claims about disease prevention and “miracle” cures, promotes the anti-vaccination movement or encourages people to forego treatment.

19:04 GMT – French PM Castex say it is “essential” to reach deal at EU recovery plan summit

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said that it was “essential” that European Union leaders meeting for summit talks in Brussels reach a deal on a multi-billion euro recovery plan for the European Union.

“A deal is essential in view of the gravity of the situation,” Castex told France 2 television.

18:43 GMT – France’s coronavirus death toll reaches 30,152

The number of deaths in France from the new coronavirus rose to 30,152 on Friday from 30,138 on Thursday, the country’s health department said.

The number of people in hospital with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, fell to 6,688 from 6,796 on Thursday, continuing a weeks-long downtrend.

18:15 GMT – Czech PM says EU no closer to deal on economic recovery from COVID

Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babis said that views remained widely different among EU leaders after hours of talks on Friday on a plan to inject hundreds and billions of euros to restart growth in Europe hit by coronavirus pandemic.

Babis also said he did not feel the 27 EU heads were getting closer to a deal and that there was no agreement on the size of a new fund proposed at 750 billion euros to help economic revival.

17:28 GMT – Canada medical officials worried about recent spike in coronavirus cases

A recent spike in coronavirus cases in Canada is worrying and can be linked to groups of young people gathering in bars and elsewhere, a top medical official said.

“When we examine recent trends in case reporting, there is some cause for concern. After a period of steady decine, daily case counts have started to rise,” deputy chief public health officer Howard Njoo told a briefing.

Nick Note Read on to see some of the Pandemic Reports they forgot to tell you about:

Continue reading “WHO reports record global daily coronavirus cases increase”

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US sees another record in daily virus cases

Washington The United States marked a record number of coronavirus cases Friday for the third consecutive day, notching 77,638 new infections in 24 hours, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The country also recorded 927 deaths in one day, according to the count by the Baltimore-based university at 8:30 pm (00:30 GMT Saturday). The country, the hardest-hit by the coronavirus in the world in absolute terms, has suffered 139,128 total fatalities out of 3.64 million confirmed cases. Experts believe the United States never emerged from its first wave of infections, and cases have been surging again in recent weeks, particularly across the south and west in states that pushed to lift lockdown restrictions early. In California, Los Angeles County reported 4,592 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, a single-day record.

“Without aggressive action on the part of every person, we will not get back to slowing the spread,” Barbara Ferrer, the county public health director, said in a statement.

In Texas and Arizona, which are dealing with stark surges in virus cases and deaths, authorities are bringing in refrigerated trucks to cope with the body count.

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China seals off city of 3.5million people with ‘toughest ever’ coronavirus lockdown amid second wave fears

CHINA has sealed off a city of 3.5million people with its “toughest ever” coronavirus lockdown amid fears of a second wave.

Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region, recorded five new coronavirus cases after registering its first Covid-19 infection in five months yesterday. The eastern province of Zhejiang also reported an asymptomatic case involving a traveller from Xinjiang. Urumqi also reported eight new asymptomatic cases on Friday- taking the province’s tally to six infections and 11 asymptomatic cases. Subway services were also suspended from Thursday and more than 600 scheduled flights at the international airport – equivalent to more than 80% of the day’s total – were cancelled, according to aviation data from Variflight. Juneyao Airlines and Shenzhen Donghai Airlines have today announced that all passengers travelling to and from Urumqi must show negative nucleic acid test results taken within seven days, Global Times reports. All passengers planning to fly to Xinjiang will be required to display negative Covid-19 nucleic acid test results taken within seven days and a green health card, Nick Bit: Compare this to the joke US airlines temperature checks at the gate. At best a indication that 2 weeks ago you were not infected. Chinese Eastern Airlines said on Wednesday. A green health card means that people are not required to be under quarantine and can travel freely. Bus services in a district neighbouring Urumqi closed down and all workers are required to undergo Covid-19 tests, state media reports. Some social media users in the city said that they could not leave their houses and others claimed people were stopped leaving or entering Kashgar, another city in Xinjiang, BBC reports.

“We must resolutely cut off the channel of transmission, focus on key people and key areas, take the most determined, decisive and strictest measures to ensure that all investigations and inspections are conducted to resolutely curb the spread of the epidemic,” Xinjiang’s Communist Party said on Thursday.

Officials pledged to ‘strictly implement provision and control measures’ by monitoring who enters the region. Highly populated communities will also be monitored. “We must strengthen the control of crowded places, the grid management of communities and villages, and carry out stringent screening in the fever clinics and hospitals,” the government said. The Chinese government has long struggled with its 11-million-strong Uighur population, an ethnic Turkic minority native to the northwestern region of Xinjiang. Nick Note: This latest report has several thing to teach us. Remember China has the most experience fighting this plague. It is a brutal regime with total control over its population. First with relative small infection rates they lock down their cities and throw away the key. Second people movement controls (contact tracing) is total and complete. Third observe how fast testing is done and their health card system. Now compare that to YOUR supreme leader Trump who has lit off a national debate about a near useless paper mask. I have a cure for the coronavirus…..The medicine is ISOLATION!

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72 NFL players positive for virus: union

LOS ANGELES: Seventy-two NFL players have tested positive for COVID-19, the league’s players union confirmed Thursday (Jul 16). In the first major announcement of coronavirus results concerning the NFL, the NFL Players Association said dozens of players had tested positive as of July 10. The tally was revealed in a database described as a “one-stop shop of information” for players. It was unclear, however, how many of the league’s roughly 2,900 rostered players had been tested or how often. The test results come as the NFL and NFLPA are locked in negotiations over the terms and conditions of pre-season training and exhibition games. Players have requested more time to address fitness concerns and want no pre-season games in August. NFLPA president J.C. Tretter, a center for the Cleveland Browns, accused the NFL last week of failing to prioritize player safety in the face of the pandemic. The league rejected a 48-day training camp recommendation from a joint NFL-NFLPA committee in favor of a 23-day session before the first of two pre-season games, down from four in prior years. However Tretter said league chiefs were risking the entire season if they failed to fully address concerns over the virus. “Every decision this year that prioritizes normalcy over innovation, custom over science or even football over health, significantly reduces our chances of completing the full season,” Tretter said. “We don’t want to merely return to work and have the season shut down before we even get started,” he added.

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Singapore, Barcelona among others imposes new measures to curb virus spread

(Bloomberg) — Hong Kong’s new outbreak has surpassed the scale of its previous wave of infections, signaling that the worst of the pandemic may be yet to come. In Spain, officials slapped new restrictions on movement and gatherings in Barcelona, while countries globally grapple with a fresh surge in infections.

A poll showed that more than half of the American public “strongly” disapproves of President Donald Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

Global Tracker: Cases top 13.8 million; deaths top 590,000U.S

Barcelona Hit With New Curbs (7:51 a.m. NY)

Catalan officials imposed new curbs on movement and gatherings in Barcelona after the business and tourism hub suffered an upsurge in new cases. Bars and restaurants will be limited to 50% capacity and night clubs, gyms, swimming pools, cinemas and theaters closed, Meritxell Budo, a regional government spokeswoman, said at a news conference. Gatherings of more than 10 people will also be forbidden. People should stay at home unless going out is absolutely necessary, Budo said. The number of new cases in Barcelona jumped to 494 last week, tripling those recorded the week before, according to data published by the regional government.

Singapore Tightens Rules for Some Travelers (7:20 a.m. NY)

Singapore will tighten rules on travelers who had been in coronavirus hotspots including Japan, Hong Kong and Australia’s Victoria state, mandating quarantine in dedicated facilities from July 20. Travelers who have been in those regions in the 14 days prior to entering Singapore won’t be able to serve their quarantine at their residence, the island’s authorities said on Friday.

Fewer Americans Approve of Trump’s Handling of Covid-19 (7 a.m. NY)

President Trump’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak has the approval of 38% of Americans, down from 46% in May and 51% in March, according to the latest Washington Post-ABC poll. More than half of the public, or 52%, now disapproves “strongly” of Trump’s handling of the outbreak, roughly double the percentage who say they strongly approve and an increase from 36% in strong disapproval since March.

Luxembourg’s Second Wave (6:20 a.m. NY)

Luxembourg is in the middle of a second wave of infections, its health minister said this week. No other EU nation is testing as much as the tiny Grand-Duchy, which has been sending invites to citizens across the nation to get tested since May. With the number of daily tests rising, new infections have been rising day to day as well, meaning that several EU nations — Slovenia is the latest country to do so — have added Luxembourg to a red list. Germany’s Robert Koch Institute also placed Luxembourg on its list of risk countries this week.

Austrian New Cases at Highest Since April 12 (5:20 p.m. HK)

Austria had 169 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the highest daily rise since April 12. The number of active coronavirus infections has risen almost four-fold to 1,393 since the low of 373 on June 14, driven by clusters around evangelical churches in Linz and Wiener Neustadt, a pork-processing plant near the Czech border, and cases in Vienna.

Hong Kong’s New Outbreak Tops Earlier Waves (4:58 p.m. HK)

Hong Kong’s fresh coronavirus outbreak has surpassed the magnitude of its previous waves of infection, in a cautionary tale that the worst may be yet to come in the global pandemic. Authorities reported 50 local virus cases on Friday, bringing total infections to over 350, making the Asian financial hub one of the first places in the region to see a new wave dwarf previous outbreaks.

The resurgence comes after a long stretch during which residents returned to work and normal life. About a third of infections in the new outbreak are of unknown origins, signaling that hidden chains of transmission are widespread.

Israel to Close Beaches, Shops at Weekends (4:24 p.m. HK)

Israel’s government approved new restrictions that will shutter non-essential businesses on weekends to slow a surge of cases. Visiting the beach will be banned from Friday afternoons to Sunday mornings from next weekend.

More general regulations throughout the week will close gyms, prohibit restaurants from seating customers and limit the size of gatherings. Israel now has at least 44,000 confirmed cases and nearly 380 deaths, according to health ministry data, while the unemployment rate stands at above 21%.

Movement in Xinjiang Capital Limited (4:02 p.m. HK)

China locked down housing compounds across Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi. The city of 3.5 million reported six confirmed infections on Thursday and Friday, along with 11 cases where the people didn’t display any symptoms, breaking a 10-day streak of zero new domestic cases in China. The source of the new infections is unclear and the local government did not say if the cases are linked.

Tokyo Virus Cases Hit Record for a Second Day (2:50 p.m. HK)

Tokyo saw a second straight day of record coronavirus cases Friday, with 293 reported amid growing concern about the ability of authorities to suppress the outbreak. The city had 286 cases Thursday.

India Crosses 1 Million Case Mark (12:05 p.m. HK)

India saw its coronavirus cases exceed 1 million, becoming the third country to cross that mark, according to its health ministry, as the virus continues to spread rapidly in the world’s second most-populous nation.

Australia’s Most-Populous State Tightens Restrictions (9:36 a.m. HK)

Australia’s most-populous state — New South Wales — will further tighten restrictions for gatherings and venues, including clubs and cafes, Premier Gladys Berejikliantells told reporters.

Meanwhile, Australia’s second-most populous state, Victoria, recorded its second day of a spike in coronavirus cases as its capital city Melbourne is gripped by a second wave of infections. It had 428 new cases in the past 24 hours, Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters Friday. That’s the largest single-day increase for any of Australia’s states and territories, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.