July 5 coronavirus news

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn speaks with CNN on July 5.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said it is “too early to tell” whether Florida will be a safe place for the Republican National Convention next month amid a surge in Covid-19 cases there.

Hahn is a member of the White House Coronoavirus Task Force.

Florida set an all-time record of most coronavirus cases in the US in a single day on Saturday, with a total of 11,458, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. 

More on the convention: Jacksonville, Florida, where the majority of the convention is set to take place, implemented mandatory face mask requirements last week due to the spike in infections.

The President’s re-election team selected Florida as the new location for much of the convention after sparring with officials in North Carolina over social distancing requirements. The entire convention had been set to take place in Charlotte, North Carolina. Now only a small part of it will take place there.

CNN reached out to the Republican National Convention and the Trump campaign for comment.

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn declined to defend President Trump’s claim from his July 4 speech that 99% of Covid-19 cases are “harmless.”

Hahn repeatedly refused to say whether the Trump’s claim is true or false.

When Hahn was presented Centers for Disease Control and Prevention figures showing only a third of Covid-19 cases are asymptomatic, Hahn did not defend the President’s claim about how many coronavirus cases go unnoticed by the infected. 

“What I’ll say is that we have data in the White House Task Force. Those data show us that this is a serious problem. People need to take it seriously,” Hahn said. 

Diners eat outside of a restaurant on July 1 in New York.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said New York City is still on track to launch into phase three of its Covid-19 reopening Monday.

The governor reiterated that indoor dining will not be a part of this reopening. 

What the numbers say: New York added 533 cases yesterday, with .84% positivity rate. The state reported eight deaths. 

Beds are seen in a specialized hospital for coronavirus patients in Hasakeh, Syria, in April.

Syria recorded three new deaths from Covid-19 in the highest daily death count for the country, according to the Syrian Health Ministry, Syrian state news agency SANA reported on Sunday. This brings the country’s death toll to 13.

The Health Ministry also confirmed 20 additional cases of the coronavirus, SANA reported, bringing the total number of cases in Syria to 358. This doubles the number of daily new cases compared to the previous day.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber speaks with CNN on July 5.

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber discussed the accelerating coronavirus outbreak in Florida and the difficulty in containing the outbreak amid mixed messages from leaders in Washington, including President Trump. 

Gelber told CNN that the virus is spreading in Miami Beach, “because of this incredible activity.

 Gelber also had grim warnings about hospital capacity in Miami Beach.

“Our hospital capacity is reducing and it really is sort of a — we see a positive increase and then you go to your hospitalization, and we have doubled our hospitalization, our census has now doubled in last 14 days and then you go to your intensive care and that also doubled and we even have 158 people on ventilators now, and I think two weeks ago 64,” the mayor said.

Gelber was sharply critical of Trump’s leadership on coronavirus.

“How do you tell somebody they have to wear a mask and be socially distanced when the President doesn’t, and hosts a rally where they’re almost celebrating the lack of those simple countermeasures? So really, we’re not on the same page,” he said. 

Some context: Florida reported at least 11,445 new coronavirus cases on Saturday, the state’s largest increase in one day. 

Street artist Nathan Bowen is pictured working on an image in London on Friday.

The United Kingdom’s National Health Service, known as the NHS, marks its 72nd anniversary Sunday at a poignant and difficult time for perhaps the country’s most beloved public institution.

Its doctors, nurses and other medical staff have been on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic for months, with dozens of their own ranks losing their lives to the illness.

All over the United Kingdom, billboards, posters, and even small crayon drawings have popped up to thank the nearly 1.5 million healthcare workers of the NHS for their service. 

In the trendy east London neighborhood of Shoreditch, that gratitude comes in graffiti form. Boarded-up shop windows have been converted into murals dedicated to the public health system. 

Street artist Nathan Bowen told CNN he wanted to breathe life into spaces made dead under lockdown, to ease the commute for frontline staff making their way to clinics, hospitals and care homes.

On Saturday night key buildings across the UK were lit up in blue, the color of the NHS, and at 5 p.m. BST on Sunday a round of applause is scheduled to honor the sacrifices made by medical staff.

Some history: Established after World War II, the NHS has always been an institution that unifies Britons around a simple idea: public heathcare should be free for all.

Accusations have been leveled against the government that it has failed to secure sufficient personal protective equipment and to protect healthcare workers of ethnic minority backgrounds.

But when Prime Minister Boris Johnson contracted Covid-19, he was admitted to St. Thomas’, a public hospital in central London, and later declared that the NHS “saved my life, no question.”

WATCH HERE:

Pope Francis waves from his studio window overlooking St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on July 5.

Pope Francis has urged the swift implementation of a UN Security Council resolution that calls for a global ceasefire to help countries already wracked by hostilities to cope with the coronavirus pandemic.

The resolution – the first to pass since the coronavirus pandemic took hold – was unanimously adopted Wednesday in a virtual vote.  

Speaking during his regularly held Sunday Angelus, Francis said: “The request for a global and immediate ceasefire, which would allow the peace and security necessary to provide the urgently needed humanitarian assistance, is commendable.

“I hope that this decision will be implemented effectively and promptly for the good of many people who are suffering. May this Security Council Resolution become a bold first step towards a peaceful future.”

 Police officers are seen walking through heavy crowds in Soho on July 4 in London.

Drunk people can’t properly socially distance, a UK police officer warned after finishing a late shift Saturday – the first day that pubs reopened in England after the coronavirus shutdown.

“A predictably busy night and confirmed what we knew, alcohol and social distancing is not a good combination,” tweeted John Apter, national chairman of the Police Federation, a staff association for police in England and Wales.

Apter, who was on duty in the southern England city of Southampton, said he and colleagues had dealt with “happy drunks, angry drunks, fights” and antisocial behavior. “What was crystal clear is that drunk people can’t/won’t socially distance,” he said.

In a post on Twitter, London’s Metropolitan Police urged people to “please be responsible, stay safe and follow social distancing and other guidance that has been put in place” as pubs reopened.

But images taken Saturday night in the central London district of Soho, known for its pubs and bars, showed crowded streets.

Five pubs in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, decided to close early following anti-social behavior, police said, and officers made four arrests following reports of a smashed window and minor assault.

However, Inspector Craig Berry thanked “the majority of the public who have acted responsibly throughout Saturday.”

Devon and Cornwall Police, in southwest England, said they had received more than 1,000 calls on Saturday from members of the public, mostly related to “drink related disorder.”

And in Essex, southeast England, an officer tweeted to say police had made four arrests.

UK Health Minister Matt Hancock told Sky News’ Sophy Ridge that he was pleased overall with how Saturday went.

“From what I have seen, although there are some pictures to the contrary, very, very largely people have acted responsibly and this balanced message is so important. People should enjoy summer safely,” he said Sunday.

“You have seen from Leicester and other places we don’t shirk from bringing in drastic measures if that is what is needed to control the virus. But the overall plan has always been through the lifting of the lockdown to try to lift the national measures – but be absolutely crystal clear we will tackle local flare-ups when we see them.”

The governor of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, Francisco Cabeza de Vaca, tweeted Saturday that hospitals run by the Mexican Institute of Social Security in Reynosa, a city bordering the United States, are too “overcrowded to receive more patients” seeking treatment for coronavirus. 

Cabeza de Vaca also used his official Twitter account Friday to urge the Mexican government to establish “greater control of the non-essential flow of people” from the United States into Mexico, noting that the coronavirus situation in neighboring Texas had reached a critical point.  

Hours later, Cabeza de Vaca wrote that in the absence of a response from central authorities, his government had intensified efforts “to stop non-essential crossings” at bridges that connect the state of Tamaulipas and the US.  

On Thursday, Cabeza de Vaca announced that he had tested positive for Covid-19.

In a video released while in isolation, Cabeza de Vaca said: “Unfortunately, we have seen a great increase in the number of infections in the cities of Reynosa, Nuevo Laredo and Matamoros. I think that we are neglecting many of them, we are relaxing… that is why we are taking extraordinary measures to avoid an increase in the number of infections.”

A pedestrian walks down Ocean Drive in Miami July 4.

Florida set a US record for coronavirus cases in a single day Saturday, with a total of 11,458 new cases, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University (JHU). 

Florida has now surpassed New York’s previous highest single-day total of 11,434, which was recorded on April 15, by JHU.  

Florida also reported 18 new deaths Saturday.

There have been 190,052 total coronavirus cases reported in the state and 3,702 total deaths, according to JHU’s tally.

Nationwide the United States has recorded at least 2,839,436 cases of coronavirus, including 129,676 deaths, JHU’s figures indicate.

In January, 18-year-old Peyton Manker embarked on her journey to make a prom dress entirely out of duct tape for a contest to win a scholarship. After weeks of working on her submission, the Covid-19 outbreak not only canceled her prom but altered the course of her senior year.

Manker was not deterred by the fact that she would not get to wear her dress to prom. Instead, she felt inspired to create a dress that “documents a part of history.”

Her coronavirus-themed dress features multiple images depicting life during the pandemic. Her vision for the dress began with wanting to capture her own experience. She represents her unforgettable senior year with a vibrant scene of students attending virtual graduation.

“It wasn’t just high schoolers, it wasn’t just America, it was the whole world being impacted by the pandemic so I wanted to show that,” said Manker, from Sparta, Illinois.

She does so by showing an image of people running away from the giant coronavirus to signify the world trying to avoid catching the disease. Other designs pay tribute to frontline workers and people suffering from mental health issues as a result of the pandemic.

Read more here:

Illinois teen Peyton Manker made this dress out of duct tape to be entered into the 2020 Stuck at Prom competition.

Related article Teen's coronavirus-themed prom dress made of duct tape is a work of art

After more than three months of shutdowns, mandatory quarantines, self-imposed exile from society and working from home, nature-lovers looking for a well-earned breath of fresh air could face a possible collision course between coronavirus and tick-borne illnesses this summer.

A “perfect storm,” warns Eva Sapi, a University of New Haven biology professor and group director for the Lyme Disease Research Group.

Noting the mild winter on the US East Coast, Sapi says: “We do have a bad year for the ticks.”

Hikers, campers and anyone else eager for an escape could “just explode into the outdoors. And there may not be the same thoughtful approach” to preventing exposure, explains Dr. Sorana Segal-Maurer, director of the Dr. James J. Rahal, Jr. Division of Infectious Diseases at NewYork-Presbyterian Queens health care system.

“I’m a little nervous that their guard may be down just a slight bit,” she adds.

Read more here:

Deer tick on human skin

Related article Why tick season could be worse in the summer of Covid-19

Members of Nehru Yuva Kendra and Punjab Youth Development Board shows to people how to use face masks in Amritsar, India on July 4.

India reported 24,850 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday – the country’s largest single-day jump yet.

The country has now recorded 673,165 cases of the virus, and 19,268 deaths, according to its Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

India has 235,433 active cases, while 394,227 patients have recovered so far.

The western state of Maharashtra remains worst affected with 200,064 cases and 8,671 deaths, followed by the southern state of Tamil Nadu, which has recorded 107,001 cases, and the national capital Delhi, with known 97,200 cases. 

India has tested more than 9.7 million samples for Covid-19.

According to Johns Hopkins University’s tally, the United States has recorded at least 2,839,436 cases of coronavirus, including 129,676 deaths.

On Saturday, Johns Hopkins University reported 45,283 new cases and 242 new deaths. 

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

For the latest coronavirus numbers, please follow CNN’s map which is refreshed every 15 mins: 

A man casts his vote for the Tokyo gubernatorial election at a polling station in Shinjuku area in Tokyo on July 5.

Japan reported 274 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, according to the country’s Health Ministry.

Nearly half of those infections were in Tokyo, where the city’s metropolitan government said people in their 20s and 30s were driving the spike in infections.

Saturday’s figures followed 249 news cases on Friday and 194 on Thursday.

Japan now reported 22,234 confirmed cases, including 990 recorded deaths.

Government minister Yasutoshi Nishimura said on Sunday that the resumption of a state of emergency was not necessary, describing the new cases as “light or asymptomatic” and not a burden to Japan’s healthcare system.

Police speak to a man outside the North Melbourne Public housing flats on July 5, in Melbourne, Australia.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has called for a pause in easing Covid-19 restrictions and territories until clear evidence shows the outbreaks in Melbourne are under control.

There has been a spike in coronavirus cases in Melbourne, Australia, in recent days, leading to new lockdowns across the city, including over 3,000 people in public housing.

AMA President Tony Bartone said the new outbreaks are a stark reminder the fight against coronavirus is far from over, according to a press release from AMA.

Bartone said the outbreaks were “directly linked to failures to follow established and successful public health guidelines” and that Australia should play it safe before “rushing back to the pub, the footy crowds, or the big weddings and parties.”

Coronavirus cases have been rising sharply across the state of Victoria for nearly three weeks. 

Passengers wearing face masks ride a subway car in downtown Sao Paulo on June 29, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Brazil marked 50 days without an official Health Minister on Saturday, as the coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 1.5 million of its citizens, and killed at least 63,000, continues to grip the country.

The position has been temporarily filled by Army General Eduardo Pazzuello, who has no medical experience, since the last Health Minister, Nelson Teich, quit on May 15.

Teich, who spent less than a month in office, left amid criticism from President Jair Bolsonaro that he was “too timid in the push to reopen the economy and to advocate for the use of chloroquine.” Teich didn’t provide a reason for his resignation.

Teich’s predecesor, Luiz Henrique Mandetta, who advocated for social distancing measures and the use of masks was fired by Bolsonaro. 

Bolsonaro, who frequently defies social distancing guidelines recommended by most health experts and has dismissed the virus as “a little flu,” has been widely criticized for downplaying the severity of the virus. 

On Friday, Bolsonaro vetoed parts of a law that mandates wearing face masks in public during the pandemic. The use of masks in shopping malls, stores, religious temples, educational establishments and other closed places where people gather will no longer be mandatory, but individual states and municipalities can enforce those measures. 

Brazil has the second highest number coronavirus cases and deaths globally after the US. 

Pubs are the beating heart of Britain.

The revered English poet William Blake once purportedly likened an English pub to a church, with two important caveats: “a pub is warmer, and there’s more conversation.”

For the writer Samuel Johnson, there was “nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern.” And the sentiment was captured by Shakespeare, too: a character in “Henry V” wishes he were “in an alehouse in London,” reasoning: “I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety.”

But for the first time since World War II, ale and safety have become mutually exclusive commodities – and millions have been locked out of their locals since mid-March as a result.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the UK’s 60,000 pubs to close 15 weeks ago to fight the coronavirus pandemic. Arguably, nothing has symbolized the country’s subsequent social and cultural paralysis more than the sight of boarded up taverns on every high street.

But England finally returned to the pub on Saturday, the first day of the country’s latest, most significant easing of lockdown restrictions. Those in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales must wait longer to return to their local.

Read more here:

A member of bar staff wearing PPE (personal protective equipment) in the form of golves and a face mask, serves seated customers with drinks inside the Wetherspoon pub, Goldengrove in Stratford in east London on July 4, 2020, as restrictions are further eased during the novel coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. - Pubs in England reopen on Saturday for the first time since late March, bringing cheer to drinkers and the industry but fears of public disorder and fresh coronavirus cases. (Photo by Tolga AKMEN / AFP) (Photo by TOLGA AKMEN/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article Plastic screens, tracings apps and table service. English pubs reopen on bittersweet day

Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews speaks during a press conference on July 5, in Melbourne, Australia.

About 3,000 people in nine public housing estates in Melbourne, Australia, were put under what the state premier called a “hard lockdown” on Saturday evening, after a spike of cases in the city.

Residents will not be allowed to leave their homes, after Covid-19 cases were discovered in the densely populated blocks. Police have been stationed outside the tower to enforce the order.

At least 23 people across the 9 towers have reported positive for the virus, according to CNN affiliate Nine News.

Everybody in the towers will be tested except those who have already returned a positive result, said Victorian State Premier Daniel Andrews, adding that those who refuse to be tested would be risking an extension to the lockdown. 

The lockdown was imposed on Saturday night, giving residents little notice. Abdirahman Ibrahim, a father-of-five, told CNN affiliate SBS he learned about the lockdown on the evening news, giving him no time to stockpile food for his children.

On Sunday morning local time, Andrews said residents would be provided with free rent and financial support.

He acknowledged that many residents of the public housing units were in “poor health” and that “this is not going to be a pleasant experience.”

Many residents are “culturally and linguistically diverse,” Andrews said, adding that “all support will be provided in a culturally appropriate way, linguistically appropriate way.”

But Emma King, CEO of chief executive officer of Victoria Council of Social Services, said the lockdown would “scare many people, and trigger memories of past trauma.”

Victoria has experienced a second wave of coronavirus cases in recent weeks, prompting authorities to impose a fresh lockdown in parts of Melbourne. 

Mass testing in the state identified 74 new Coronavirus cases on Saturday, according to Premier Andrews. That figure is down from the 108 cases detected in Victoria on Friday. 

There are 43 active cases in Victoria with 26 people in hospital and 3 in intensive care.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a "Salute to America" event on the South Lawn of the White House, on July 4, in Washington DC.

US President Donald Trump claimed without evidence on Saturday that 99% of coronavirus cases “are totally harmless” during remarks on the White House South Lawn, in which he sought to downplay the recent surge of Covid-19 cases.

There have been more than 2.8 million cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least 129,000 people in the United States have died, according to Johns Hopkins University’s latest tally.

Some people who become ill have only mild symptoms, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 35% of cases are asymptomatic, but even people with mild or no symptoms can spread the virus to others.

While the World Health Organization has said the global fatality rate is like less than 1%, the WHO also said about 20% of all people who are diagnosed with Cornoavirus aresick enough to need oxygen or hospital care.

 The White House has not returned a message seeking comment. 

As many states continue to see spikes in the number of coronavirus cases, US President Donald Trump touted the progress the country has made combatting the virus.

He said the nation has now made “tens of thousands” of ventilators and have now started distributing them overseas.

On testing, pointed out the country has now almost 40 million people. However, experts have said more tests are needed to get a full picture of the virus.

Trump has recently complained about how many tests are being conducted in the nation because he has claimed that is the reason for the larger amount of cases – a contention disputed by health experts. He recently said the country should do less testing. While administration officials contended Trump was joking, he later said he doesn’t joke.

A bottle and pills of Hydroxychloroquine sit on a counter at Rock Canyon Pharmacy in Provo, Utah, on May 20.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced Saturday it would no longer continue studying the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir as treatments for Covid-19.

WHO made the decision based on the Solidarity Trial’s interim results, which show that hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir/ritonavir produce little or no reduction in deaths of hospitalized Covid-19 patients, WHO said in a statement. 

This decision applies only to the trial in hospitalized patients, and does not affect studies of prevention or treatments in non-hospitalized patients.

WHO paused the hydroxychloroquine study in May due to safety concerns, then later restarted it. The drug has often been touted by President Trump, but several studies have found no benefits to treating Covid-19 patients with the antimalarial drug. 

The US Food and Drug Administration revoked its emergency use authorization for both hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine for the treatment of Covid-19, saying the drugs are unlikely to be effective in treating the virus based on the latest scientific evidence. 

The National Institutes of Health announced last month it was halting its clinical trial of the drug.