WHO reports record rise in global coronavirus cases
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A record number of new coronavirus caseswas reported globally Saturday, with the United States, Brazil and India showing the biggest increases, according to data from the World Health Organization.
Worldwide, cases rose by 212,326 in 24 hours, the data showed, breaking the previous record of 190,566, set on June 28.
As July Fourth celebrations got into full swing, in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recorded 57,718 daily new cases and 661 deaths Saturday, taking the total to 2,789,678 cases and 129,305 deaths.
With 11,458 new cases of the virus reported Saturday, Florida shattered its single-day record for new coronavirus cases. It neared New York's highest daily tally of 11,571, set in April, according to NBC Miami and the state Health Department.
As the country is grappling with a rising number of cases, some states had to halt their reopenings, and hospitals in hot spots are becoming overwhelmed.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump will step back from being the "daily voice" of the coronavirus response, a senior administration official said. During a speech at Mount Rushmore to celebrate July Fourth on Friday, he only briefly mentioned the virus as the White House readies a new message for the nation on the coronavirus: learn to live with it.
In Brazil, where the virus has been rampant, 37,923 new cases and 1,091 deaths were recorded Saturday, health officials said. The country has the second highest number of confirmed cases in the world, at more than 1.5 million, with a death toll of 64,265, according to the Health Ministry.
Both Russia and Mexico reached grim milestones Saturday, with the number of deaths in Russia topping 10,000 and the death toll in Mexico now at more than 30,300, overtaking France's to become the fifth highest in the world.
India reported a rise of 24,850 cases Sunday, health officials said. A total of 673,165 cases have now been reported in India, the fourth highest in the world.
Globally, more than 11 million coronavirus cases have been recorded and nearly 531,000 people have died so far, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The WHO also announced Saturday it will discontinue the use of hydroxychloroquine, a drug Trump touted early in the pandemic, as a treatment for people hospitalized with COVID-19.
Interim trial results have shown that hydroxychloroquine produces "little or no reduction in the mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients when compared to standard of care," the organization said.
Lockdown restrictions around the world continued to ease, while some countries have ramped up measures to prevent new outbreaks.
This weekend, England relaxed most of its restrictions, opening up pubs, cafes, restaurants and hair salons. Even though authorities urged the public to maintain social distancing, many ignored the warnings in some places, including central London.
he northeastern Spanish region of Catalonia reimposed coronavirus restrictions, limiting movement of more than 200,000 people after an increase of infections.
On Saturday, Barcelona's famous Sagrada Familia basilica reopened after almost four months of lockdown, giving front-line workers the chance to have the usually tourist-packed landmark to themselves in recognition of their efforts. Spain was one of the worst-affected countries in Europe, recording 28,385 coronavirus deaths.
In Australia, which has managed to contain the pandemic, with just under 8,400 cases, authorities locked down around 3,000 people in nine apartment buildings in the southeast state of Victoria to try to stem a new outbreak after a rise in cases.
In addition to the complete lockdown orders, more than 30 Melbourne suburbs are also under strict social distancing orders, but people can leave their homes to go to work or school or to buy groceries.
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned Saturday that Iranians who do not wear masks will be denied state services and that workplaces that fail to comply with health protocols will be shut for a week, Reuters reported.
Iran, one of the early centers of the pandemic, still faces the spread of the virus, with the total number of cases hitting 240,438 on Sunday.
New Jersey Sees Highest Covid-19 Rate Of Transmission In 10 WeeksQuote:
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday an uptick in the rate of transmission of Covid-19 to its highest level in ten weeks, warning of “several outbreaks” linked to travel from hot spots rapidly emerging across the nation, especially in southern and western states that are now consistently reporting record daily case numbers.
The rate of transmission reached 1.03, meaning, “For every new case of Covid-19 we’re seeing, that case is leading to at least one other new case,” Murphy tweeted. “We need to do more.”
Murphy highlighted Hoboken as one of the state’s outbreaks, reporting that 12 of 13 new cases in the city were “directly tied to travel to known hot spots.”
One of the early hot spots for the coronavirus in the United States, New Jersey now ranks 40th among U.S. states for new daily cases, and took further precautions last week by postponing its plans to resume indoor dining due to rising cases in other states.
Numerous states like Texas, Arizona and California are regularly breaking its record in daily coronavirus cases, with Florida in particular reaching 11,458 infections on Saturday, nearly beating New York’s peak of 12,274 in April.
“One selfish person can undo the hard work of everyone else,” Murphy tweeted. “I do not want to have to hit another pause on our restart because a small number of New Jerseyans are being irresponsible and spreading [Covid-19] while the rest of us continue to work hard to stop it.”
The state’s daily positivity rate from July 2 was 2.14%, adding 216 new cases to its total of 173,611.
U.S. health official Fauci says COVID-19 outbreak is 'serious situation'Quote:
U.S. health official Anthony Fauci said on Monday that the current state of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States "is really not good" and a "serious situation that we have to address immediately."
The United States is still "knee-deep" in the first wave of the illnesses, having never gotten the case number as low as planned, Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said during a live internet interview with National Institutes of Health director Francis Collins.
"It's a serious situation that we have to address immediately," Fauci said.
Fauci said that he expects an eventual vaccine, now in development by several companies, to work well and provide protection at least for some period of time, but that it will not be infinite protection such as the vaccine for measles.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says the average age of U.S. coronavirus patients has dropped by 15 years as Sun Belt states gets hitQuote:
The average age of new coronavirus patients has dropped by roughly 15 years compared with only a few months ago as the virus reignites in America’s Sun Belt, White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.
“The average age of people getting infected now is a decade and a half younger than it was a few months ago particularly when New York and New Orleans and Chicago were getting hit very badly,” Fauci said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said the median age of new Covid-19 patients in his state, which reported a record number of new cases over the holiday weekend, has reached a low of 33. By comparison, the median age of a newly diagnosed coronavirus patient in their 50s and 60s in March and April, he said at a news conference Monday.
“Now why is that important? Well, because this is a virus that does not affect all age groups equally. It’s much more lethal for people who are in their 80s and 90s than it is in your 20s and 30s,” DeSantis said.
The fatality rate is significantly lower among Gen Y and millennials, he said adding that many of those cases are asymptomatic. “Just because you’re 21 and you may not have significant symptoms that does not mean you can’t affect other people and I think that’s something that we’re concerned about,” he said.
While young people are less likely to develop serious illnesses from Covid-19, Fauci warned that the virus could still “put them out of action for weeks at a time.”
They should also remember that when they’re infected, there’s the likelihood that they could spread the disease to people who are at high risk of serious illness, he said.
“They could infect someone who infects someone, and then all of a sudden someone’s grandmother, grandfather or aunt who’s getting chemotherapy for breast cancer gets infected,” Fauci said. “You’re part of the propagation of the pandemic, so it’s your responsibility to yourself as well as to society to avoid infection.”
Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, has previously warned that the virus poses a greater risk to those with underlying health conditions, such as diabetes and significant obesity, which are seen in every age group.
“We do know that we have people in the younger age groups with significant Type 1 diabetes and may also have individuals with significant obesity,” Birx said at a White House task force news conference on June 26. “We know that those are risk factors, so risk factors go with your comorbidity, not necessarily with your age.”
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
06 Jul 2020, 5:35 pm
for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.
