Another resident of Henry County is dead of COVID-19. The sixth death came as cases in the county spiked past 500, with 25 new ones in Saturday morning's information release by the Virginia Department of Health. There also was one new hospitalization. West Piedmont Health District has not released new information about the death. There are also four new hospitalizations in Patrick County, where the outbreak occurred at the adult care facility. Meanwhile, the most important virus news of the day came out of Washington, where Republicans, Democrats and the White House made their points about a new stimulus bill that is stalled in the Senate. Dr. Fauci and other experts testified before a House committee and were caught in the political crossfire of questioning. They reinforced the best practices to help end this pandemic. Cases in the U.S. surpassed 4.5 million. In Virginia, there now are more than 90,000.The Virginia Department of Health reportsthis morning reported there have been 90,801 cases and 2,215 deaths statewide. Some 7,910 people have been hospitalized. Henry County has had 502 cases, with 56 hospitalizations and 6 deaths. Martinsville has had 168 cases, with 24 hospitalizations and 3 deaths. Patrick County has had 111 cases including 22 hospitalizations and 3 deaths. Franklin County has had 156 cases, 8 hospitalizations and 1 death. Danville has reported 314 cases, and Pittsylvania County has had 329.Johns Hopkins University's real-time mapshowed 17,614,426 cases worldwide and 679,987 deaths. In the U.S. there are 4,563,445. There have been153,320 deaths in the U.S.
(175) updates to this series since Aug 1, 2020
The West Virginia Department of Health andHuman Resources (DHHR) reports as of 10:00 a.m., on August 2,2020, there have been 291,071 total confirmatorylaboratory results received for COVID-19, with 6,854 totalcases and 117 deaths.
DHHR has confirmed the death of a79-year old male from Kanawha County. Wejoin with the family in grieving the passing of this gentleman, said Bill J.Crouch, DHHR Cabinet Secretary.
In alignment with updated definitions fromthe Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the dashboard includes probablecases which are individuals that have symptoms and either serologic (antibody)or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to a confirmed case) evidence of disease, but noconfirmatory test.
CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (29/0), Berkeley (633/22), Boone (77/0), Braxton (8/0), Brooke(61/1), Cabell (319/9), Calhoun (6/0), Clay (17/0), Doddridge (4/0), Fayette(129/0), Gilmer (16/0), Grant (76/1), Greenbrier (87/0), Hampshire (74/0),Hancock (95/4), Hardy (53/1), Harrison (192/1), Jackson (157/0), Jefferson(284/5), Kanawha (809/13), Lewis (26/1), Lincoln (67/1), Logan (148/0), Marion(172/4), Marshall (123/2), Mason (46/0), McDowell (36/1), Mercer (164/0),Mineral (108/2), Mingo (125/2), Monongalia (900/16), Monroe (18/1), Morgan(25/1), Nicholas (30/1), Ohio (252/0), Pendleton (36/1), Pleasants (7/1),Pocahontas (40/1), Preston (100/23), Putnam (166/1), Raleigh (183/6), Randolph(204/3), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (14/0), Summers (6/0), Taylor (52/1), Tucker(10/0), Tyler (12/0), Upshur (36/2), Wayne (182/2), Webster (3/0), Wetzel(40/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (224/11), Wyoming (23/0).
As case surveillance continues at thelocal health department level, it may reveal that those tested in a certaincounty may not be a resident of that county, or even the state as an individualin question may have crossed the state border to be tested.Such is the case of Hancock County in this report.
Pleasenote that delays may be experienced with the reporting of information from thelocal health department to DHHR. Visitthe dashboard at www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.
On July 24, 2020, Gov. Jim Justiceannounced that DHHR, the agency in charge of reporting the number of COVID-19cases, will transition from providing twice-daily updates to one report every24 hours. This became effective August 1, 2020.
Anthony Fauci and President Trump are still at odds.
Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for three decade who has worked on the front lines of the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s and 1990s, the Ebola outbreak of 2014 to 2016 and the anthrax attacks two decades ago, testified before Congress last week that the U.S. should have taken speedier and more comprehensive action to close businesses when coronavirus first appeared in the U.S. earlier this year.
Fauci said the U.S. effectively only shut down half the economy. If you look at what happened in Europe when they shut down, or locked down, or went to shelter-in-place, however you want to describe it, they really did it to the tune of about 95% plus, he told the hearing. When you actually look at what we did, even though we shut down, even though it created a great deal of difficulty, we really functionally shut down only about 50% in the sense of the totality of the country.
President Trump hit back at Fauci on Twitter TWTR, -0.87% on Saturday evening, replying to a post by CBS News VIAC, +1.00% of Faucis testimony. Wrong! We have more cases because we have tested far more than any other country, 60,000,000. If we tested less, there would be less cases. How did Italy, France & Spain do? Now Europe sadly has flare ups. Most of our governors worked hard & smart. We will come back STRONG!
Nearly 53 million people have been tested for coronavirus in the U.S. to date, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with more than 5 million or 10% of those testing positive for the virus. Wait times of more than 10 days have become the norm for many Americans. There are, however, stories of people who have had to wait 26 days to get their results. Waiting 10 days for a test defeats the purpose of getting tested, some health professionals say.
Approximately half of the tests being performed daily are conducted by commercial labs such as Quest Diagnostics DGX, +0.24% and LabCorp. Only one state has an average turnaround time of greater than five days, said Admiral Brett Giroir, a member of the White House coronavirus task force. Five states are between four and five days. 26 states are still three days or less, and the rest are between three and four days. Turnaround times of 10 to 12 days represent outliers, he added.
The Trump administration, meanwhile, is trying to block $25 billion for states to conduct testing and contact tracing in the next coronavirus relief bill, people involved in the talks told the Washington Post this month. Democratic lawmakers, in negotiations over a new stimulus bill, have demanded $25 billion for the testing and contact-tracing, over three times what the GOP have suggested. Contact tracing identifies people who someone with COVID-19 has come into contact with.
At the U.S. House Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis, Fauci reiterated that there was no scientific evidence to show that hydroxychloroquine was helpful for coronavirus patients. You look at the scientific data and the evidence, and the scientific data, on trials that are valid that were randomized and controlled in the proper way; all of those trials show consistently that hydroxychloroquine is not effective in the treatment of coronavirus disease or COVID-19.
When asked by Republican Rep. Blaine Leutkemeyer from Missouri about a peer-reviewed study suggesting otherwise, Fauci said, The Henry Ford Hospital study that was published was a non-controlled retrospective cohort study that was confounded by a number of issues, including the fact that many people who were receiving hydroxychloroquine were also using corticosteroids, which we know from another study gives a clear benefit in reducing deaths with advanced disease.
So that study is a flawed study, and I think anyone who examines it carefully [would see] that it is not a randomized placebo-controlled trial. You can peer review something thats a bad study, Fauci said, adding, I would be the first one to admit it and to promote it, but I have not seen yet a randomized placebo controlled trial thats done that. I dont have any horse in the game one way or the other. I just look at the data.
Social-media sites attempted to quash a video pushing misleading information about hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment which led to Twitter partially suspending Donald Trump Jr.s account. The video featured doctors calling hydroxychloroquine a drug used to treat malaria, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis for decades a cure for COVID, despite a growing body of scientific evidence that has not shown this to be true.
As of Sunday, COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus SARS-CoV-2, had infected at least 17.9 million people globally and 4.6 million in the U.S. It had killed over 686,877 people worldwide and at least 154,793 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University. Cases in California surpassed 500,000 as the state reported 7,118 new cases Saturday, with 134 new deaths, bringing the death toll in that state to 9,365. New York has the most fatalities (32,710) followed by New Jersey (15,836).
The Dow Jones Industrial Index DJIA, +0.43% closed higher Friday, as investors tracked round two of the potential fiscal stimulus. The S&P 500 SPX, +0.76% and Nasdaq Composite COMP, +1.48% alsoended the week after some of the industrys largest and most powerful players Apple AAPL, +10.46% Facebook FB, +8.17%, Amazon. AMZN, +3.69% and Google parent Alphabet Inc. GOOGL, -3.27% GOOG, -3.16% reported their results.
Related:Dr. Fauci tells MarketWatch: I would not get on a plane or eat inside a restaurant
Health professionals, economists and lawmakers are concerned about the rise in coronavirus over the last month with the rise in daily cases exceeding 1,000 for the sixth consecutive day on Saturday. The U.S. cannot afford to have a resurgence of the virus either now or in the fall, health professionals say. For one, its harder to get people to practice social distancing and stay home again, especially after theyve already abided by stay-at-home orders for more than 11 weeks.
Secondly, the effect on the economy could push the U.S. into a prolonged recession, even greater than the one already predicted by some economists, despite some observers seeing public health and economic health as an either/or scenario. Thirdly, the flu season will already be upon us in the winter and those symptoms are easily confused with those of COVID-19. Fourthly, too few people will be immune to COVID-19 after this first wave ends to support herd immunity.
Another thing to consider: Given the age profile of fatalities in the U.S. and other countries, elderly people would die in far greater numbers if the economy were restarted earlier. Paul Zak, a neuroscientist and author of The Moral Molecule: The Source of Love and Prosperity, said a trade-off between the economy and allowing (older) people to die of COVID-19 reflects that society values people on their economic output, which ignores a multitude of other factors.
Its appalling to attach a dollar number to a human life for non-economists, Colin Camerer, a professor of behavioral finance and economics at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, told MarketWatch. You can never make things perfectly safe with zero risk. We do have limited time, health-care staff, ventilators and money. What is the curve of transmission? How many people are going to die, if you open up the economy? No one is really too sure.
Trump has said he is also concerned about the impact of the pandemic and job losses on peoples mental health; some studies suggest it could lead to tragic outcomes. The growing epidemic of deaths of despair in the U.S. is also increasing due to the pandemic and another 75,000 more people will likely die from drug or alcohol misuse and suicide, according to research from the Well Being Trust, and Robert Graham Center at the American Academy of Family Physicians.
The response to the virus has been split down political lines. The American public has responded differently to the pandemic along political lines: 62% of Republicans and Republican leaners say the seriousness of COVID-19 is generally exaggerated, according to one survey, while just 31% of Democrats and Democrat leaners and 35% of independents say the same. Democrats and independents are more likely than Republicans that coronavirus is a threat.
How COVID-19 is transmitted
The Emergency Committee on COVID-19, convened by the WHO Director-General under the International Health Regulations (2005) (IHR), held its fourth meeting on 31 July. In its statement following the meeting, published today, it expressed appreciation for WHO and partners COVID-19 pandemic response efforts, and highlighted the anticipated lengthy duration of this COVID-19 pandemic, noting the importance of sustained community, national, regional, and global response efforts.
After a full discussion and review of the evidence, the Committee unanimously agreed that the outbreak still constitutes a public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC) and offered this advice toDr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
Dr Tedros accepted the advice of the Committee and confirmed that the outbreak of COVID-19 continues to constitute a PHEIC. The Director-General declared a PHEICWHOs highest level of alarm under IHRon 30 January at a time when there were fewer than 100 cases and no deaths outside China. He issued the Committees advice to States Parties as Temporary Recommendations under the IHR.
The pandemic is a once-in-a-century health crisis, the effects of which will be felt for decades to come," Dr Tedrostold the Committee in his opening remarks on Friday."Many countries that believed they were past the worst are now grappling with new outbreaks. Some that were less affected in the earliest weeks are now seeing escalating numbers of cases and deaths. And some that had large outbreaks have brought them under control."
The Committee made a range of recommendations to both WHO and State Parties.It advised WHO to continue to mobilize global and regional multilateral organizations and partners for COVID-19 preparedness and response, to support Member States in maintaininghealth services, while accelerating the research and eventual access to diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines.
It advised countries to support these research efforts, including through funding, and to join in efforts to allow equitable allocation of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines by engaging in the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator among other initiatives.
The committee also advised countries to strengthen public health surveillance for case identification andcontact tracing, including in low-resource, vulnerable, or high-risk settings and to maintain essential health services with sufficient funding, supplies, and human resources.
Countries were advised to implement proportionate measures and advice on travel, based on risk assessments, and toreview these measures regularly.
The Committees statement, with further details of the meeting and their recommendations, is available here
A list of the Committee members is available here
The Emergency Committee will be reconvened again within three months or earlier,at the discretion of the Director-General.
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A march earlier Saturday that was criticized by police for not adhering to rules on social distancing and face masks was halted by organizers.
The march, which was named by organizers as "Day of Freedom -- The End of the Pandemic," included anti-vaccine groups and some far-right and neo-Nazi organizations. On livestreams of the event, some protesters could be heard yelling, "We are the second wave."
Current coronavirus guidelines in Germany stipulate that people must maintain a distance of 1.5 meters, or about 5 feet. Where that is not possible, face masks must be worn. Berlin police said on Twitter that most of the protesters were not adhering to social distancing rules or wearing masks.
"Our colleagues are using loud speakers to urge the adherence to the rules. We are also documenting non-compliance for possible later prosecution," Berlin police tweeted, adding that a criminal complaint was filed against one of the march's organizers for not adhering to hygiene rules.
Police warned the roughly 17,000 protesters who participated in the march they would only be allowed to participate in the demonstration if they wore face coverings and maintained social distance.
A livestream from the protest showed almost no one wearing a face mask, although the master of ceremonies told the crowd from the stage to maintain physical distance so as not to give the authorities "a pretext" for breaking up the event.
The data was published Saturday morning but reflects Friday's numbers. The last time Germany recorded a higher number of new coronavirus cases was in May.
The German government has been warning about a new spike in coronavirus cases after the pandemic had largely been brought under control.
The institute says lax enforcement of social distancing and hygiene rules as well as travelers returning from abroad are to blame for the steep rise in cases.
"Especially since it is not large 'hot spots' but smaller clusters of infections. The main risks need to clearly be named so that a more targeted prevention becomes possible," Altmaier wrote.
Starting Saturday, all travelers coming to Germany will be able to get free coronavirus tests up 72 hours after arrival, according to a new directive from Germany's health ministry.
Five months since the first confirmed COVID-19 case in New York,Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the State conducted 82,737 COVID-19 tests yesterday the highest number of tests ever conducted in a single day in the state. 0.91 percent of those test results were positive. The governor also updated New Yorkers on the state's progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The number of new cases, percentage of tests that were positive and many other helpful data points are always available atforward.ny.gov.
"Today is five months since we had our first case, and yesterday we hit a record number of tests 82,737 the most tests ever conducted in a single day in this state, with 0.91 percent of results coming back positive,"Governor Cuomo said."Our future is dependent on what we do, and social distancing, wearing masks and washing hands are useful and effective tools as we combat this virus. New Yorkers should continue practicing those basic behaviors and local governments should enforce state guidance. That's what it means to be New York Tough."
Governor Cuomo also announced the State Liquor Authority and State Police Task Force visited and observed 1,103 establishments across New York City and Long Islandlast night and found violations at 41 establishments, or 4 percent.
Today's data is summarized briefly below:
Of the 82,737 tests conducted in New York State yesterday, 753, or 0.91 percent, were positive. Each region's percentage of positive tests over the last three days is as follows:
REGION
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
Capital Region
2.1%
1.1%
1.1%
Central New York
1.1%
0.5%
0.7%
Finger Lakes
0.6%
0.7%
0.9%
Long Island
1.2%
0.9%
1.1%
Mid-Hudson
1.3%
0.9%
1.0%
Mohawk Valley
0.9%
1.0%
1.1%
New York City
1.0%
0.9%
0.8%
North Country
0.3%
0.5%
0.2%
Southern Tier
0.7%
0.6%
0.8%
Western New York
0.5%
1.6%
1.1%
The Governor also confirmed 753 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 415,767 confirmed cases in New York State. Of the 415,767 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:
County
Total Positive
New Positive
Albany
2,515
12
Allegany
74
0
Broome
1,048
11
Cattaraugus
158
0
Cayuga
144
1
Chautauqua
231
3
Chemung
163
0
Chenango
209
2
Clinton
127
1
Columbia
519
3
Cortland
91
0
Delaware
103
1
Dutchess
4,504
14
The West Virginia Department of Health andHuman Resources (DHHR)reports as of 5:00 p.m., on July 31, 2020, there have been 283,848 totalconfirmatory laboratory results receivedfor COVID-19, with 6,642 total cases and 116 deaths.
Inalignment with updated definitions from the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, the dashboard includes probable cases which are individuals that havesymptoms and either serologic (antibody) or epidemiologic (e.g., a link to aconfirmed case) evidence of disease, but no confirmatory test.
CASESPER COUNTY (Case confirmed by lab test/Probable case):Barbour (29/0), Berkeley (623/22), Boone (76/0), Braxton (8/0), Brooke(59/1), Cabell (306/9), Calhoun (6/0), Clay (17/0), Doddridge (4/0), Fayette(126/0), Gilmer (16/0), Grant (67/1), Greenbrier (85/0), Hampshire (73/0),Hancock (93/4), Hardy (53/1), Harrison (182/1), Jackson (157/0), Jefferson(283/5), Kanawha (785/13), Lewis (25/1), Lincoln (61/0), Logan (133/0), Marion(166/4), Marshall (122/2), Mason (45/0), McDowell (25/1), Mercer (138/0),Mineral (107/2), Mingo (119/2), Monongalia (880/16), Monroe (18/1), Morgan(25/1), Nicholas (30/1), Ohio (248/0), Pendleton (36/1), Pleasants (7/1),Pocahontas (40/1), Preston (99/23), Putnam (158/1), Raleigh (166/6), Randolph(204/3), Ritchie (3/0), Roane (14/0), Summers (6/0), Taylor (51/1), Tucker(9/0), Tyler (12/0), Upshur (36/2), Wayne (180/2), Webster (3/0), Wetzel(40/0), Wirt (6/0), Wood (222/11), Wyoming (20/0).
Ascase surveillance continues at the local health department level, it may revealthat those tested in a certain county may not be a resident of that county, oreven the state as an individual in question may have crossed the state borderto be tested. Suchis the case of Nicholas,Preston, Summers, and Wyoming counties in this report.
Please note that delays may be experiencedwith the reporting of information from the local health department to DHHR.
Please visit the dashboard at www.coronavirus.wv.gov for more detailed information.
Additionalreport:
Toincrease COVID-19 testing opportunities, the Governor's Office, the HerbertHenderson Office of Minority Affairs, WV Department of Health and HumanResources, WV National Guard, local health departments, and community partnerstoday provided free COVID-19 testing for residents in counties with highminority populations and evidence of COVID-19 transmission.
The testing resulted in 195 individuals tested in Gilmer County (first day oftwo-day testing event). Please note these are considered preliminary numbers.
Testing will be held tomorrow in Gilmer andMarion counties in these locations.
Faro Tabaja, owner of Waves Barbershop & Boutique in Manhattan Beach, gives a haircut to Gene Geiser. Tabaja moved the barbers chair into the entry way to create a safer environment to cut hair due to the coronavirus outbreak.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
John Settles had just finished getting his hair cut. The Rancho Palos Verdes resident stepped out of the barbers chair and turned to check out the results. In the window of a nearby BMW.
Because the mirror at Waves Barbershop & Boutique is inside the tiny ocean view shop on Rosecrans Avenue. And the haircuts happen more or less outside, now that California is on its second COVID-19 shutdown and the only legal salon is an al fresco one.
Its hard to have a more Southern California experience than an open-air grooming session in tony Manhattan Beach, even with a late-season gloom and a slightly chilly ocean breeze.
VIDEO |
Cutting hair outside is the only way to go
That didnt stop Faro Tabaja, Waves owner, from flinging open the shops French doors first thing in the morning, dragging the shiny barbers chair to the very edge of the shop and placing it so the footrest and his clients feet stuck out of the storefront and over the sidewalk.
Men awaiting a much-needed trim cooled their heels in a pair of office chairs Tabaja had positioned across the sidewalk, hard by the parking meters. A surfer wetsuit peeled to his waist, board tucked under his arm headed to his car. A woman with pink hair strolled by with a pair of French bulldogs.
I have a mask on, Tabaja said as he snipped away at a clients salt-and-pepper locks. He has a mask on. Its a different life.
Two miles east on Rosecrans, in the Manhattan Marketplace strip mall, Posh Nails also was doing a brisk outdoor business. The seven sidewalk stations were full. Manicurists in full protective gear bent over clients hands, filing nails, scraping cuticles, brushing on polish.
RonAnn Myers of Hawthorne receives a pedicure from Hue Thi Nguyen, left, and a manicure from Tina Nguyen (no relation) right, in front of Posh Nails in Manhattan Beach.
(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)
Women soaked their feet, pre-pedicure, in plastic-lined tubs. An armored car rumbled by, followed by a UPS truck. Where the outdoor nail salon ended, a half dozen shoppers lined up (six feet apart, of course) waiting to get into Helens Cycles.
VIDEO |
Nail salon opens for business outdoors
Jan and Hillary Rosenfeld were out for a late afternoon manicure, a little mother-daughter bonding before Hillary leaves for the University of Wisconsin. Jan has waited out the pandemic in her Manhattan Beach home, cooking, phoning distant relatives, picking up a new hobby or two.
But on this afternoon, she was really, really happy to be outside getting her nails done.
Its nice to be able to pamper yourself, she said, adjusting her slipping face mask. It feels like a little bit of normalcy.
Maria La Ganga
The Hancock County Health Department notified Greenfield-Central Junior High School Thursday afternoon that one of their students, who had attended part of the school day, tested positive for Covid-19, Superintendent Harold Olin said in a letter.
Olin said the school enacted its "Positive COVID-19 Test Protocol" once school officials became aware of the positive result.
School officials immediately isolated the student within the school's clinic, and they examined the student's schedule, including transportation and extracurricular activities, to determine who had come in close contact.
As part of the district's return to in-person learning, "all areas of all schools" are already being disinfected professionally each evening, according to Olin's letter. But the superintendent noted that special attention would be given to areas and classrooms that the infected student had visited.
"We understand that this information will cause concern for some of you. It was very evident today that nearly all of our families and students were prepared to properly follow the safety protocols we have established," Olin said. "Adhering to these protocols is essential for maintaining a safe environment for all students and staff."
