June 3 coronavirus news

By Joshua Berlinger, Adam Renton and Laura Smith-Spark, CNN

Updated 9:03 PM ET, Wed June 3, 2020
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2:42 a.m. ET, June 3, 2020

The US should have a "couple hundred million" doses of a Covid-19 vaccine by start of 2021, Fauci says

From CNN's Jen Christensen

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Journal of the American Medical Association

The US should have 100 million doses of one candidate Covid-19 vaccine by the end of the year, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said Tuesday.

“Then, by the beginning of 2021, we hope to have a couple hundred million doses,” Fauci said during a live question and answer session with the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Fauci said the first vaccine candidate, made by biotech company Moderna in partnership with NIAID, should go into a final stage of trials in volunteers, known in the industry as Phase III, by mid-summer. Preparations at national and international sites are already under way, he said. 

“The real business end of this all will be the Phase III that starts in the first week of July, hopefully, “ Fauci said. “We want to get as many data points as we can.”

Phase III will involve about 30,000 people. The vaccine will be tested in people between the ages of 18 and 55, as well as in the elderly and in people who have underlying health conditions.

“It’s going to be the entire spectrum,” Fauci said.

Fauci said Phase II of the trial started a few days ago. A few hundred volunteers will be involved in that part of the trial.

The plan is to manufacture doses of the vaccine even before it is clear whether the vaccines work, making close to 100 million doses by November or December, Fauci said. That’s so if it does work, it can be deployed quickly.

Scientists should have enough data by November or December to determine if the vaccine works, Fauci said.

The AstraZeneca trial underway in the UK will follow a similar schedule. A handful of other vaccine studies should start just one to two months after that, he said.

“I’m cautiously optimistic that with the multiple candidates we have with different platforms, that we are going to have a vaccine that will make it deployable,” Fauci said. He is optimistic, he said, because, while the number of deaths from Covid-19 are “profound,” largely people recover from this disease. Recovery shows that there is an immune response that can clear the virus. 

“Which tells us, that if the body is capable of making an immune response to clear the virus of natural infection, that’s a pretty good proof of concept,” Fauci said. “Having said that, there is never a guarantee.” 

Fauci said he is a little more concerned about what the durability of the response will be. People develop antibodies to fight common colds caused by other strains of coronavirus, but that protection generally only lasts about a year. That might mean people would need a fresh vaccine every year, as is the case with influenza.

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9:14 p.m. ET, June 2, 2020

Coronavirus task force members discussed possibility of virus spreading at George Floyd protests, source says

From CNN's Jim Acosta

The topic of the protests spanning across the United States came up at today's coronavirus task force meeting, a source familiar with the discussion said.

Members of the task force discussed the "increasing" risk that the virus is spreading among protesters at demonstrations across the country.

"It came up briefly in the context of increasing the risk of spreading infection," the source said.
9:59 p.m. ET, June 2, 2020

Here's where coronavirus restrictions stand across Latin America

From CNN’s Mia Alberti, Chandler Thornton, Matt Rivers, Patrick Oppmann and Amanda Watts

Covid-19 cases are increasing rapidly in parts of Latin America. Yet, some countries in the region are easing movement restrictions and moderately reopening their economies while others stand firm.

On Tuesday, WHO director for the Americas, Dr. Carissa Etienne, warned about epidemiological curves in the region sharply rising, and urged governments to "not open too fast," or "risk a resurgence of Covid-19 that could erase the advantage gained over the past few months."

Here's a look at some countries that are standing firm on restrictions:

Argentina: Continues on mandatory lockdown until June 7.

Chile: The country's main cities remain under quarantine. Chile never declared a full quarantine.

Cuba, El Salvador, Haiti and Nicaragua have not and are not announcing any easing of restrictions yet. 

And here's how some countries are easing restrictions:

Bolivia: Some districts across the country started a "dynamic quarantine" on Monday, allowing citizens to go out near their homes during specific times for weekdays and weekends. Religious services are also allowed with a maximum 30% capacity. Industries such as agriculture, mining, lumber, and construction can now resume their activities and domestic flights will resume on June 3.

Brazil: Parts of Brazil have begun reopening nonessential businesses and activities, such as churches, car shops, furniture and decoration stores. In the state of São Paulo, shopping malls, commerce, offices and real estate reopened on Monday. However, quarantine in the city of São Paulo -- which is inside the state -- has been extended until June 15.

In the state of Rio de Janeiro, some restrictions were lifted on Tuesday, allowing people to exercise on the city's promenade and to swim in the ocean. Salvador, Recife, Fortaleza and Manaus have also lifted some restrictions.

Colombia: A gradual reopening started on Monday for hairdressers, shopping malls, museums, libraries and real estate. Outdoor exercise is also allowed for people over 70 and children over 6 three times a week, 30 minutes per day. Those aged between 18 and 69 can exercise outdoors for two hours every day.

Costa Rica: The country entered phase 2 of reopening procedures on Monday, allowing national parks, museums and restaurants to operate with up to 50% capacity. Hotels can also reopen up to 50% capacity.

Dominican Republic: "Covidianidad" (Covid-19 life), a reopening measure, will start on Wednesday. Churches will be allowed to host services on Sundays, small companies can resume work and big firms can resume activities with 50% of staff. Businesses will be allowed to open in shopping malls and private passenger transport will also be allowed.

Ecuador: Airports in Quito and Guayaquil are resuming local and international flights at only 30% of regular flight frequency. The government has reduced the stay-at-home number of hours ordered, while the use of masks is mandatory. Restaurants can reopen in most cities with 30% maximum capacity. The strict quarantine in Quito will be relaxed starting Wednesday.

Guatemala: The country begins phase 1 of its reopening by allowing people to be outside for a period of 13 hours a day.

Honduras: Companies enter phase 0 of preparation for reopening on June 8.

Mexico: On Monday, some industries in parts of the country, such as mining, construction, auto parts, and tourism were allowed to reopen as part of "new normal" reopening measures.

Panama: On Monday, the country entered phase 2 of the "new normality." Public construction and mining can resume, and places of worship, sporting and social areas, can reopen with a maximum 25% occupancy.

Paraguay: The country remains in phase 2 until June 11. Civil construction and corporate offices have resumed activities. Cultural and sporting events have resumed without audiences and some shops have also reopened.

Peru: The country enters phase 2 of reopening measures, allowing hairdressers, clothing, shoe and book stores to reopen. Specialty health services, dentists, fertility clinics, veterinary clinics, food delivery, IT companies, electrical services, carpentry, laundry, and repair services, can also reopen.

Uruguay: The country, which began easing restrictions in early May, has been praised for its virus prevention strategy and low number of cases. On Monday, at least 403 schools resumed their activities, in addition to special-ed schools and universities, except in the capital city of Montevideo.

Venezuela: The government announced a "flexibilization" of the restriction measures for five days, followed by a new 10-day quarantine. Municipalities bordering Colombia and Brazil, as well as Maracaibo, San Francisco and Zulia, are not included. During this five-day reopening, banks, doctors’ offices, dentists, the construction sector, blacksmiths and hairdressers, among other businesses, can resume operations during specified times of the day.

8:48 p.m. ET, June 2, 2020

Active coronavirus cases in Italy drop below 40,000

From CNN's Livia Borghese in Rome

The number of active coronavirus cases in Italy has dropped to 39,893, a decrease of 1,474 since Monday, the country's Civil Protection Agency said on Tuesday.

There have been 318 more patients diagnosed with Covid-19, bringing the total number of cases, including deaths and recoveries, to 233,515.

At least 55 more people have died with the virus, raising the total number of fatalities to 33,530.

There are 408 people with coronavirus currently in intensive care, 16 fewer than on Monday. 

The number of people who recovered from coronavirus is now 160,092, an increase of 1,737 people since Monday.