June 18 coronavirus news

By Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Peter Wilkinson, Meg Wagner, Mike Hayes and Melissa Macaya, CNN

Updated 1:26 a.m. ET, June 19, 2020
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11:12 p.m. ET, June 17, 2020

China reports 24 new locally transmitted coronavirus cases 

From CNN’s Shawn Deng in Beijing 

China recorded 24 locally transmitted cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday, according to the country's National Health Commission

Beijing has 21 new cases, Hebei has two, and there is one case in Tianjin. 

Officials in Beijing are racing to contain a new cluster of infections linked to an outbreak at Xinfadi, the city's largest wholesale food market.

The new Beijing cases bring the total number of infections linked to the cluster to 158. 

Authorities in Beijing have imposed a soft lockdown on the entire city.

Read more on Beijing's new outbreak:

11:10 p.m. ET, June 17, 2020

Top experts are missing from public updates because "they tell the truth," says ex-White House medical adviser

From CNN Health’s Shelby Lin Erdman

The top government health experts in the United States have been mostly missing from public discussions and updates on the coronavirus pandemic for weeks now.

Former White House medical team adviser under George W. Bush, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, said it’s because “they tell the truth.” 

White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn, the director of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Robert Redfield, and top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci have given few updates on the US’ Covid-19 response and given few interviews on the state of the pandemic.

“Because they’re doctors and, by nature, they tell the truth. And the truth is that the pandemic is still very, very active in the United States and that we're not getting back to normal and there are difficult things that the public has to do,” Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University, told CNN’s Erin Burnett. 

Reiner said that the experts’ opinions on the state of the pandemic go against messaging by the Trump administration.

“The vice president in his op-ed yesterday spoke about that he'd not only marshaled the whole government, but a whole-of-America response to this, but he really hasn't,” Reiner said. 

“If he was doing that, if the administration was doing that, they would ask the American people to do something very difficult, which is to protect each other. And the way we protect each other is through social distancing and wearing masks and it's hard to do, and, and it's decidedly abnormal, but that’s how we put this pandemic down.”

1:06 a.m. ET, June 18, 2020

Mexico nears 20,000 deaths from Covid-19

From CNN's Matt Rivers and Natalie Gallón in Mexico City

A health worker makes door-to-door visits to carry out Covid-19 tests in Mexico City, on June 16.
A health worker makes door-to-door visits to carry out Covid-19 tests in Mexico City, on June 16. Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images

Mexico is closing in on 20,000 deaths from coronavirus, according to its health ministry Wednesday.

The ministry reported 770 new deaths from the virus, bringing the country's death toll to 19,080.

Mexico also recorded 4,930 new confirmed cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases to 159,793.

12:04 a.m. ET, June 18, 2020

Chile tops 220,000 coronavirus infections after reporting more than 30,000 backlogged cases

From CNN's Christopher Ulloa in Santiago, Chile and Matt Rivers and Natalie Gallón in Mexico City

People wearing face masks ride the subway on June 16, in Santiago, Chile.
People wearing face masks ride the subway on June 16, in Santiago, Chile. Marcelo Hernandez/Getty Images

Chile’s health ministry reported an additional 31,000 Covid-19 cases Wednesday that had not previously been counted after the government discovered a backlog of positive test results dating back to March.

The ministry also reported 4,757 newly confirmed cases Wednesday, bringing the country’s total to 220,628.

Authorities have tightened lockdown measures in the greater Santiago area, the country’s capital with more than 6 million residents.

Residents will only be allowed out of their homes twice a week now, down from the previous five, and only under strict conditions.

People found violating quarantine measures can now face up to five years in prison for doing so.

Chile also reported an additional 232 deaths on Wednesday, raising the country’s total to 3,615.