July 15 coronavirus news

More than 400 million people across three Indian states will re-enter lockdown, weeks after a nationwide lockdown was lifted on May 30.

This comes after India recorded 100,000 new coronavirus cases in the past five days as the country struggles to gain control of the worsening pandemic.

On Wednesday, it saw 29,429 new cases, bringing the total to 936,181 confirmed cases and 24,309 deaths.

State and city-wide measures: As cases and deaths continue to soar in India, two of its most populous states -- Bihar and Uttar Pradesh -- announced various lockdown restrictions.

Bihar's government announced a 16-day long state-wide lockdown on Tuesday, which would come into effect from July 16, while Uttar Pradesh's government said Sunday that a lockdown will take place every weekend until the end of July.

Both states had previously lifted their lockdowns on May 30 except for districts with a high number of cases.

The city of Bengaluru, in Karnataka state, which had also initially lifted restrictions, went into a week-long lockdown on Tuesday until July 22. This comes after the state of Maharashtra reinstated a lockdown on June 29 until July 31.

India began easing lockdown restrictions on May 30, but certain states such as West Bengal and Jharkhand continued to have lockdown measures and restrictions on movement, with the exception of certain essential services.

In the capital, New Delhi, where there are no overarching lockdown measures, restrictions continue in its "containment zones," which include more than 600 localities as of Monday, according to the territory’s Revenue Department. 

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The United Arab Emirates has recorded zero coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Mohammed Bin Zayed said on Twitter Wednesday.  

The last time the UAE had no deaths was April 18, according to Ministry of Health data. 

On Tuesday, 375 more cases were recorded in the Emirates bringing up the total number of cases to 55,573, of which more than 46,000 recovered, according to the Health Ministry. 

Overall the UAE has conducted more than 4 million tests in the country of 11 million, Minister of Health and Prevention Abdul Rahman Al Owais said on Monday, according to the UAE government office's Twitter account.

Vaccine trials: Owais added that two vaccines have reached a phase three clinical trial with 15,000 people volunteering for testing. 

In June the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and China launched a Phase 3 clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the China National Biotec Group (CNBG) and UAE state media.

Drugmakers globally are working to find a coronavirus vaccine. It's unclear if or when a vaccine will be available to the public as of yet, but researchers hope to produce one by early 2021.

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is expected to appear at her first public engagement in months on Friday to knight Captain Tom Moore, the 100-year-old English war veteran who became a national celebrity after raising than $40 million for the UK's National Health Service.

The investiture – the first since the Queen moved to Windsor Castle in March amid the pandemic -- will be attended by members of Moore's family, according to a Buckingham Palace statement. 

The event will mark the 94-year-old monarch's first in-person public engagement since her schedule was scaled back. Previous engagements with members of the public during the pandemic have been carried out virtually. 

The Queen did attend a military ceremony in Windsor Castle to mark her official birthday in June, but it was not open to members of the public. 

The award for Moore, who turned 100 at the end of April, was announced by Downing Street on May 20.

The World War II veteran raised a record amount for the NHS in its battle against the coronavirus by walking around his garden in Bedfordshire, southeast England, with the help of a frame.

The governor of the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa is asking that two US Marine Corps facilities there be put into lockdown after 36 new Covid-19 cases were revealed at one of them Wednesday.

The new cases at the US Marine Corps’ Camp Hansen bring to 136 the number of coronavirus cases reported at US military bases in Japan since July 1, according to the government in Okinawa. Almost all of those cases are on Okinawa.

Gov. Denny Tamaki told CNN in an exclusive interview on Wednesday that Camp Hansen and Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which have the most virus cases, should be put into lockdown.

He also said no new US military personnel should be allowed to transfer into Okinawa from the United States.

He said he has received no response to his requests from US interim Ambassador to Japan Joseph Young or Japanese Defense Minister Taro Kono.

British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he is “worried” about emerging evidence of “debilitating” long-term impacts for some coronavirus survivors.

Speaking to Sky News on Wednesday, Hancock revealed the British government has allocated “almost £10 million” ($12.6m) into research, and set up an NHS service to support the “significant minority” greatly impacted by the virus. 

Acknowledging he is “concerned,” Hancock said it is “really important we support people who are in that situation.”

Hancock also spoke about the “consequences” of this being a novel virus: "we’re constantly learning about the impact of it.”

The UK is among the worst-hit countries in the world, with more than 292,900 confirmed cases and 45,000 deaths since its outbreak began, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The Covid-19 positivity rate rose to 31% on Tuesday in Miami-Dade County in Florida, according to data released by local officials. 

The county's goal is to not exceed a positivity rate -- how many of those tested are actually infected -- of 10%. Yet it has exceeded 22% for the past two weeks.  

The current 14-day average positivity rate is 27%, the data shows.

Over the past 13 days the county has also seen a 56% increase in Covid-10 patients being hospitalized, a 65% increase in ICU beds being used and 92% use of ventilators, according to local government data.

Here is a breakdown of the hospitalization data released by Miami-Dade County Government:

Covid-19 patients:

7/01: 1298

7/14: 2029

Patients in ICU beds:

7/01: 266

7/14: 438

Patients on ventilators:

7/01: 118

7/14: 226

Top White House trade adviser Peter Navarro openly attacked Dr. Anthony Fauci in an op-ed on Tuesday, after the White House repeatedly insisted there has been no effort to undermine the nation's leading infectious disease expert.

The USA Today op-ed, which like all other opinion pieces from White House officials had to be edited and approved by the press office, marks a stunning shift in strategy after the President said he had a "very good" relationship with Fauci and White House officials insisted he would not be dismissed.

"Dr. Anthony Fauci has a good bedside manner with the public, but he has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on," Navarro writes in the op-ed. "So when you ask me whether I listen to Dr. Fauci's advice, my answer is: only with skepticism and caution."

Some context: Before the op-ed was published Tuesday evening, the White House appeared to be recalibrating its approach to Fauci, who sat for a lengthy meeting with chief of staff Mark Meadows on Monday, after White House officials questioned his record in a statement to reporters.

The President insisted during an afternoon roundtable their relationship was "very good." And White House officials insisted Fauci would not (and, for that matter, could not) be dismissed, and would remain on the President's coronavirus task force.

Still, Trump's irritation with Fauci has, at times, been encouraged by Navarro who has repeatedly blamed Fauci for doubting the efficacy of hydroxychloroquine.

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Rarely has a president shown himself to be so unequal to a tragic national emergency.

Hundreds of Americans are dying daily and tens of thousands are getting infected from a once-in-a-century virus. States and cities are closing down again, threatening to trigger a ruinous new economic slump. Doctors and nurses lack sufficient protective gear as they battle the deadly pathogen. And with testing swamped by waves of disease, one top official is warning of the "the most difficult time" ever for US public health this winter.

Yet this is what is on Donald Trump's mind: Joe Biden didn't fix the country's roads and bridges, crowds of bikers and boaters in MAGA hats prove that election polls are wrong, and the border wall is almost finished (except it isn't). Oh, and by the way, where is Hunter Biden?

Trump struck all the wrong notes on Tuesday, a day when Florida, now the world's coronavirus epicenter, recorded its highest-ever Covid-19 death toll, and Texas broke its record for single day infections. The President offered denial and delusion at a White House appearance that even by his standards was a rambling, grievance-fueled mess.

What is needed from Trump and his administration is a plan to tackle the most relentless national challenge since World War II, consoling words to memorialize the 136,000 Americans who are already dead and the thousands destined to follow, and the rhetoric to summon the will to triumph over this invisible enemy.

All Trump could offer on Tuesday was self-pity, incoherence and indifference. He came across as a leader living in a different dimension from his people and their fear and suffering and uncertainty about what the coming months will bring.

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India recorded 29,429 new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said on Wednesday -- the highest one-day jump in cases so far.

The ministry also recorded 582 new coronavirus-related deaths.

That brings the national total to at least 936,181 cases and 24,309 deaths. Of these total infections, nearly 600,000 people have recovered.

Over 12 million tests have been conducted so far, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research.