July 16 coronavirus news

By Jessie Yeung, Steve George, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya, Veronica Rocha and Fernando Alfonso III, CNN

Updated 12:24 AM ET, Fri July 17, 2020
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3:20 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Hong Kong's third wave of cases linked to relaxed restrictions, as experts identify virus mutation

From CNN’s Will Ripley and Anna Kam in Hong Kong, and Sophie Jeong in Seoul

Commuters wear face masks on a metro train in Hong Kong on July 15.
Commuters wear face masks on a metro train in Hong Kong on July 15. Anthony Wa

Hong Kong is facing a "third wave" of coronavirus infections, which experts say is linked to the easing of social distancing measures -- and potentially a mutation which could make it more infectious.

For weeks, Hong Kong's case numbers have stayed low in the single digits every day -- even zero sometimes. People had just begun to let down their guard and resume daily activities, with businesses and public spaces reopening, when the third wave hit -- sending case numbers up to several dozen a day.

Eased restrictions: A high number of local cases don't have epidemiological links to other cases -- meaning "we don’t know how these particular cases have acquired the infection," said Professor Leo Poon, the head of the Division of Public Health Laboratory Science of the University of Hong Kong (HKU).

This suggests that the outbreak was caused by the easing of social distancing measures, Poon said.

The danger is especially high in restaurants when people take off their masks and risk cross-infection, said Ivan Hung, chief of HKU's Infectious Diseases Division.

The virus has mutated: The new mutation means that the virus now multiplies at a higher rate, said Gabriel Leung, Dean of Medicine faculty at the HKU, in an radio interview Sunday.

Both Poon and Hung told CNN that the new mutation, located on the protein responsible for the virus attaching to human cells, makes it “more transmissible.” The mutation has made the new version "fitter than the original virus," Poon said.

A previous study about the mutation found it’s more transmissible, but does not appear to make patients any sicker. 

We shouldn't panic: There's still a lot we don't know, said John Nicholls, a clinical professor in pathology at HKU.

For instance, we know the mutation has increased replication in cells by 30% -- but it doesn't necessarily mean the virus is 30% more transmissible. “We need to be cautious about this and do more sequencing to see if the virus in Hong Kong is this ‘mutated’ virus,” Nicholls told CNN.  

3:12 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

The US reported more than 66,000 cases today

The United States reported 66,273 new coronavirus cases and 941 related deaths today, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

That raises the national total to 3,497,847 cases and 137,407 deaths.  

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

2:42 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Fauci says he’s "walking a tightrope" as people try to pit him against the president

From CNN's Shelby Lin Erdman

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC on June 30.
Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC on June 30. Al Drago/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The public battle between President Donald Trump's economic and medical advisers has commanded national attention all week, with attempts from the administration to discredit top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci.

But Fauci, who has become the lead scientific face of the fight against the pandemic, said he doesn’t like conflict, and doesn’t “like to be pitted against the president.” 

“I’m an apolitical person,” Fauci told CBS anchor Norah O’Donnell in an interview published Wednesday on InStyle.com.

“It’s pretty tough walking a tightrope while trying to get your message out and people are trying to pit you against the president.”

Attacks on Fauci: Unnamed staffers released so-called “opposition research” on the doctor to reporters on Monday, listing perceived errors in Fauci’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

Then top white house trade adviser Peter Navarro openly attacked Fauci Tuesday in an op-ed in USA Today, claiming Fauci "has been wrong about everything I have interacted with him on."

“It’s very stressful,” Fauci said in the wide-ranging and revealing interview that included his wife bioethicist Dr. Christine Grady.

Relationship with Trump: President Donald Trump has said he has “a very good” relationship with Fauci, who has not met with the president in more than a month.

Fauci, for the most part, agreed with that assessment. 

“You know, it’s complicated. Because in some respects I have a very good relationship with him. During the times that I was seeing him a fair amount, it was quite a collegial relationship. And in many respects, it probably still is, but I don’t see him very much any more,” he said. 
1:58 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Texas governor on potential shutdown: "The answer is no"

From CNN's Ashley Killough

Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas on May 18.
Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference at the Texas State Capitol in Austin, Texas on May 18. Lynda M. Gonzalez/Pool/Getty Images

Texas Governor Greg Abbott rejected any idea of reimposing shutdowns on Wednesday, even as coronavirus continues spreading rapidly across the Lone Star State.

"I get this question, it seems like a thousand times a day. People are panicking, thinking I'm about to shut down Texas again," he told CNN affiliate KPRC in Houston. "The answer is no. That is not the goal."

This comes after the state reported its highest daily jump in new cases and deaths. Abbott pointed to recent comments by the CDC director saying the virus could get under control if everyone wore masks for four weeks. 

"No lockdown," Abbott said. "All we need is for people to wear a mask. If everyone wears a mask, nothing will be locked down."

Abbott also pushed a message of adaptability, saying "we're only a few months away" from getting medical treatments and then a "few months after that" for vaccines. 

"This is a very short period of time," he said, arguing people will get to back to normal soon if they can push through the next several months. 

8:12 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Arizona will bring in nearly 600 nurses from out of state to help with the outbreak

From CNN’s Jennifer Henderson

The Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) will bring in nearly 600 critical care and medical-surgical nurses from out of state to help in Arizona hospitals, according to an ADHS press release.

Hospitals that need support with critical staffing may receive the nurses for free for up to six weeks from ADHS while they fill their gaps in staffing. Hospitals will be prioritized based on a variety of criteria. 

“Covid-19 hospitalizations in Arizona have increased with hospitals reporting nearly 3,500 Covid-19 inpatients and more than 900 patients in their intensive care units. Hospitals have reported the ability to activate additional beds in their facilities with access to more nursing staff,” the release said.

The release added that federal partners had already sent nearly 100 National Disaster Medical System personnel to Arizona on a two-week deployment at the request of state and local public health and hospitals.

12:03 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

China's economy is growing again. That's good news for the rest of the world

From CNN's Laura He

Vendors prepare for the start of the morning retail shift at the Dounan Flower Market in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, on July 14.
Vendors prepare for the start of the morning retail shift at the Dounan Flower Market in Kunming, Yunnan Province, China, on July 14. Qilai Shen/Bloomberg/Getty Images

China's economy is growing again after its worst three-month period in decades -- a sign that could bode well for the global post-coronavirus recovery.

The world's second-largest economy grew 3.2% in the April-to-June period compared a year ago, according to government statistics released on Thursday. That's better than the 2.5% growth that analysts polled by Refinitiv were expecting.

It also means that China averted recession. In the first quarter, the $14 trillion economy shrank 6.8%, the worst plunge for a single quarter on record since China started publishing those figures in 1992. That was also the first time China reported an economic contraction since 1976.

Growth this quarter would confirm that the "post-virus recovery is underway in China, at least one to two quarters ahead of the rest of the world," analysts at ANZ Research wrote in a report published before the GDP figures were announced.

The rebound had been widely expected by analysts. China -- the early epicenter of the outbreak and the first in the world to impose draconian measures to quell the virus -- was also the first major economy to reopen.

Read more here:

12:13 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Australia’s Victoria state registers its worst day since the pandemic began

From CNN's Angus Watson in Sydney 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews briefs the media on conditions concerning the Covid-19 situation in Melbourne, Australia, on July 6.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews briefs the media on conditions concerning the Covid-19 situation in Melbourne, Australia, on July 6. Andy Brownbill/AP

The Australian state of Victoria has suffered its worst day since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, with 317 new cases reported within 24 hours, said state officials on Thursday.

Two men in their 80s died due to Covid-19 in the past day, said Premier Daniel Andrews. That brings Victoria’s death toll to 29, and the national toll to 111.

Of the 317 new cases, only 28 were linked to known outbreaks. The remaining 289 cases are still under investigation. 

The number of coronavirus-related patients in Victoria hospitals has risen to 109, with 29 in ICU, Andrews said. 

Meanwhile, the neighboring state of New South Wales recorded 10 new Covid-19 cases, its Health Department announced Thursday. The NSW outbreak has been linked to the Victoria outbreak, with a man having traveled from Melbourne to Sydney in June, then meeting with friends at a pub in July.

8:13 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Latin America and the Caribbean top 3.5 million Covid-19 cases and more than 150,000 deaths

A nurse plays the violin for patients infected with Covid-19 at a hospital in Santiago, Chile, on July 9.
A nurse plays the violin for patients infected with Covid-19 at a hospital in Santiago, Chile, on July 9. Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images

Latin American and Caribbean countries have now recorded more than 3.5 million Covid-19 cases and more than 150,000 deaths, according data from Johns Hopkins University.

The 33 countries in the region have reported a total 3,524,908 cases and 150,973 deaths.

The following 33 countries are included in this region:

Brazil, Peru, Chile, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, Argentina, Dominican Republic, Panama, Bolivia, Guatemala, Honduras, Haiti, El Salvador, Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Paraguay, Uruguay, Jamaica, Guyana, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, Belize, Saint Lucia, Dominica, and Saint Kitts and Nevis.
12:32 a.m. ET, July 16, 2020

Mexico reports more than 550 new Covid-19 deaths

From Karol Suarez in Mexico City

Crematorium workers enter the body of a person who died from Covid-19 into the oven to be cremated at the San Isidro Crematorium in Azcapotzalco on July 15, in Mexico City.
Crematorium workers enter the body of a person who died from Covid-19 into the oven to be cremated at the San Isidro Crematorium in Azcapotzalco on July 15, in Mexico City. Hector Vivas/Getty Images

Mexico's health ministry recorded 6,149 newly confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus Wednesday, bringing the country's total to 317,635.

The ministry also reported 579 new deaths from the virus, bringing Mexico's death toll to 36,906.

Some context: On Wednesday, Latin American and Caribbean countries surpassed more than 3.5 million Covid-19 cases and more than 150,000 deaths, according to a CNN tally based on data from Johns Hopkins University.