July 22 coronavirus news

By Ben Westcott, Steve George, Tara John, Meg Wagner, Melissa Macaya and Mike Hayes, CNN

Updated 3:10 a.m. ET, July 23, 2020
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12:08 p.m. ET, July 22, 2020

Baltimore mandates face coverings and suspends indoor dining

From CNN’s Elizabeth Joseph

A sign is displayed near the entrance of a food hall in Baltimore on July 15.
A sign is displayed near the entrance of a food hall in Baltimore on July 15. Julio Cortez/AP

Baltimore City Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young signed an Executive Order Wednesday suspending indoor dining at restaurants and bars effective Friday at 5 p.m ET.

“Under the Mayor's order, restaurants and bars are permitted to continue with outdoor dining that's socially distanced, along with offering carryout and delivery services,” Young’s office said in a press release.

Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, the city’s health commissioner, also issued a health order Wednesday, mandating the use of face coverings within the city for all individuals over the age of 2.

"These decisions were not easy, but are rooted in current data and trends we're seeing in COVID-19 cases in Baltimore City," Dr. Dzirasa said. "When considered together, this information warrants the implementation of restrictions to help halt the further spread of COVID-19," she said.

Residents will be required to wear face coverings when in public and and unable to socially distance at least six feet from others. They aren’t required to wear face coverings while seated at outdoor dining establishments.

The dining restriction and face covering mandate will be in place for two weeks and evaluated by city health officials daily, the city says.

Covid case counts, death rates, ICU and hospital bed utilization, case positivity rates and the number of coronavirus tests performs are the markers the Baltimore City Health Department will be monitoring. 

12:56 p.m. ET, July 22, 2020

Fauci says he goes to the White House almost every day to meet with the coronavirus task force

From CNN Health’s Naomi Thomas

Dr. Anthony Fauci stands behind President Donald Trump at a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 15.
Dr. Anthony Fauci stands behind President Donald Trump at a press conference in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 15. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci says he goes to the White House almost every day to meet with the Coronavirus Task Force.

When asked during a webinar with the TB Alliance on Wednesday about how he splits his time between his role as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, he said, “It’s almost a 50/50 – half the day at the NIAID and half the day at the White House.”

Fauci said he spends most of the morning working with his team at NIAID on vaccines, therapeutics and diagnostics – and “almost every day, I go down to the White House and meet with the Coronavirus Task Force.”

“Like today, I’m meeting with the group of doctors before the Task Force meeting, namely Debbie Birx and Bob Redfield and Steve Hahn and others,” he said.

Fauci said he then attends the Task Force meeting with the Vice President, after which he meets with people at the White House “with regards to that responsibility,” he said.

Watch:

12:33 p.m. ET, July 22, 2020

Phase 3 trials will watch for possibility of vaccine-induced enhancement of infection, Fauci says

From CNN Health’s Naomi Thomas

Certain safety elements, including the possibility of vaccine-induced enhancement of infection, will be paid special attention in the Phase 3 trials of Covid-19 vaccines, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said during a webinar Wednesday with the TB Alliance.

Phase 1 data gives you immediate safety, not necessarily all the parameters, and Phase 2 gives you more, Fauci said, but as they go into Phase 3, which is fundamentally efficacy to see if it works in the field, “we are also going to pay a special attention to certain safety elements.”

One of these, he said, is they “want to keep a special eye on is the possibility of vaccine-induced enhancement of infection.”

Fauci explained that this is when “you get vaccinated, you get infected, and the fact that you have been vaccinated with a level, an inadequate level, of suboptimal antibodies, that you can actually enhance the infection, because you’ve been vaccinated.”

He said they want to, and will, keep an eye on this in Phase 3 trials.

Fauci said that he doesn’t have a particular reason to believe this will be a problem, but as they have seen these kind of issues before, he wants to pay attention to it.

“I don’t use the word ‘I’m worried about it.’ Rather than worry, I try to do something about it,” he said.

Watch:

11:40 a.m. ET, July 22, 2020

Young people are driving the spread of Covid-19 cases in Los Angeles

From CNN's Christina Maxouris and Holly Yan

California, the first state to shut down months ago, has now become a coronavirus hotspot, surpassing New York with the most coronavirus cases in the nation.

Earlier this month, the governor shut down bars and indoor operations for restaurants and other businesses hoping to limit social gatherings in enclosed spaces.

According to Johns Hopkins University data, California has reported more than 409,000 Covid-19 cases.

In Los Angeles, the number of daily hospitalizations hit a new high for the fourth time in a week Monday, according to officials.

Los Angeles County officials said Tuesday young people were driving the spread of the virus, with 57% of new cases reported in people under 41 years old.

"The tragedy of what we are witnessing is that many of our younger residents are interacting with each other and not adhering to the recommended prevention measures," Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the county public health director, said in a statement.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told CNN earlier this week he was on the "brink" of issuing another stay-at-home order for the city, urging residents to avoid gatherings.

12:20 p.m. ET, July 22, 2020

Fauci calls for “sustained commitment” on pandemic preparedness

From CNN's Health Gisela Crespo

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on Wednesday called for a "sustained commitment" on pandemic preparedness.

Speaking with the TB Alliance, Fauci said that "between crises," it is difficult to allocate resources for something that might happen when there are competing priorities.

"You get through a crisis and then you realize that you are not as well prepared as you should have been," he explained.

"I do hope that with all the pain and suffering that the world is going through now with Covid-19, that we do not forget that when we get through this – which we will get through it – that we know that it will happen again. It certainly will. And that's the reason that I think we really need to push to have a sustained commitment," he said. 

"Emerging infections will continue to occur long after we're all gone, so let's prepare for them," Fauci added.

Watch:

12:11 p.m. ET, July 22, 2020

Fauci says there is “not a chance” he would walk away from Covid-19 challenge

From CNN Health’s Naomi Thomas

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said there is “not a chance” he would walk away from the challenge of Covid-19.

“I would never do that,” Fauci said, after being asked what keeps him from going back to his day job. “This is such an important public health challenge that we are facing.”

“This is what I do. This is what I’ve been doing all my life. This is what I’ve been trained for. This is what I have all my experience in,” he continued.

Walking away from this challenge would be unimaginable “no matter what they throw at me,” he said.

 “This is just too important. There’s too much at stake for the world for me to walk away from this,” he said. “Not a chance.”

Watch:

 

11:53 a.m. ET, July 22, 2020

Schumer slams Republicans' "disarray" on next Covid-19 relief bill

From CNN's Ali Zaslav, Ted Barrett, and Ian Sloan 

Sen. Chuck Schumer on July 21.
Sen. Chuck Schumer on July 21. Carolyn Kaster/AP

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer further dug into Republicans Wednesday over their “dysfunction” and “disarray” on the next coronavirus relief bill.

“There are only three weeks left until the August work period, and Republicans are still in the opening phases of preparing their bill,” Schumer said in a floor speech, claiming they're “tied in a knot” and can’t come up with a proposal.

“This isn’t the typical Republican disfunction on whether or not they didn’t or did see the President’s last tweet,” he also said. “The disarray on the Republican side has real consequences.”

Schumer also noted Democrats will be sending a letter to the administration “to demand answers on how data is being reported to the White House,” he said, referring to the recent announcement that hospital data on coronavirus patients will be sent directly to the administration instead of being first sent to the CDC.  

He added that if the administration “refuses to reverse course,” Democrats will demand data transparency be included in the next relief bill.

On President Trump resuming his coronavirus task force press briefings, he said, it’s “remarkable” that he’s “lowered the bar so much” that his performance yesterday was seen as a “change in tone.” 

“Americans must be hanging their heads in shame and disbelief that this administration is still trying to sort out the basics,” he said.

Schumer also criticized Trump for calling the coronavirus the ‘China virus’ at his press conference, saying it shows how he continues to “deflect blame”. 

“President Trump started his press conference by labeling Covid-19, the China virus, which shows the President’s still trying to deflect blame, play political games with this deadly serious virus. Games that are divisive,” Schumer said.

11:26 a.m. ET, July 22, 2020

The US is nearing 4 million cases. Here's where Covid-19 infections are surging.

From CNN's Christina Maxouris and Holly Yan

The US is heading in the wrong direction with Covid-19 numbers, and it's doing so with astonishing speed.

Just after 1,000 people died in a single day, the US is about to reach 4 million Covid-19 cases.

To put that in perspective, the first reported case came on January 21. After 99 days, 1 million Americans became infected. It took just 43 days after that to reach 2 million cases.

And 28 days later, on July 8, the US reached 3 million cases. Case number 4 million could be reported just two weeks after that.

Here's a look at how the total number of Covid-19 cases have progressed in the US, according to Johns Hopkins University data:

While some US leaders, including President Trump, have pinned the spike in coronavirus numbers on increased testing, it's actually the prevalence of the disease that's causing cases to climb.

A CNN analysis of testing data from the Covid Tracking Project reveals that the positive test rate — indicated by the average number of positive test results out of 1,000 tests performed —has increased significantly in many states that have seen the largest increases in new cases in recent weeks, including Florida, Arizona, Texas and Georgia.

Florida, for instance, saw an average rate of 35 positive results per 1,000 tests during the month of May. But in June, that number nearly tripled to 105. So far in July, the average rate has been 187 out of 1,000.

Over the weekend, nearly 50 hospitals across the state reported no ICU beds were left. The ICU bed availability statewide stood at about 15.98% on Tuesday, down from about 18.1% Monday.

Track the virus in your state and across the US

11:21 a.m. ET, July 22, 2020

Florida reports more than 9,700 additional Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Tina Burnside

The state of Florida is reporting 9,785 new cases of Covid-19 and 139 additional deaths on Wednesday, according to data released by the Florida Department of Health. 

This brings the state's total cases to 379,619 according to the state department of health. The statewide resident death toll is now 5,345.