September 8 coronavirus news

By Helen Regan, Adam Renton, Mike Hayes, Meg Wagner and Veronica Rocha, CNN

Updated 12:04 a.m. ET, September 9, 2020
39 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
1:05 p.m. ET, September 8, 2020

96% of NYC public school classrooms have passed ventilation inspection, mayor says

From CNN's Laura Dolan

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a press conference in New York on September 8.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio speaks during a press conference in New York on September 8. NYC Media

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Tuesday that 64,550 classrooms in NYC public schools have been inspected for ventilation issues and 96% have passed.

Ventilation inspections are completed in all 1,485 public school buildings, according to the mayor.

“Work will continue on the classrooms that need a little more to be done before school opens,” said de Blasio at his news conference. “There is time, obviously, to make the improvements.”

New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said a total of 10 buildings need repairs across the board. The city is working to get them “up to par” before the start of school on Sept. 21. Staff at those buildings will be temporarily working from home, said Carranza. 

“Any repairs that aren’t complete by the first day of full time teaching and learning with not be used. It’s a simple as that," he said.

The “Learning Bridges” free childcare program announced by the mayor earlier this summer will have access for 30,000 students starting Sept. 21 for children taking part in the hybrid learning program.  

The city will prioritize those who have the greatest need for pre-K-8 children.

Seventy percent of families considered high priority will have access by the end of September, according to de Blasio, and 100,000 seats will be available by December.

12:29 p.m. ET, September 8, 2020

Senate will vote Thursday on advancing GOP stimulus bill

From CNN's Ted Barrett

The Senate will vote Thursday on a procedural motion to advance the GOP's scaled-down Covid stimulus bill, a Republican leadership aide told CNN.

Here's where the votes stand: The $500-billion measure would need 60 votes to advance, but is not expected to reach that number because of broad Democratic opposition to the bill, which they say is too small.

Republican leaders are hoping to get at least 51 GOP votes so they can tout the measure would have passed If not for Democrats filibuster of the relief.  

But for Republicans up for re-election, especially those in tight races, being able to vote for more stimulus will be an important signal to their voters that they tried to act, even if the bill falls short.

12:37 p.m. ET, September 8, 2020

New York will give each school a Covid-19 "report card," governor says

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press briefing in New York on September 8.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press briefing in New York on September 8. Pool/WNBC

New York will publicly disclose a Covid-19 "report card" for every school in the state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. 

“Every school district has to report every day to the department of health as to how many tests were taken, what type of test, what was the result,” and all that information will be available online, he said. 

The state will keep track of the data provided by the school district, local health department, and lab that does the testing. He is signing an executive order today to ensure this data is collected.

The governor demonstrated the platform and what will be available including the following:

  • Positive cases by date of student and staff by school and school district
  • Whether that school district is remote, in person or hybrid
  • The number of students and staff on-site
  • The percentage of on-site students and staff who test positive
  • The number of tests being administered by the school, the test type, the lab used and lag time
  • The date of the last submission and update.

As K-12 schools reopen with a bevy of combinations from remote, to hybrid, to in-person learning, Cuomo said its “imperative” to track the infection rate by school and district to determine potential spread.

Cuomo said parents and teachers are still nervous, and the school plans are only as good as their implementation.

12:24 p.m. ET, September 8, 2020

More than 37,000 Covid-19 cases have been reported at colleges and universities in all 50 states

From CNN's Annie Grayer

Mend Urgent Care workers perform drive-up COVID-19 testing for students and faculty at Woodbury University on August 24 in Burbank, California.
Mend Urgent Care workers perform drive-up COVID-19 testing for students and faculty at Woodbury University on August 24 in Burbank, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Images

As college students begin their fall semester, all 50 states have now reported positive cases of Covid-19 at colleges and universities. 

This represents more than 37,000 cases of Covid-19 among students and staff at colleges and universities across the country. 

These numbers represent cases that CNN has reported so far. There are likely many others, and this total will continue to be updated.

One thing to note: Many schools update their data every few days, or even once a week in some cases, so there can be a lag in data. 

12:09 p.m. ET, September 8, 2020

New York health department will require colleges to notify state when they have 100 Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia

The New York Department of Health will require colleges to notify the state when they have 100 Covid-19 cases and could be required to transition to remote learning, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.

The governor said in New York that SUNY Oneonta, Cornell University, University at Buffalo, Hofstra University, SUNY Oswego, Colgate University and SUNY Fredonia have all seen outbreaks.

“That’s all across the state, that’s the entire state, that goes from Long Island all through Upstate.”

“So this is going to be a problem, I am telling you that,” he added.

Meanwhile, Cuomo cited a large gathering in Washington Square park in New York City this weekend allegedly involving New York University students, and called out the school administrators and city police for not stepping in. 

“Frankly NYU security didn’t do anything about it, local police didn’t do anything about it.”

NYU this weekend said in a statement it was investigating.

12:09 p.m. ET, September 8, 2020

New York continues to have an infection rate under 1%, governor says

From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press briefing in New York on September 8.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during a press briefing in New York on September 8. Pool/WNBC

The priority for New York going forward to is to “protect the progress we’ve made,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday. 

The infection rate is .96%, he said, adding that New York reported 5 deaths Monday. 

The state of New York is “stable everywhere” he said adding a caveat that the most recent data should be taken grain of salt as its holiday number. 

The governor said Tuesday the state is entering a “post-Labor Day phase,” where “people start to get back to work, schools are opening, activity is increasing.”

He said notably traffic is starting to increase, with more road traffic than public transportation leading to “longer commutes” the state is encouraging people to take public transportation.

Cuomo said “flu season is going to be a complicated factor” due to “more stress on the testing system.” He said also because the symptoms can be comparable to Covid-19.

The governor said the state's priorities are to watch schools, bar non-compliance, and secure voting. “Colleges are a problem, and will continue to be a problem,” the governor added.

“This is an entirely new enterprise in an entirely new world,” he said of K-12 schools opening. “It’s something that we have to be very careful about.”

The state continues to watch non-compliance in bars. The State Liquor Authority and Police Task Force observed nearly 5,000 establishments over Labor Day weekend and found 37 to be in non-compliance.

12:07 p.m. ET, September 8, 2020

Vermont governor says testing and contract tracing will be key to keeping schools open

From CNN’s Carma Hassan

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott speaks during a news conference in Montpelier, Vermont, on September 8.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott speaks during a news conference in Montpelier, Vermont, on September 8. ORCA Media

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said in a news conference that a strong testing system and contact tracing are key to keeping schools and the economy open.

“Even though we are by far the safest state in the nation with the lowest number of cases and the lowest positivity rates, we know there will be bumps in the road and there will be cases tied to schools,” Scott said. “We also know how important this is for our kids and we’re here to work with schools as we take this step forward, to respond to and contain cases just as we have done throughout this pandemic.” 

“As we heard from pediatricians throughout the summer, last year’s remote learning affected our kids - and not in a good way,” Scott said. “And now the work begins to see just how deep those impacts were.” 

Some context: Today is the first day of school for many students in the state, with many going back to in-person school full-time while others have a combination of in-person and online schooling.

12:01 p.m. ET, September 8, 2020

People obeying stay-at-home orders in the spring was associated with drop in Covid-19 spread, study suggests

From CNN Health’s Naomi Thomas

An empty street and closed businesses are seen on April 30 in the Financial District in New York City.
An empty street and closed businesses are seen on April 30 in the Financial District in New York City. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Stay-at-home orders — which led to people spending more time in their homes and reducing the amount they traveled — seem to be associated with a reduction in spread of Covid-19, according to new research published Tuesday in the journal JAMA Network Open.

“These findings suggest that stay-at-home social distancing mandates, when they were followed by measurable mobility changes, were associated with reduction in Covid-19 cases,” said the researchers, from the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. 

The researchers used location data from more than 45 million cell phones between March 11 and April 10 to work out daily travel distance and time spent at home across all 50 states. These factors were used to look at the degree to which social distancing mandates were followed, and the association between mobility and Covid-19 cases.

“Implementation of stay-at-home social distancing policies were associated with human movement changes,” the researchers said. “That is, people generally reduced their daily travel distances and increased their home dwell time.”

Their results “suggest that stay-at-home orders were associated with reduction of the Covid-19 pandemic spread and with flattening the curve.”

The research also found that case increase rates in the five states with the highest level of infection at the time — New York, New Jersey, Michigan, California and Massachusetts — slowed down after the stay-at-home orders were implemented.

In states where confirmed cases increased faster people generally reduced the distance they were traveling daily quicker, and the results suggest that in states with higher case increase rates, the amount of time people spent at home was longer.

Remember: The research does have some limitations, including the fact that other control measures — such as mask wearing — could have played a part in the reduction of cases. 

11:55 a.m. ET, September 8, 2020

Tuscaloosa mayor reopens bars despite University of Alabama case spike

From CNN’s Angela Barajas

People make their way along The Strip, the University of Alabama's bar scene, on August 15 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
People make their way along The Strip, the University of Alabama's bar scene, on August 15 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Vasha Hunt/AP

Tuscaloosa, Alabama, Mayor Walt Maddox has ordered bars to reopen today after being shut down since Aug. 24. The executive order issued by the mayor mandates bars can reopen in a limited capacity allowing for 50% occupancy and cannot exceed 100 people. Alcohol will also only be allowed for seated customers.

"As a result of our combined efforts [with the University of Alabama], the average number of daily cases, and the overall positivity rates in our community are declining. Although far from over, this positive trend provides an opportunity for a limited reopening of bars which have sacrificed a great deal to protect our healthcare system and economy,” said Mayor Maddox in a statement.  

What the numbers look like: On Friday, The University of Alabama reported 858 new cases between Aug. 28 and Sept. 3 among students and staff. Since the beginning of the school year, the institution has reported 1,910 cases. 

According to the Alabama Department of Public Health data, there has yet to be a steady decline in positive cases in Tuscaloosa.  

“We expected higher testing numbers at UA until the impact of the bar closures and the moratorium on campus social events could make a difference,” said Dr. Richard Friend, Dean of the College of Community Health Sciences at the University of Alabama in a statement. “We are starting to see the results of those decisions.”