(Bloomberg) —
Texas reported its positive-test rate rose to a record as the U.S. passed 5 million Covid-19 infections, having added 1 million cases in barely more than two weeks. Cases and deaths slowed in Florida and Arizona.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signaled readiness to resume negotiations on pandemic relief without setting a date. Former Food and Drug Administration head Scott Gottlieb warned of a third wave of U.S. infections, this time in rural areas.
Italy and the U.K. reaffirmed plans to reopen schools in September. The U.K. — the country with the most deaths in Europe — may scrap daily fatality numbers, the Telegraph reported.
Key Developments
Global Tracker: Global cases top 19.6 million; deaths pass 727,000U.S. economy gets only limited help from Trump actionsBill Gates says U.S. virus testing has ‘mind-blowing’ deficienciesPandemic creates doubt over long-term demand for metalsInvestor who pushed NFL team rebrand shifts focus to evictionsPandemic puts millions of Europeans on path to a debt crisisTrack the race for vaccines that might end the coronavirus pandemic
Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click CVID on the terminal for global data on coronavirus cases and deaths.
U.K. May Scrap Daily Death Toll, Telegraph Reports (5:47 p.m. NY)
The U.K. may not bring back its official daily Covid-19 death count following a review into how the figure is arrived at, The Daily Telegraph reported, without saying how it obtained the information.
The conclusions of the review, which was ordered by Health Secretary Matt Hancock, are expected this week. Citing a government source, the newspaper said officials could instead choose to give a weekly official death toll from the virus.
Brazil Reports Fewer Cases, Deaths (5:38 p.m. NY)
Brazil reported 23,010 new cases on Sunday, the day after passing 3 million confirmed cases and 100,000 deaths. Reporting is generally down on weekends: the nation with the second-biggest outbreak after the U.S. reported 49,970 cases the day before. The new total is 3,035,422.
Deaths rose by 572 to 101,049, compared with an increase of 905 a day earlier.
Texas Positive-Test Rate at Record (4:51 p.m. NY)
Texas’ seven-day average rate of positive tests exceeded Saturday’s record and jumped to a new high of 20.3%, health authorities said.
The state reported 116 new deaths for a total of 8,459. Cases climbed 4,879 to 486,362.
Long Delays Make Some Covid Testing Useless, Inglesby Says
Delays to receiving coronavirus testing results are so long in some instances that they’re essentially of no use, said Tom Inglesby, director of the Center for Health Security of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.
“It’s unacceptable for the country to have testing come back a week or even two weeks later,” Inglesby said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “It’s not useful at that point. There’s no point in even doing the test.”
Looking ahead to the arrival of coronavirus vaccines, Inglesby said that many of the vaccines used against other diseases “are not perfect” and don’t prevent every case. “I think we would take 50%” effectiveness, “because 50% is a lot better than what we have now.”
“Of course, I think we all want something that is 75, 85, 90% effective, but we’ll have to see what we get,” Inglesby said.
Almost a Third of California Patients in ICU (2:10 p.m. NY)
California reported 8,373 new cases, bringing the total to 554,160. Deaths rose by 104 to 10,293.
A total of 30.5% of patients in hospitals are in intensive-care units, based on a five-day average, the highest in more than a month, according to state data Sunday.
Greece Daily Cases Rise to Record (1:23 p.m. NY)
Greece reported 203 new coronavirus cases Sunday, the biggest one-day number since the beginning of the pandemic, bringing the total to 5,623. It also was the biggest jump in daily cases since April 21.
Gottlieb Sees Third-Wave Risk in U.S. (12:30 pm NY)
Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said the U.S. looks like it’s headed for an infection surge in rural regions after the virus hit urban areas and the Sun Belt.
“We’re probably going to have another wave,” he said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday. There’s concern about largely untouched rural communities, which are “probably a bit more complacent” about virus risks, he said.
Rural spread is “going to be far more difficult to control if it’s more widespread,” he said. “We’re seeing indications of that right now — the wave spreading in the Midwest and the West.”
New York Cases Fall (12 p.m. NY)
New York reported a 0.1% rise in cases to 515, below the 0.2% average daily increase from the previous week. The state reported seven deaths, according to a tweet from Governor Andrew Cuomo. He said the 0.78% rate of positive tests was the “lowest we have seen since the pandemic began.” Total hospitalizations remained steady.
U.K. Reports More Than 1,000 Cases (11:45 a.m. NY)
The U.K. reported more than 1,000 new infections for the first time since June 26, bringing the total to 310,825, according to health department data. The 1,062 cases reported Sunday are higher than the seven-day average of 877.
The seven-day average has been climbing steadily since England reopened pubs and restaurants on July 4, when it stood at 575. Northern Ireland is no longer reporting data on weekends.
Arizona Cases Lowest in Six Weeks (11:40 a.m. NY)
Arizona reported 816 cases, its lowest since late June. The 0.4% increase was below the 0.7% daily average increase of the previous week. Total cases are now 186,923.
The state, which medical experts including Anthony Fauci say appears to be turning a corner in its outbreak, reported 13 deaths, down from 56 the previous day. Total deaths are now 4,150.
Italy Cases Near Recent High (11:35 a.m. NY)
Italy reported 463 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, the second-highest number in two months after reaching 552 on Friday. The country has recorded 250,566 cases since late February. Two more deaths were reported.
Florida Cases, Deaths Slow (11:05 a.m. NY)
Florida added 6,229 cases, a 1.2% rise compared with the 1.4% average daily increase over the previous week. Total cases are now 532,806.
Deaths among residents also slowed, to 77 from 182 the day before. Total deaths among residents are now 8,186.
Kudlow Sees Progress Against Virus (10:20 a.m. NY)
White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow argued that the U.S. is making inroads against the spread of Covid-19.
“Having gone through a very tough period as the virus spread to the South and West, it looks like we’re making pretty good progress,” Kudlow said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. “Am I worried in general? Yes, I’m always worried in general. Things have happened here that no one expected to happen — exponentially.”
At the same time, the Washington Post reported that an internal model by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers is projecting a rise in infections later in August and into September and October in the Midwest and elsewhere. Kudlow said he has “not heard anything about” that analysis.
U.S. Passes 5 Million Cases (10 a.m. NY)
Covid-19 cases in the U.S. crossed 5 million, adding a million cases in just over two weeks, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. The nation with the worst coronavirus outbreak hit 4 million cases on July 23, amid a skyrocketing outbreak in the Sunbelt and political battles over the Trump administration’s handling of the virus response.
The daily numbers are down from recent peaks, with 56,070 cases reported Saturday, a 1.1% increase over the previous day. Total deaths are 162,441, the data show.
U.K. Sees School Reopening as Key for Economy (7:46 a.m. NY)
Fully reopening schools in September is important for the U.K.’s economic recovery as it will allow parents to return to work, Schools Minister Nick Gibb said in an interview on Times Radio. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Mail on Sunday newspaper the country has a “moral duty” to resume normal teaching and reopening is now a “national priority.”
Italy Plans to Open Schools in September (06:15 NY)
Italy’s Health Minister Roberto Speranza confirmed in an interview with Corriere della Sera the government’s plan to open all schools on Sept. 14.
Another lockdown would do an “enormous damage, and we need to avoid it more than anything,” Speranza said in the interview.
For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com
Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.