U.S. reports more than 1,000 deaths in a day for the first time in July. UPDATES

C.D.C. says the number of people infected ‘far exceeds the number of reported cases’ in parts of the U.S.

NY TIMES

The number of people infected with the coronavirus in different parts of the United States has been anywhere from two to 13 times higher than the reported rates for those regions, according to data released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The findings suggest that large numbers of people who did not have symptoms or did not seek medical care may have kept the virus circulating in their communities. The study is the largest of its kind to date, although some early data was released last month.

 

“These data continue to show that the number of people who have been infected with the virus that causes Covid-19 far exceeds the number of reported cases,” Dr. Fiona Havers, the C.D.C. researcher who led the study, said in an email. “Many of these people likely had no symptoms or mild illness and may have had no idea that they were infected.”

The researchers analyzed samples from people who had routine clinical tests, or were inpatients at hospitals, in 10 cities and states for evidence of prior virus infection. About 40 percent of infected people do not develop symptoms, but they may still pass the virus on to others. The United States now tests roughly 700,000 people a day. The new results highlight the need for much more testing to detect infection levels and contain the viral spread in parts of the country.

For example, in Missouri, the prevalence of infections as of May 30 was 2.8 percent or 171,000, 13 times the reported rate of 12,956 cases, suggesting that the state missed most people with the virus who might have contributed to its outsized outbreak.

Only a tiny percentage of Americans — including those in hard-hit areas — possess the necessary antibodies for immunity to covid-19, according to new CDC data. T

At least 1,120 coronavirus deaths were reported across the United States on Tuesday, the first time in July the single-day total had exceeded 1,000. 

Officials in Nevada, Oregon and Tennessee reported their highest single-day death figures yet. Public health experts have warned for weeks that deaths would trail new cases by about a month and case counts have risen substantially since mid-June, when states began lifting stay-at-home orders and reopening businesses.

The U.S. military’s infection rate has tripled over the past six weeks.

Over 20,000 members have contracted the virus, and the infection rate in the armed services has tripled over the past six weeks. Cases are rising the most on military bases in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia and Texas, all states that have seen surges in infections,

The rise of cases among a largely young population that lives in dense quarters near cities where bars and other crowded places that have been opened is unsurprising. But the increase raises questions about the military’s safety precautions as the Pentagon wrestles with both containing the virus within the ranks while also addressing logistical problems it has created, like relieving units that had been stuck overseas for longer than expected.

Trump says the virus will probably ‘get worse before it gets better.’

Trump abruptly departed on Tuesday from his rosy projections about the coronavirus, warning Americans from the White House briefing lectern that the illness would get worse before widespread recovery.

In his first virus-focused televised news conference since late April,Mr. Trump appeared before reporters to defend his track record, which has been widely criticized for his tendency to downplay the severity of the pandemic. Appearing without Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Deborah Birx or Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, key members of his White House coronavirus task force, Mr. Trump also implored citizens — especially young people — to wear masks.

“Get a mask,” said Mr. Trump, who has been reluctant to wear them in public himself. “Whether you like the mask or not, they have an impact. They will have an effect and we need everything we can get.” Trump’s comment urging Americans to wear masks was a stunning departure from his past comments on wearing them. In recent weeks, he has disparaged masks as unsanitary and suggested that people who wore them were making a political statement against him.

Mr. Trump’s less dismissive comments about the pandemic reflected a dawning realization within his team that the virus not only is not going away but has badly damaged his standing with the public heading into the election in November. Approval of his handling of the pandemic has fallen from 51 percent in late March to 38 percent last week in polling by The Washington Post and ABC News.

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr., the presumptive Democratic nominee who now leads Mr. Trump by double digits, has assailed him in recent days for ignoring a devastating threat to the United States.

A study of patients in New York published in the journal JAMA reports that blood clotting problems may be significantly more common among Covid-19 patients than among those with other infectious diseases. And patients with blood-clotting problems were twice as likely to die, the study found.

94-year-old ‘Rosie the Riveter’ once made warplanes and red bandannas. Now she makes face masks.

Mae Krier fondly reminisces about her favorite bandanna she wore while toiling away in the Boeing factory where she helped make B-17 and B-29 warplanes as a teenage girl during World War II.
For many years, Krier has paid tribute to her beloved Rosie the Riveters by making red bandannas with white polka dots — a style shown in J. Howard Miller’s iconic Rosie the Riveter “We Can Do It!” poster for Westinghouse Electric. Since the war against the novel coronavirus started, Krier shifted her energy from making Rosie bandannas to Rosie face masks, cut from the same cotton cloth.

Miami will create new police unit to enforce mask ordinance

Miami will dedicate 39 law enforcement officers to enforcing the city’s mask ordinance, Mayor Francis Suarez said at a Tuesday news conference.

Like many other hard-hit South Florida cities, Miami requires face coverings to be worn in both indoor and outdoor public settings, with exceptions only for joggers, people with health conditions and children under two. As cases and hospitalizations continue to surge, however, the city is taking things a step further by creating a mask enforcement unit.

The 39 officers “are going to be working seven days a week,” Suarez said. “All they are going to be doing is mask enforcement.

Violators will be fined $50 for a first offense, $100 for a second offense, and $500 after that. Anyone who violates the ordinance more than three times will be arrested.

Miami-Dade County leads Florida for the most coronavirus infections reported per 100,000 people, as well as the highest death count, according to data tracked by the Miami Herald.

NYPD scraps traffic and homeless units and reassigns officers to fight rising gun crime

Senior police leadership transferred 114 members of the traffic congestion mitigation and 85 members of the homeless outreach units, according to official documents seen by The New York Post. The 199 officers were reassigned to precincts to combat a recent spike in shootings across the city, an NYPD spokesperson told the Post.