#	Country, Other	Total Cases	New Cases	Total Deaths
	World	8,750,990	+181,005	461,820
1	USA	2,297,190	+33,539	121,407
2	Brazil	1,038,568	+55,209	49,090
3	Russia	569,063	+7,972	7,841
4	India	395,812	+14,721	12,970
5	UK	301,815	+1,346	42,461
6	Spain	292,655	+307	28,315
7	Peru	247,925	+3,537	7,660
8	Italy	238,011	+251	34,561
9	Chile	231,393	+6,290	4,093
10	Iran	200,262	+2,615	9,392
11	Germany	190,660	+534	8,960
12	Turkey	185,245	+1,214	4,905
13	Mexico	165,455	+5,662	19,747
14	Pakistan	165,062	+4,944	3,229
15	France	159,452	+811	29,617
16	Saudi Arabia	150,292	+4,301	1,184
17	Bangladesh	105,535	+3,243	1,388
18	Canada	100,629	+409	8,346
19	South Africa	87,715	+3,825	1,831
20	Qatar	85,462	+1,021	93
21	China	83,325	+32	4,634
22	Colombia	63,276	+3,059	2,045
23	Belgium	60,476	+128	9,695
24	Belarus	57,333	+676	337
25	Sweden	56,043		5,053
26	Egypt	52,211	+1,774	2,017
27	Ecuador	49,731	+634	4,156
28	Netherlands	49,426	+107	6,081
29	UAE	44,145	+393	300
30	Indonesia	43,803	+1,041	2,373
31	Singapore	41,615	+142	26
32	Argentina	39,570	+2,060	979
33	Kuwait	38,678	+604	313
34	Portugal	38,464	+375	1,527
35	Ukraine	34,984	+921	985
36	Poland	31,316	+301	1,334
37	Switzerland	31,235	+35	1,956
38	Philippines	28,459	+660	1,130
39	Afghanistan	27,878	+346	548
40	Oman	27,670	+852	125
41	Iraq	27,352	+1,635	925
42	Ireland	25,368	+13	1,714
43	Dominican Republic	25,068	+423	647
44	Panama	24,274	+923	485
45	Romania	23,400	+320	1,484
46	Bolivia	21,499	+814	697
47	Bahrain	20,916	+486	57
48	Israel	20,339	+303	304
49	Armenia	19,157	+459	319
50	Nigeria	19,147	+667	487
51	Japan	17,740	+72	935
52	Austria	17,271	+48	688
53	Kazakhstan	16,351	+474	113
54	Moldova	13,556	+450	450
55	Ghana	13,203	+274	70
56	Serbia	12,709	+93	259
57	Denmark	12,391	+47	600
58	S. Korea	12,306	+49	280
59	Guatemala	11,868	+617	449
60	Azerbaijan	11,767	+438	143

 

 

Source : https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

 

 

Brazil passes one million cases after reporting a one-day total of more than 54,000.

 

Brazil on Friday became the second country to pass one million coronavirus cases, recording a staggering 54,771 cases in the past 24 hours — an increase the country’s Health Ministry attributed at least in part to a lag in reporting from three states. The United States has reported more than 2.2 million cases.

More than 48,954 people in Brazil have died of Covid-19, second only to the total in the United States, according to a New York Times database. If the trend lines hold, some epidemiologists project the death toll of the epidemic in Brazil could surpass that in the United States by late July. Latin America has become an epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in recent weeks, largely because of Brazil’s ballooning caseload.

About half of Friday’s increase was due to delayed reporting in three states, including São Paulo, health officials said.

The country’s response to the crisis has been widely criticized at home and abroad. President Jair Bolsonaro has dismissed the danger posed by the virus, sabotaged quarantine measures adopted at the state level and called on Brazilians to continue working to keep the economy from collapsing.

 

 

Officials call for greater vigilance, as Florida and South Carolina set repeated highs for new daily cases.

 

As several states repeatedly set record daily highs for new coronavirus cases this week, their officials aimed to subdue alarm while doubling down on calls for greater vigilance, mask-wearing and social distancing.

Florida, among the hardest hit states, reported 3,822 new cases on Friday, beating the single-day record it set the previous day, and bringing its total of cases close to 90,000. A total of 3,104 people have died.

South Carolina also reported on Friday a record of 1,081 new daily cases. It was the seventh time in 11 days that the state broke its single-day case record, and the state epidemiologist on Thursday pleaded with residents to wear masks and practice social distancing.

“We understand that what we’re continuing to ask of everyone is not easy and that many are tired of hearing the same warnings and of taking the same daily precautions,” Dr. Linda Bell, the epidemiologist, said in a statement. “Every day that we don’t all do our part, we are extending the duration of illnesses, missed work, hospitalizations and deaths in our state.”

Arizona also recorded a new single-day high, reporting 3,183 new coronavirus cases, breaking a record set the day before.

The recent spikes come as policymakers across the United States are struggling to find a precarious balance between reopening their battered economies and keeping future outbreaks at bay.

This week, outbreaks have been growing in much of the South and West. Officials in Oklahoma and California also reported their highest daily case numbers on Thursday. And Texas became the sixth state in the nation to surpass 100,000 cases, according to a New York Times database. Cases there have doubled over the past month.

 

 

Face mask requirements grow contentious, with states and businesses taking divergent paths.

 

Scientists generally agree that wearing face masks can help curb the spread of the virus. For politicians and businesses, however, the decision of whether to require masks is growing increasingly contentious, with some viewing the requirements as an essential safety measure while others call them an infringement on personal liberty.

The chief executive of AMC Entertainment Holdings, Adam Aron, drew a swift backlash on Thursday after he said that moviegoers would not be required to wear masks at the company’s theaters when they reopen next month. He said that AMC “did not want to be drawn into a political controversy.”

“We thought it might be counterproductive if we forced mask wearing on those people who believe strongly that it is not necessary,” Mr. Aron said in an interview published Thursday by Variety magazine.

AMC reversed itself on Friday, saying it had consulted with scientific advisers and would require masks in theaters nationwide when it reopens on July 15.

“This announcement prompted an intense and immediate outcry from our customers, and it is clear from this response that we did not go far enough on the usage of masks,” the company said in a statement.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema also said on Friday that it would require face masks in its theaters.

Similar tensions are playing out nationwide, even as cases surge in several states.

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California, where there has been a surge, on Thursday ordered people to wear face masks in most indoor — and some outdoor — public settings.

And Gov. Doug Ducey of Arizona, a Republican, caving to pressure from rising case counts and local officials, allowed towns and counties to decide for themselves whether to make face masks mandatory. Previously, municipalities there were forbidden to introduce more restrictive rules.

In Texas, a Dallas County executive issued an order saying that all residents over the age of 10 “shall wear” face coverings in public when social distancing is not possible, effective immediately and lasting until at least August 4th. The orders extended to businesses, requiring employees and customers to wear masks or face a fine of up to $500. Residents will not be required to wear masks if they are exercising outdoors or pumping gas.

The order came after Texas reported more than 4,600 new cases Friday, hitting a new single-day high for the second day in a row, according to a New York Times database.

 

 

A French official affirms that a kiss will still be a kiss — in the movies.

 

Rest assured, France’s culture minister says: The kiss has not been banished from movies.

Franck Riester, the minister, said on Friday that as movie and television shoots in France slowly started up again after months of lockdown, actors were working out ways of safely smooching again.

“Kissing has started again, if I may say so, on movie sets,” Mr. Riester told RTL radio, although he did not refer to any specific films or actors. “Some artists got tested, waited a bit, and then did that kiss that is so important in cinema.”

Last month, the body that oversees health and hygiene conditions on French film sets issued a guide on how to keep the virus at bay, including measures for scenes that require physical intimacy.

Those included adapting or rewriting the action, postponing filming, or asking actors to get tested or regularly take their temperature. Wearing masks was also recommended, camera angles permitting.

The government has created a 50-million-euro guarantee fund to help producers who are forced to cancel a film shoot for coronavirus-related reasons, but some worry that insurers will balk at the slightest deviation from the guidelines.

Marina Foïs, an actress, expressed frustration on French television last week that “insurances are going to have an opinion on how we make a movie” and said she would find it hard to follow social distancing guidelines with her co-stars while filming.

“If I want to act well, I need to abandon something, I need to let happen what will happen,” she told France 5.

Movie theaters are one of the few businesses still closed around France. They are scheduled to open next week, but will only be allowed to fill up half of their seats, with distancing between viewers. Masks will be recommended, but not required, though individual theaters may set their own rules.

 

 

Anticipation for Trump’s rally in Tulsa is building, and so are worries about public health.

 

People lined up outside an arena in Tulsa, Okla., in anticipation of President Trump’s campaign rally on Saturday, his first since the pandemic began. But health officials braced for the possibility that the event could further spread the virus in a state that has seen a surge in new cases.

A lawsuit filed by local residents and businesses to stop Mr. Trump from holding the rally because of the risks of spreading the virus was rejected on Friday afternoon by the Oklahoma Supreme Court. The lawsuit had demanded that the event be postponed unless the BOK Center, the 19,000-seat arena where the rally is to be held, agreed to enforce certain social distancing guidelines.

The court said that because Oklahoma’s reopening plan, put in place on June 1, allowed businesses to use their discretion when instituting social distancing measures, such restrictions were not mandatory.

At the same time, city officials rescinded a three-night curfew, after Mr. Trump said on Twitter that he had spoken with the mayor, “who informed me there will be no curfew tonight or tomorrow for our many supporters” — a chaotic about-face from the previous plans.

 

 

Italian scientists report traces of virus in sewage samples collected in December.

 

Italian scientists on Friday said they found traces of the virus in samples of sewage water collected in December, further suggesting that the virus was already circulating in the country months before the outbreak at the end of February.

Researchers at the Italian National Institute of Health discovered the presence of the RNA of the virus in samples taken in the northern cities of Milan and Turin on Dec. 18, more than two months before the country’s first case was diagnosed on Feb 20. Traces were also found in samples from the city of Bologna, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) south of Milan, on Jan. 29.

“We showed that the virus was already circulating,” said Lucia Bonadonna, an official at the institute. “Probably in asymptomatic or little-symptomatic forms before we had our first local case.”

While the new findings shift the virus’s timeline earlier in Europe, they do not significantly change the pandemic’s known timeline. Chinese officials reported the outbreak in Wuhan on Dec. 31, but later traced cases that emerged as far back as Dec. 1.

Italian scientists and officials have long suspected that the virus had moved undetected in the northern region of Lombardy, an economic hub where there is frequent trade with China, at least weeks before the contagion came to light.

Similar evidence has recently emerged around the world, indicating that by the time the authorities were aware of an outbreak, the virus was already more widespread than initially believed.

In France, a sample taken from a patient on Dec. 27 tested positive last month. And in California, health officials discovered a virus-linked death on Feb. 6, weeks before the earliest recorded case of U.S. community transmission.

 

 

Some star athletes are stranded overseas as events resume in the U.S.

 

England’s top golfer, Tommy Fleetwood, was ranked 10th in the world when the PGA Tour suspended its schedule in March. But when tour play resumed last week, he was on the wrong side of the Atlantic.

In its haste to return, the tour, which has a playing membership that spans the globe, set up things up so that any player not based in the United States was effectively out of bounds. For Fleetwood in northwest England, the hazards were many, including a two-way quarantine, the possibility of catching the virus from a fellow passenger on a trans-Atlantic flight, and a monthslong separation from his wife, Clare; their 2-year-old son, Franklin; and his stepsons, Oscar, 13, and Mo, 12.

“If I was living in America,” Fleetwood said, “I’d be playing right now.”

Golf is not the only sport that has forged ahead without the full support of its competitive membership. This week’s decision by the United States Tennis Association to hold its marquee event, the United States Open, late this summer in New York, drew a sharp rebuke from the Australian player Nick Kyrgios. On Twitter, Kyrgios described the move as “selfish” and wrote, “People that live in the U.S. of course are pushing the Open to go ahead.”

 

 

Older adults may be left out of some clinical trials for a vaccine or treatment.

 

Health experts worry that in the race to find drugs and vaccines, a substantial proportion of studies may be excluding older subjects, purposely or inadvertently, even as 80 percent of American deaths have occurred in people over age 65.

“A year from now, when these trials are published, I don’t want to see that there’s no one in them over 75,” said Dr. Sharon K. Inouye, a geriatrician at Harvard Medical School and Hebrew SeniorLife. “If they create a drug that works really well in healthy 50- and 60-year-olds, they’ve missed the boat.”

She and her team have reviewed 241 interventional Covid-19 studies that have been undertaken in the United States and are listed on clinicaltrials.gov, a site maintained by a division of the National Institutes of Health.

They found that 37 of these trials — which test drugs, vaccines and devices — set specific age limits and would not enroll participants older than 75, 80 or 85. A few even excluded those over 65.

Another group of 27 trials set no maximum age but used study designs that could nevertheless disqualify many older adults. Some excluded people with illnesses common among the older population, like hypertension or diabetes, even if participants controlled the disease through medication. “Surrogates for age exclusion,” Dr. Inouye said.

There is a long history of older people being excluded from clinical trials, even when the diseases in question disproportionately affected this group.

“Ideally, the patients enrolled in a randomized clinical trial reflect the demographics of the disease,” said Dr. Mark Sloan, a hematologist leading a Covid-19 drug study at Boston Medical Center, in an email. “Unfortunately, this is seldom the case.”

 

 

A Times reporter reflects on Australia’s ‘not quite normal.’

 

In the latest edition of The Australia Letter, a weekly newsletter from our Australia bureau, our reporter Livia Albeck-Ripka explains what it’s like to “tiptoe out into the world” after an outbreak.

Earlier this month, I was standing among thousands of people as I reported on a Black Lives Matter protest in Melbourne, wondering if I was too close to them.

One person near me was without a face covering, another kept shuffling closer, and a third — her surgical mask pulled down below her chin — was yelling in my direction. That was 13 days ago, one day short of the standard coronavirus incubation period.

But I’m fine. I think. And maybe that odd and unsettling feeling is just what this phase of the pandemic feels like for all of us — not quite panic-stricken, not quite normal.

We’ve seen upticks in cases of the virus in some places but others escaped relatively unscathed, and no one seems to be able to tell us exactly why. At the same time, countries where the pandemic’s curve had appeared flattened are now seeing rises in case numbers.

Australia’s Victoria State, where at least three protesters have contracted the virus, on Wednesday recorded its largest single-day increase in infections in over a month.

What’s now clear is that there’s a cost in returning to normal, and that in some cases, we might only be a misstep or two away from another surge.

So as we tiptoe out into the world, how much risk should we take?

Some of us operate on the assumption that if they follow regulations, they will be fine. Others feel frustrated by the inconsistencies in official advice, or that rushing back to normal life before a vaccine is available would be dangerous.

“Everything we’re doing is unknown territory,” said Hassan Vally, an epidemiologist and senior lecturer in public health at La Trobe University in Melbourne.

“What we do know,” he added, “is that as a society we can’t survive in complete lockdown until we get a vaccine: We have to get back to normal.”

When I got home after the recent protest, I removed my mask carefully. I scrubbed my hands for 20 seconds. I changed my sweater. I washed my face. That night, I went out to eat with friends for the first time in weeks. There were no masks to remind me of the pandemic.

After a beer, and laughing face-to-face with a group for the first time in weeks, it was even easier to forget. Since then, I’ve begun to feel my hypervigilance fade even further. I don’t wipe down my door handles as often, or my phone, and I’m still fine. For now.

 

 

The Trump Administration, after a backlash, will reveal information about loan recipients.

 

Bowing to political pressure, the Trump administration said on Friday evening that it would disclose information about recipients of millions of small-business loans through the $660 billion Paycheck Protection Program.

The administration had closely guarded the information and argued that it should not disclose the names of the private businesses that received the loans or the amount of money that they took from the federal government. The reversal came as Democrats had seized on the secrecy surrounding the program to suggest that the bailout was an example of the Trump administration engaging in corporate cronyism.

The new disclosures will apply to loans of more than $150,000. The information will be broken down into five loan ranges, up to the maximum amount of $10 million. The Small Business Administration will release business names, addresses, demographic data and jobs supported.

The Treasury Department, which jointly administers the loan program with the S.B.A., did not say when the new information would be made public, but some of the demographic data will be included in loan forgiveness applications, which might not be submitted for months.

 

 

A Navy inquiry faults the top two officers on the carrier Theodore Roosevelt for their handling of an outbreak.

 

A Navy investigation has concluded that the two top officers aboard the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt made poor decisions in response to the outbreak of the virus on board the warship.

As a result of the findings, Capt. Brett E. Crozier, will not be restored to command of the virus-stricken ship, and his boss on board, Rear. Adm. Stuart P. Baker, will have a promotion to two-star admiral put on hold. There will be no other punitive action against Captain Crozier.

The conclusions of the investigation were announced by Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite and Adm. Michael M. Gilday, the chief of naval operations, at a Pentagon news conference.

The decisions amounted to a reversal by Admiral Gilday, who had previously recommended to his Pentagon superiors that command of the Roosevelt be returned to Captain Crozier, who was relieved in April after he pleaded for more help fighting the outbreak aboard his ship.

The events surrounding Captain Crozier, who has been viewed as a hero by his crew for putting their lives above his career, seized the nation’s attention.

 

 

U.S. stocks falter as pandemic worries outpace hopes for the economy.

 

All week long, two competing narratives faced off on Wall Street.

Investors were encouraged by signs that business reopenings were having an immediate positive effect on the economy. But they were troubled by the growing number of coronavirus infections around the country.

The tug-of-war made for a turbulent week, and Friday was no exception. The S&P 500 fell 0.6 percent, after starting the day with a solid gain.

The reversal came after Apple said it would temporarily close some stores in states where cases are spiking. The number of new cases is increasing in at least 20 states, an analysis by The Times found.

Apple’s decision had an instant impact on the market: Shares of companies that are likely to benefit from a return to normalcy, like airlines and retailers, immediately gave up their gains. Oil prices also gave up their early gains.

The push and pull this week has come amid mixed reports on the economy. A Labor Department report on Thursday showed that another 1.5 million workers had filed for state unemployment benefits. The pace of layoffs has slowed in recent weeks but remains elevated. On Tuesday, the Commerce Department said that retail sales rebounded sharply in May, as stores reopened and governments lifted some restrictions. But there is growing uncertainty about the economic picture going forward.

Yet despite investors’ general unease, the S&P 500 was up nearly 2 percent for the week.

 

 

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/19/world/coronavirus-live-updates.html?action=click&auth=login-google&context=storylines_menu&module=styln-coronavirus-national&pgtype=Article&region=TOP_BANNER&state=default&variant=show

 

 

 

US local officials hit roadblocks while trying to curb coronavirus spikes

From CNN's Madeline Holcombe

 

As coronavirus cases spike in states across the country, some communities hoping to enact measures to mitigate the virus' spread are hitting major roadblocks.

In California, which on Friday broke another record for the number of cases in a single day, Gov. Gavin Newsom mandated that masks be worn inside public spaces and in situations where staying six feet apart from others is not possible. But at least five sheriff's departments in the state say they won't enforce the order since the offense is minor and the danger of an encounter during a pandemic is major.

The governor of Nebraska also pushed back against attempts to make masks mandatory.

Gov. Pete Ricketts said he will withhold federal coronavirus relief funds from counties that require people to wear face masks in government buildings, according to a state guidance document obtained by CNN on Friday.

 

 

India records its highest number of new cases for third consecutive day

From CNN's Swati Gupta

 

India has recorded its highest daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases for a third consecutive day.

In the 24 hours up to 8 a.m. local time on Saturday (10.30 p.m. ET Friday), 14,516 new infections and 375 deaths were reported across the country.

In total India has reported 395,048 coronavirus cases and 12,948 deaths, its Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said Saturday.

More than 86,000 cases have been added to India’s total in the past week.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research, 6,616,496 tests have been conducted in the country, with 189,869 tests conducted on June 19.

 

 

Australia's Victoria state reimposes Covid-19 restrictions after worst daily spike in months

From CNN's Angus Watson in Sydney 

 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced on Saturday that the state was at a "critical crossroads" after 25 positive Covid-19 cases were detected on Friday. 

The figure was up on the 13 new cases announced Friday and the 18 announced Thursday, as authorities try to suppress an outbreak linked to a family gathering. 

“Today, our case numbers have hit the highest they’ve been in more than two months. I know that’s not what people want to hear — but sadly that’s our reality,” Andrews said in a statement. “The numbers are being driven by families having big get-togethers."

He said homes would be limited to a maximum of five visitors from June 21, with outdoor gatherings reduced from a 20-person cap to 10. 

A plan to increase the maximum number of people allowed in restaurants, bars, museums, libraries and places of worship from 20 to 50 on Monday has been pushed back to July 12.

 

 

Expert says Trump’s rally is an "absolutely horrible idea"

From CNN Health’s Jen Christensen

 

Dr. Craig Spencer told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that, from a public health standpoint, President Donald Trump’s planned political rally for Saturday is an “absolutely horrible idea.”

“This is not a necessary gathering. We’re in the middle of a pandemic, at a time at which we have an increasing number of cases on a daily basis,” said Spencer, the Director of Global Health at the Columbia University Medical Center.

The US has 4% of the global population and 25% of the world's Covid-19 deaths, he said. Spencer characterized the way the country has responded to the pandemic as “an abject failure.” 

“What we’re seeing is just another attempt to lull us into complacency. To make us think that a baseline of 20 or 25,000 cases per day is OK, and we can get back to some type of normal life, attending rallies, doing things we are doing before,” Spencer said. 

People can stop the spread of the coronavirus, he said. Avoiding crowds, wearing a mask, good hand hygiene and testing all help. But a rally like this will likely fuel the pandemic.

“The fact is you are going to have people from all over the country attending this rally,” Spencer said. “This virus cannot infect you if it cannot find you, it will find people in Tulsa tomorrow, it will follow them home.”   

 

 

Brazil blames part of record spike in new cases on "instability" in data reporting

From CNN’s Taylor Barnes and Keith Allen in Atlanta and journalist Rodrigo Pedroso in São Paulo.

 

The Brazilian health ministry said the country’s record spike in newly reported coronavirus cases was due in part to "instability" in how a few populous states reported their data.

On Friday, Brazil reported 54,711 fresh cases -- higher than the largest single-day increase in the United States, which reported 48,529 new cases on April 25, according to a CNN tally based on Johns Hopkins University data.

The ministry said the large number of cases reported Friday was partly due to “instability in the routine of exporting data related, principally, to the states of Bahia, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo on Thursday June 18.”

The state of São Paulo -- Brazil’s most populous state and the epicenter of the country's Covid-19 outbreak -- reported 1,111 new coronavirus cases on Thursday and 19,030 on Friday.  

The health ministry note on Friday said “it is worth noting that the conclusion of the epidemiological week on Saturday 6/20 will allow for a more precise evaluation of the variation in new cases this week in relation to last week.” 

The spike came as Brazil became only the second country worldwide to surpass 1 million reported cases, after the US.

 

 

Mexico now has more than 20,000 coronavirus deaths

From CNN’s Matt Rivers in Mexico City

 

Mexico’s Health Ministry reported 647 new coronavirus deaths on Friday evening, bringing the country’s total toll to 20,394 since the pandemic began.

Officials also reported 5,030 new cases of the virus, for a total of 170,485. 

Friday marked just the third time Mexico has reported more than 5,000 cases in a single day.

 

Source: https://edition.cnn.com/world/live-news/coronavirus-pandemic-06-20-20-intl/index.html