{"id":52384,"date":"2020-07-05T00:22:05","date_gmt":"2020-07-05T00:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/virusreports.net\/coronavirus-updates-trump-hosts-july-4-event-at-white-house\/"},"modified":"2020-07-05T00:22:05","modified_gmt":"2020-07-05T00:22:05","slug":"coronavirus-updates-trump-hosts-july-4-event-at-white-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/virusreports.net\/coronavirus-updates-trump-hosts-july-4-event-at-white-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Coronavirus Updates: Trump Hosts July 4 Event at White House"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

Hospitals in Houston near capacity. Iraq\u2019s health care system is on the verge of breakdown. The Supreme Court rejected Illinois Republicans\u2019 request to hold big political gatherings.<\/p>\n

\n

Right Now<\/p>\n

Nearly 45,000 new daily cases were reported in the country on Saturday, according to a New York Times database<\/a>, with at least three states setting records.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/header>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Image<\/span><\/p>\n<\/source><\/source><\/source>\"Guests,<\/img><\/picture><\/div>

Guests, mostly without masks, gathered for the \u201cSalute to America\u201d event on the South Lawn of the White House.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Patrick Semansky\/Associated Press<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

With infections climbing, most Fourth of July celebrations are muted. But not in D.C.<\/h2>\n

After delivering a divisive speech at Mount Rushmore on Friday night<\/a>, President Trump is hosting a Fourth of July event in Washington on Saturday, again waving away objections from some officials and public health experts who were worried the virus could spread through the events\u2019 crowds.<\/p>\n

Ahead of the White House\u2019s celebration, tables and chairs \u201cfor hundreds\u201d were set up on the South Lawn, said Judd Deere, a spokesman, adding that social distancing \u201cwill be observed\u201d and that face masks will be offered, but not required.<\/p>\n

There were few masks in the crowd at the White House as President Trump walked out to the celebration and gave his address where he repeated the themes from the previous evening.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will never allow an angry mob to tear down our statues, erase our history, indoctrinate our children or trample on our freedoms,\u201d Mr. Trump said, referring to growing calls to remove statues <\/a>perceived as symbols of racism and oppression. The demands increased during the widespread demonstrations<\/a> against police brutality that followed the May 25 death of George Floyd while he was in the custody of the Minneapolis police.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The protesters, Mr. Trump said, were \u201cnot interested in justice or healing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking to an audience that included front-line workers trying to combat the coronavirus, Mr. Trump bragged about his administration\u2019s response, though the country\u2019s death toll has climbed higher than his original predictions and local officials have warned against hosting a large gathering for Independence Day this year.<\/p>\n

Mr. Trump claimed that an abundance of testing made the country\u2019s infections look worse than they were because they \u201cshow cases, 99 percent of which are totally harmless.\u201d And he raised expectations for a vaccine \u201clong before the end of the year.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearly 45,000 new daily cases were reported in the country on Saturday, according to a New York Times database<\/a>, following a count of more than 53,000 on Friday, a figure that exceeded all previous daily counts aside from the 55,595 on Thursday, the first time the number had passed 50,000.<\/p>\n

Cases are trending upward in 39 states, and regularly reaching new single-day records. Idaho on Saturday reported more than 390 new infections, the state\u2019s single-day record. At least two other states, Florida and South Carolina, also set records. Florida announced more than 11,400 new cases, its fourth record in 10 days and the second time in three days that the daily count was over 10,000. South Carolina hit a record on Friday only to break it on Saturday with more than 1,850 new cases. The state\u2019s positivity rate \u2014 the percentage of overall coronavirus tests that come back positive \u2014 has hovered around 20 percent this week, up from about 10 percent in early June.<\/p>\n

Across the country, officials urged Americans to scale back their Fourth of July plans<\/a>. Washington\u2019s mayor, Muriel E. Bowser, was among them. Earlier in the week, she had criticized the White House\u2019s plans, according to The Associated Press<\/a>, saying, \u201cWe\u2019ve communicated to them that we do not think this is in keeping with the best C.D.C. and Department of Health guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

As many as 80 percent of community fireworks displays<\/a> in large cities and small towns have been canceled over fears that large gatherings could worsen the already alarming outbreaks happening across dozens of states. New coronavirus cases have increased 89 percent in the United States in the last two weeks.<\/p>\n

In New York City, instead of the usual hourlong fireworks extravaganza, Macy\u2019s has been running five-minute displays<\/a> in undisclosed locations across the five boroughs throughout the week. A grand finale on Saturday, also at an undisclosed location, will be televised.<\/p>\n

In Los Angeles County, the public health department ordered beaches closed and fireworks shows canceled. The police in Chicago were seen dispersing crowds gathered by waterfronts in defiance of an order to keep beaches in the city closed, according to a report from ABC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Florida, Miami-Dade and Broward Counties had already announced that they were closing beaches for the Fourth of July weekend. A countywide curfew<\/a>, from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., in Miami-Dade went into effect on Friday.<\/p>\n

During his event at Mount Rushmore on Friday, Mr. Trump barely mentioned the pandemic<\/a> as he spoke to a packed, largely mask-free crowd, casting his effort to win a second term as a battle against a \u201cnew far-left fascism\u201d that seeks to remake the nation\u2019s heritage.<\/p>\n

The pandemic\u2019s reach was still apparent, however: Before the event, Kimberly Guilfoyle, the girlfriend of Mr. Trump\u2019s eldest son and a top fund-raising official for the Trump re-election campaign, tested positive for the coronavirus<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

As Houston\u2019s hospitals near capacity, they feel the echoes of New York City.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Video<\/span><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

transcript<\/p>\n<\/header>\n

\n
\n

transcript<\/p>\n

\u2018I Can Barely Keep Track\u2019: Texas Hospital Battles Coronavirus Surge<\/h2>\n

Our correspondent Sheri Fink goes behind the scenes at Houston Methodist Hospital as coronavirus cases rise.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
\n
<\/dt>\n
\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a possible Covid. 52-year-old male. 10 minutes out. H.F.D., shortness of breath. Covid, possibly.\u201d \u201cI\u2019ll be honest with you, I can barely keep track.\u201d This is Dr. Aric Bakshy. He\u2019s an attending physician here at Houston Methodist Hospital. And I asked him how many patients have you seen here just on your single shift since 1 o\u2019clock this afternoon? \u201cOne, two, three, four, five. I mean, I have over a dozen people here, at least. And these are all Covid. A lot of them are Covid.\u201d He actually trained at the hospital, Elmhurst, that sort of came to represent one of the hardest-hit hospitals in New York City. I\u2019m Sheri Fink. I\u2019m a correspondent at The New York Times. I\u2019ve been reporting from hospitals in New York City from the beginning. I looked at the emergency room, new I.C.U.s, pregnant mothers who had coronavirus, and now I\u2019m in Houston. So we are here at Houston Methodist Hospital, which is the largest hospital in Houston. And right at this moment, the number of coronavirus cases is really rising dramatically in the city. How does it feel? Similar or different to March? Although they had a moderate peak in April, now they\u2019re more than double the peak that they ever reached at that time. And the numbers look like they\u2019re going to just keep rising. \u201cSince March we\u2019ve had a trickle of patients. Everyone was \u2014 everyone stayed at home. People were not really getting sick in numbers that would overburden the system. Dr. Bakshy here. In fact, some of us cut our shifts down because there weren\u2019t enough patients to see. Since, probably, Memorial Day it\u2019s been a lot busier. Every patient who comes into the hospital now, we\u2019re testing for Covid. Deep breath.\u201c So this is Carlos Clara. He has a confirmed case of coronavirus. He had gone for a test when he was an outpatient, and he\u2019s here in the emergency room because he\u2019s having trouble breathing. \u201cBody aches? Are you having chest pain?\u201d Like many patients we\u2019re meeting, he\u2019s part of a family where multiple members have tested positive. His wife is sick, one of his sons tested positive, and even though he goes out every day to work, he suspects the virus came into his family through his son\u2019s work as a cashier. \u201cYour oxygen is a little low. OK? We\u2019re going to have to keep you in the hospital for treatments, OK? But you\u2019re going to be OK. Actually, for most of these patients, we can take care of it \u2014 you can take care of them medically. But I think a big issue is a lot of them are really scared.\u201d And it\u2019s not just that they\u2019re scared. They\u2019re lonely, too. Genevieve J. McCall is 96, and she shares with us that she hadn\u2019t seen her daughter since the coronavirus took hold here. \u201cI have not been able to see her or touch her for three months.\u201d She didn\u2019t come to the E.R. thinking she had Covid. She had symptoms of worsening heart failure. But as Dr. Bakshy talked to her, it became clear that she may also have been exposed. \u201cDo you have any Covid contacts?\u201d \u201cOK. When was that?\u201d \u201cOK.\u201d What they\u2019re finding now at the hospitals is that people who are coming in for all kinds of what seem to be just their regular illnesses may, in fact, have Covid, too. Or at least been exposed to it. Tell me about your experience with coronavirus. You look good right now, but you\u2019re breathing with some extra help. \u201cWe had a little party for my 8-year-old. Lives with me. Granddaughter. Just a birthday cake.\u201d This is Rosa V. Hernandez. Like many people, she had really tried to be careful, but she let her guard down and she got sick and was very close to having to have a breathing tube yesterday. \u201cPeople are not taking it seriously. They\u2019re like, oh my God, I\u2019ve got to party hearty. I got to go to bars, I\u2019ve got to go to the beach, I\u2019ve got to go eat out. Really? Like you\u2019ve never done it before? Please, please, please take it serious.\u201d The fear is that nobody really knows what the trajectory is. You can have models, but models only can do so much. It really, really depends on human behavior. Whether they stay home more. Whether they wear masks. And then there could just be mysteries that we don\u2019t even understand about how this virus passes. And those numbers for now? They just keep rising.<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n

\"Video<\/img><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>

Our correspondent Sheri Fink goes behind the scenes at Houston Methodist Hospital as coronavirus cases rise.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Erin Schaff\/The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\n
\n

As coronavirus cases in Texas have soared to new heights in recent days, a number of hospitals in Houston have seen a steep rise in caseloads, filling intensive care units, overburdening staff, and straining testing capacity and the availability of other medical services. Protective gear, and other medical devices for testing and treating patients have been scarce.<\/p>\n

Our correspondent Sheri Fink went behind the scenes at Houston Methodist, a top-ranked system of eight hospitals, and found that the staff is armed with the most up-to-date understanding of how to treat patients with Covid-19, and prepared with hindsight to avoid some of the mistakes that hospitals in New York made as they scrambled to handle a cascading outbreak in March.<\/p>\n

Many of Houston\u2019s hospitals have already begun beefing up staff, and getting workers trained to handle patients as efficiently as possible. Some have also taken steps to keep elective procedures running to avoid the massive financial losses hospitals around the country faced earlier in the year when they adapted to focus nearly exclusively on patients with the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s been disheartening over the past week or two has been that it feels like we\u2019re back at square one,\u201d Dr. Mir M. Alikhan, a pulmonary and critical care specialist, said to his medical team before rounds. \u201cIt\u2019s really a terrible kind of sinking feeling. But we\u2019re not truly back at square one, right? Because we have the last three months of expertise that we\u2019ve developed.\u201d<\/p>\n

With a number of advantages on their side, many hospitals in the city hope to be able to weather the recent surge while keeping deaths to a minimum. To date, Harris Country which contains most of the Houston metro area and has recorded the highest number of cases in Texas over all, has held its death count to 387.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Local governments in hard-hit states are taking aim at newly imposed restrictions.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Image<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>
Diners at a restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz., this week.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Adriana Zehbrauskas for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Several states that were previously reluctant to impose broad public safety measures have reacted to the country\u2019s growing surge of cases by moving to adopt them, particularly in anticipation of Independence Day celebrations on Saturday.<\/p>\n

But while some people will gather for a traditional celebration, others will be assembling to protest the new restrictions.<\/p>\n

Arizona had strongly resisted sweeping regulations on businesses and individuals, making it one of the most cavalier states regarding Covid-19. But as cases there have skyrocketed and its intensive care beds have filled to near capacity, Arizona\u2019s leaders have been rethinking their hands-off approach.<\/p>\n

At least 91,894 cases of coronavirus have been recorded in Arizona to date, reached a single-day high of 4,797 new cases on June 30, according to data compiled by The New York Times.<\/p>\n

On Monday, Gov. Doug Ducey signed an executive order<\/a> prohibiting gatherings of more than 50 people and pausing reopenings of bars, gyms, and movie theaters. The governor\u2019s office has also allowed local jurisdictions to set stricter limits of their own, including ordinances requiring masks. Maricopa County \u2014 which has averaged<\/a> more than 2,500 new cases over the last week \u2014 passed its own regulations<\/a> requiring face coverings in public.<\/p>\n

Other localities are also seeing resistance to statewide measures.<\/p>\n

In Kansas, the Board of Sedgwick County Commissioners voted not to mandate that people wear masks in public but just to recommend it, despite a statewide mask ordinance issued by Gov. Laura Kelly.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cIt\u2019s probably the most innocuous, painless, relatively speaking, intervention we can do,\u201d Dr. Garold Minns, the county\u2019s public health officer, said at a commission meeting, voicing support for the state initiative. Still, county officials decided that individuals had the ability to make responsible decisions without government-imposed rules, especially if residents could maintain a six-foot distance.<\/p>\n

Some Texas counties have pushed back on Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s mask-wearing mandate, announced Thursday, under which residents could be fined up to $250<\/a> for noncompliance. In Nacogdoches County, Sheriff Jason Bridges made clear that his office would not be issuing citations for those who didn\u2019t wear masks. \u201cWe are not keeping a database of people who wear a mask and who are not. I mean we don\u2019t have the time or the energy to do that,\u201d Mr. Bridges said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The pandemic led to limits on evictions, but vulnerable tenants now face life on the street.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Image<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>
Jaimy Gonzalez in the apartment she shares with six relatives in Chelsea, Mass. All four adults in the household have lost work because of the pandemic.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Ryan Christopher Jones for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

When the U.S. economy ground to a halt this spring, economists warned that an avalanche of evictions was looming<\/a>. The federal government and many states rushed to ban them temporarily, placing moratoriums on mortgage foreclosures to relieve financial pressure on landlords.<\/p>\n

But 20 states, including Louisiana, Texas, Colorado and Wisconsin, have since lifted their restrictions, and researchers have tracked thousands of recent eviction<\/a> filings in places where data is available<\/a>. Eviction bans in nine other states and at the federal level are set to expire by the end of the month.<\/p>\n

All told, Amherst College anticipates that nearly 28 million households<\/a> are at risk of being turned out onto the streets because of job losses tied to the pandemic.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Even in places with ordinances barring evictions, the protections have been of little help to unauthorized immigrants, who fear that complaining to the authorities about their landlord could lead to a consequence worse than homelessness: deportation.<\/p>\n

Immigrant and renter advocates in cities across the country say they are being inundated with complaints about landlords pressuring tenants to pay rent money. They say landlords use harassment, illegal fees for late payments or repairs, or simply change the locks as a way to force out vulnerable renters.<\/p>\n

Norieliz Dejesus is a program manager with the organization Chelsea Collaborative, in Chelsea, Mass., a hub for incoming migrants<\/a> from Eastern Europe and Central America.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had one tenant whose landlord wants her out by the end of the month,\u201d Ms. Dejesus said, \u201cThe tenant explained the new laws. The landlord acknowledged the new laws and was like, \u2018I don\u2019t care \u2014 you have to leave.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The W.H.O. suspends two drug studies, including one on hydroxychloroquine, over possible safety issues.<\/h2>\n

The World Health Organization on Saturday formally suspended its evaluation of two high-profile drug candidates in clinical trials designed to identify treatments effective against the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

The W.H.O. formally adopted the recommendations of a steering committee and dropped the antimalarial drug hydroxychloroquine from its Solidarity trial, as well as the drug combination lopinavir\/ritonavir, first developed as an antiviral against H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Hydroxychloroquine was promoted by the Trump administration as a preventive and treatment for Covid-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus. But neither hydroxychloroquine nor lopinavir\/ritonavir<\/a> has shown benefits in hospitalized Covid-19 patients. In clinical trials, both drugs have failed to reduce deaths<\/a> among those with severe symptoms.<\/p>\n

And though neither drug appeared to increase the risk of death, the W.H.O. report cited possible safety issues associated with both treatments.<\/p>\n

A similar clinical trial of hydroxychloroquine, led by the National Institutes of Health<\/a>, was halted in June, based on recent evidence of the drug\u2019s lackluster performance. Just days prior, the Swiss drugmaker Novartis<\/a> had discontinued its own hydroxychloroquine clinical trial after it was unable to enroll the 440 participants it needed.<\/p>\n

The F.D.A. has also revoked emergency use authorization<\/a> of hydroxychloroquine to treat hospitalized Covid-19 patients, and now cautions against using the drug, which has been linked to reports of serious heart rhythm problems, blood and lymph system disorders and other side effects.<\/p>\n

The W.H.O.\u2019s decision applies only to its studies involving patients hospitalized with Covid-19, leaving open the possibility for further evaluation of hydroxychloroquine and lopinavir\/ritonavir in infected patients who have not yet been admitted to the hospital, or as a treatment to prevent those exposed to the coronavirus from getting sick. In the United States, clinical trials<\/a> studying both drugs<\/a> continue.<\/p>\n

The Solidarity trial is also continuing its explorations of two other treatment strategies: one involving remdesivir, an antiviral that has been shown to speed recovery<\/a> in patients hospitalized with Covid-19, and a second that combines lopinavir\/ritonavir with interferon beta-1a, which decreases inflammation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Iraq\u2019s health care system is nearing breakdown.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Image<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>
Doctors consult each other at Al-Hakim Hospital in Najaf, Iraq, in June. Iraq\u2019s case load has increased eight-fold in the last month, rising from about 250 new cases daily to 2,000 at the end of June.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Alaa Al-Marjani\/Reuters<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Iraq\u2019s caseload has increased eightfold in the last month, rising from about 250 new cases daily to 2,000 at the end of June. Deaths have increased as well, with about 100 people dying daily compared to fewer than 50 daily a month ago.<\/p>\n

And signs are piling up that the country\u2019s health care system is on the verge of breaking down.<\/p>\n

The director of public health for Najaf Province, Dr. Radwan al-Kindi, said: \u201cI am tired, so tired. We have 250 doctors, nurses and paramedics in quarantine or in the hospital because they have Covid.\u201d He listed close colleagues who had been infected, ending with \u201cand now my bodyguard just tested positive.\u201d He knows he could well be next.<\/p>\n

Already 1,000 doctors, most of them mainstays at hospitals around the country where they are exposed to the virus, are infected, according to the head of the Iraqi doctor\u2019s union, Dr. Abdul Ameer al-Shimmeri. There were already relatively few medical staff willing to work directly with infected patients. Now the situation is dire.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in crisis and we have no control over the virus,\u201d Dr. al-Shimmeri said. \u201cThere is an absence of preventative equipment for doctors. Most of them are paying for their own and using it more than once.\u201d <\/p>\n

Oxygen is in such short supply that a prominent Shiite cleric and politician tweeted about Iraq\u2019s fourth-largest city: \u201cNasiriyah can\u2019t breathe.\u201d<\/p>\n

The country\u2019s number of confirmed cases is at least 56,000 but could be more because labs are having difficulty handling the number of samples that come in. Some doctors complain that it takes 11 days or more to get test results, which are delayed by a lack of staff and the volume of tests.<\/p>\n

Mohammed Ghanem, who runs the busy lab at Sadr Medical City Teaching Hospital in Baghdad, said, \u201cMost of my staff is sick, so I am trying to train new staff, but they do not have experience.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

The newest U.S. challenge is, quite simply, impatience.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Image<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>
Protestors gathered in Raleigh, N.C., in June, to demonstrate against a mask mandate.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Gerry Broome\/Associated Press<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

In North Carolina, the governor vetoed efforts by lawmakers to reopen skating rinks, bowling alleys<\/a> and amusement parks. In Alaska, new workplace clusters are emerging, social distancing is on the decline and contact tracers are overwhelmed. And in Kansas, state and local leaders are squabbling over whether masks are required.<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly on, people who tested positive usually had a short list of close contacts,\u201d Dr. Joe McLaughlin, Alaska\u2019s state epidemiologist, said in a statement. \u201cNow, as people are mixing more with others, it\u2019s not uncommon for someone who tests positive to have had dozens of close contacts, sometimes too many to name and call.\u201d<\/p>\n

The struggles in those three states, all of which set single-day case records on Friday, exemplify the challenges officials across the country face as cases surge. Unlike the first spike in March and April, when most places were on lockdown, case numbers are now exploding after many Americans have returned to their routines and grown frustrated with restrictions.<\/p>\n

In Kansas, where more than 780 cases were announced on Friday, residents have heard mixed messages from their leaders. This week, Gov. Laura Kelly, a Democrat, ordered residents to wear masks in public. Commissioners in Sedgwick County, which includes Wichita, then voted to make Ms. Kelly\u2019s mask mandate a recommendation, not a requirement. But on Friday, the Wichita City Council convened in a special meeting and approved a mask mandate, effective immediately, with the possibility of fines for those who refuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a shot of avoiding another shut down, of ensuring our kids have school & protecting folks,\u201d Mayor Brandon Whipple of Wichita said on Twitter<\/a> after the city\u2019s mask rule was approved.<\/p>\n

Similar whiplash was seen in North Carolina, where the Republican-controlled Legislature passed bills that would have curtailed business restrictions enacted by Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat. But Mr. Cooper stepped in and vetoed the measures, meaning roller skating rinks and bowling alleys, along with some other businesses, must remain closed.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

\u201cOpening these higher-risk facilities would spread Covid-19 and endanger the state\u2019s flexibility to open the public schools,\u201d Mr. Cooper said in a veto statement.<\/p>\n

Scientists plan to ask the W.H.O. to warn that the virus can spread through the air.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Image<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>
The World Health Organization\u2019s official guidance discounts aerosols as a major form of transmission, despite recent research to the contrary.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>NIAID-RML, via Associated Press<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

An international group of 239 experts is calling on the World Health Organization to recognize that the coronavirus can be spread through the air, especially in crowded indoor spaces with poor ventilation.<\/p>\n

In an open letter the researchers plan to publish, they say there is clear evidence that the virus can be transmitted by microdroplets, called aerosols. The W.H.O.\u2019s official guidance discounts aerosols as a major form of transmission, saying the virus is spreading mostly through larger respiratory droplets that don\u2019t travel far.<\/p>\n

But most of the recent research suggests the scientists are correct, with enormous implications for how people should protect themselves. For example, ventilation systems in schools, nursing homes, residences and businesses may need to minimize recirculating air, aim to provide clean outside air, and add powerful filters or ultraviolet lights that can destroy the virus.<\/p>\n

Health care workers may need to wear N95 masks that filter the smallest respiratory droplets whenever they care for Covid-19 patients.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we started revisiting airflow, we would have to be prepared to change a lot of what we do,\u201d said Mary-Louise McLaws, an epidemiologist at the University of New South Wales in Sydney who sits on the W.H.O.\u2019s infection control committee. \u201cI think it\u2019s a good idea, a very good idea, but it will cause an enormous shudder through the infection control society.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

Even in its latest update on the coronavirus, released June 29, the W.H.O. said airborne transmission of the virus was possible only after medical procedures<\/a> that produced aerosols, or droplets smaller than 5 microns. Proper ventilation and N95 masks are only of concern in those circumstances, according to the guidance.<\/p>\n

Dr. Benedetta Allegranzi, the W.H.O.\u2019s technical lead for infection prevention and control, said the evidence for the virus spreading by air was unconvincing.<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially in the last couple of months, we have been stating several times that we think airborne transmission is possible but certainly not supported by solid or even clear evidence,\u201d she said. \u201cThere is a strong debate on this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Global Roundup<\/p>\n

Thailand has gone 40 days without community transmission \u2014 and longer without foreign tourists.<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

Image<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n<\/div>
Students learning about hand washing in Bangkok on Wednesday.<\/span>Credit…<\/span>Adam Dean for The New York Times<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
\n

Thailand on Saturday marked 40 days without any locally transmitted cases of the coronavirus, a feat that mirrors those of regional counterparts, like Vietnam and Laos.<\/p>\n

Earlier this year, it didn\u2019t look so promising for a country that was one of the most popular tourist destinations on Earth. In mid-January, Thailand confirmed the first case of the coronavirus outside of China, in a visitor from Wuhan, the Chinese city where the outbreak first emerged.<\/p>\n

Foreign tourists continued to arrive for months, until Thailand shut its airports to most international flights in early April. But even before the flight lockdown, many Thais were vigilant about wearing face masks. Social greetings in the country aren\u2019t of the hug and kiss variety, perhaps creating fewer opportunities for the virus to spread. So far, Thailand has recorded fewer than 3,200 cases of the coronavirus, with 58 deaths.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

With local transmission seemingly under control, schools reopened on July 1. The country\u2019s notorious nightlife has revved up again, with entertainers required to wear face masks with their often brief costumes. This weekend, Thais began traveling by the millions for a four-day holiday, crowding airports and train and bus stations that had been largely empty for three months.<\/p>\n

But with limits on international visitors still in place, Thailand\u2019s tourism-dependent economy is likely to suffer the worst hit of any regional economy this year. A maximum of 200 foreigners are being allowed in to Thailand each day.<\/p>\n

Other coronavirus news from around the world:<\/p>\n