July 19 coronavirus news

By Helen Regan, Jenni Marsh and Amy Woodyatt, CNN

Updated 12:50 a.m. ET, July 20, 2020
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1:43 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020

More than 140,000 people have died from coronavirus in the US

From CNN's Hollie Silverman  

There are at least 3,736,213 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 140,255 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases.

As of 1:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, 24,800 new cases and 136 new deaths have been reported in the US since midnight.  

The totals includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.   

1:42 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020

New Jersey reports 144 new Covid-19 cases and 11 deaths

From CNN's Sheena Jones

New Jersey reports 144 new cases of Covid-19 and 11 additional deaths from the virus, according to a tweet from Gov. Phil Murphy. 

One thing to note: The numbers listed were released by the state of New Jersey and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Read Gov. Murphy's tweet:

1:59 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020

Los Angeles mayor tells CNN he is "on the brink" of reissuing stay-at-home order

From Nicky Robertson

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti told CNN’s Jake Tapper that he is on the “brink” of reissuing a stay-at-home order for the city.

In an interview on CNN's State of the Union, Garcetti said on this issue that some openings happened too quickly, but not at the city level.

“Mayors often have no control over what opens up and doesn't. That's either at a state or county level. And I do agree that those things happened too quickly. But we are smarter, Jake, about this. It's not just what's open and closed. It's also about what we do individually.”

California has experienced a resurgence in the number of coronavirus cases. As of this morning, California reported over 380,000 cases and over 7,000 deaths. 

When asked by Tapper at what point he would reissue a stay-at-home order, he did not indicate what specific measurements they would need to see, but said, “we haven't had the level of deaths. So, we're following those very carefully. Deaths have been pretty steady. Cases have gone up, but we also have the most aggressive testing.” 

 Garcetti added that he wants to take a “surgical” approach to the situation, “I want to be more surgical. I want to go into those factories where we're seeing spread. I want to go into those communities, especially our lower-income communities.”

1:28 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020

Indiana reports 927 new Covid-19 cases, just below its record daily increase

From CNN’s Chandler Thornton

Indiana recorded 927 new cases of the novel coronavirus Sunday, just below its highest daily increase since the outbreak, according to the state's health department.

The state's highest daily increase was recorded on April 26, when it recorded a daily increase of 946 cases.

Indiana's total number of confirmed cases is 56,571.  

The state also reported two new deaths from the virus Sunday, bringing its death toll to 2,629.

This comes a day after Indianapolis Public Schools Board of Commissioners voted to push back the start date for public schools another two weeks to August 17.

 

1:07 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020

CDC adds cancer patients to list of those at increased risk of severe illness from Covid-19

From CNN Health’s Naomi Thomas

Cancer has been added to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s list of underlying medical conditions that increase risk of severe illness from Covid-19. 

“Revisions were made on July 17, 2020 to reflect recent data supporting increased risk of severe Covid-19 among individuals with cancer,” the CDC website says. 

The increased risk applies to people of all ages. 

The other conditions included on the list include chronic kidney disease, obesity, serious heart conditions and Type 2 diabetes. 

They also list conditions that could lead to an increased risk of severe illness. These include asthma, cystic fibrosis and high blood pressure.

The CDC says it will continue to update information as more becomes known. 

1:07 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020

Vermont has reported no Covid-19 deaths in more than 30 days

From CNN’s Lauren Del Valle 

Vermont has reported no new coronavirus-related deaths since June 19, maintaining 56 deaths in the state for more than 30 consecutive days, according to Johns Hopkins University data. 

Vermont has in total reported 1350 cases of Covid-19 since the beginning of the outbreak in March. 

CNN has reached out to the Vermont Department of Health for comment. 

12:23 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020

Senate Minority Leader: cutting CDC funding would be like “cutting your nose to spite your face”

From CNN’s Beth English

CNN
CNN

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said cutting funding to the CDC would be like “cutting your nose to spite your face.”

“We are going to do everything we can to make sure that the CDC is fully funded in the stimulus package,” the New York Senator said Sunday, responding to a question from CNN. 

“The administration is talking about --Republican McConnell is talking about cutting it – that would be cutting your nose to spite your face. We need the CDC to help us fight Covid. To not have the facts, to not have the science makes no sense at all.”

He earlier stressed the importance of keeping the data on Covid-19 public.

“We must keep the information about the number of cases and the number of deaths from Covid public through the CDC,” Schumer said.

“For the President, the administration to want to sweep the facts under the rug so they can hide them, it's not gonna work. Whenever the President has tried to avoid the problem, like this will go away, this wont affect many people, it’s gotten worse,” he said.

12:58 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020

Florida reports more than 12,000 new Covid-19 cases

From CNN's Melissa Alonso 

Florida’s health officials reported 12,478 new cases of Covid-19 and 87 new deaths on Sunday, according to data released by the Florida Department of Health.    

This brings the state’s total cases to 350,047, DOH data shows. The statewide death toll is now 4,982, the data shows.   

Sunday marks the fourth time since the start of the pandemic that Florida has reported more than 12,000 cases in a single day. All four days have been in July, according to CNN's tally.  

One thing to note: These numbers were released by Florida's public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project. 

12:07 p.m. ET, July 19, 2020

US is on a good path when it comes to vaccines, NIH director says  

From CNN Health’s Naomi Thomas

from NBC
from NBC

The ability to distribute vaccines and the fear that the rush to make a vaccine may make it unsafe are significant concerns, according to Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health. But, he said it’s important to look at the positive side. 

“This has been an amazing trajectory that we’ve been on,” Collins said, talking on NBC’s Meet the Press. 

Within a day or two of getting the virus genome sequence, he said that a vaccine was already starting to be designed. After 62 days, this was being injected into the first phase one trial participants. 

“That data which was just published looks extremely good,” Collins said. “So we’re on a good path here.” 

Collins also encouraged people to sign up for vaccine clinical trials, especially is places where the virus is spreading and people who are at higher risk. 

Speaking about reports that Russian cyber actors are targeting organizations involved in coronavirus vaccine development, Collins said it wasn’t entirely clear to him what it was all about, but that “most of what we do in science, we publish it, we put it out there, people don’t have to go hacking to find it. We’re all about transparency.” 

He also said he wasn’t sure that there was serious risk involved, “mischief, yes, but serious risk, I’m not so sure.”