August 6 coronavirus news

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear has extended the state's mask mandate for another 30 days. 

Beshear reported 516 new Covid-19 cases, which he said is 247 less cases compared to Monday through Thursday of last week.

The governor attributed this decline in cases to the assumption that more people are wearing face coverings due to the statewide mandate.

Beshear said he believes that the mask mandate will pave the way for safer reopenings of businesses, and for schools as well.  

“This is saving lives, saving our economy, and we hope it will get us in a position to get our kids back in school. It is a small thing to do for such an important reward," the governor added.

By the numbers: Kentucky now has a total of 33,254 Covid-19 cases.

There are at least 4,867,916 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 159,841 people have died from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases.

So far on Thursday, Johns Hopkins recorded 44,026 new cases and 987 reported deaths.  

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

Travelers arriving to the UK from Belgium, Bahamas, and Andorra will now have to self-quarantine for 14 days, starting August 8, the British Foreign Office announced on Thursday. 

Around 1.8 million British people visit Belgium every year, according to the Foreign Office. In the last week of July, Belgium’s weekly average of new infections rose by 62% compared to the previous week, according to the Belgium health authorities.

Previously, Britain had removed Estonia, Ireland, Latvia and Norway from its save travel list. 

On the other hand, Brunei and Malaysia have been added to the UK's safe travel list "following a decrease in confirmed cases of coronavirus," the Transport Secretary said. Travelers arriving to the UK from these destinations will no longer need to undergo a quarantine, starting August 11.

Members of diplomatic missions and consular posts or representatives of international organizations are not included in the UK's travel restrictions. 

Gilead Sciences, the company that makes remdesivir, said it has increased its manufacturing capabilities of the antiviral drug “to meet real-time global demand starting in October,” according to a news release on Thursday.

“We plan to produce more than two million treatment courses by the end of the year, and we anticipate producing several million more in 2021, if needed,” the release said.

Gilead said that supply of the remdesivir, the only drug that currently has an emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat patients with Covid-19, has been increased “more than 50-fold since January,” and that it has shortened its manufacturing timeline to six months from a “lengthy manufacturing timeline.”

The company also announced voluntary licensing agreements with nine generic drug manufacturers to increase global supply of remdesivir to “127 countries that represent nearly all low-income and lower-middle income countries.” There are now more than 40 companies working to manufacture remdesivir in North America, Europe and Asia, Gilead said. 

The release comes on the heels of a call by 34 attorneys general urging the federal government to increase the supply and affordability of remdesivir, warning the heads of the US Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health, and the FDA that the supply of the drug is “dangerously limited” and that the recently announced prices of the drug “will impede access to treatment.”

The school board of Hillsborough County Schools in Florida voted Thursday to start the school year with four weeks of remote learning. The board will then reconvene on Sept. 8 to reevaluate the plan.

The motion passed 5-2, but the deliberation leading up to the vote went on for just over five hours.

Prior to this decision, the district had already decided to delay the start of school by two weeks.

Hillsborough County — which includes the city of Tampa — is the eighth largest school district in the country. With Hillsborough’s decision, nine of the 10 largest school districts in the country will be starting in an all-online format.

An official summary of the meeting has not been published yet, but the district announced the decision in with this tweet:

Researchers behind an influential model at the University of Washington are now projecting that the US death toll could reach nearly 300,000 by December 1 – but that can be changed if consistent mask-wearing occurs.

“America’s Covid-19 death toll is expected to reach nearly 300,000 by December 1; however, consistent mask-wearing beginning today could save about 70,000 lives, according to new data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington’s School of Medicine,” a statement said.

According to Johns Hopkins University, 159,433 people have died in the United States since the pandemic began. “The US forecast totals 295,011 deaths by December,” the IHME statement said.

The model doesn’t have to come true, said IHME Director Dr. Christopher Murray: “The public’s behavior had a direct correlation to the transmission of the virus and, in turn, the numbers of deaths.”

In its previous forecast, published July 7, IHME projected there would be 230,822 US deaths from Covid-19 by November.

“Since July 15, several states have added mask mandates. IHME’s statistical analysis suggests that mandates with no penalties increase mask wearing by 8 percentage points. But mandates with penalties increase mask wearing by 15 percentage points,” the statement said.

This new model assumes that 50% of school districts will have online school in the fall. When schools make their final decisions, this will impact the forecast and IHME “will incorporate them into our future revisions of forecasts.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed an executive order requiring face coverings to be worn in all child care centers and at camps, according to a release from her office. 

Michigan has seen Covid-19 outbreaks at these locations, and by requiring face coverings, child care centers and camps “can remain open while keeping children and staff members safe," the governor said in a news release.

Face coverings are not required for child care centers located in a region in phase five of Michigan’s reopening plan, the release added.

The new order requires all staff and children ages 2 and up to wear a face covering on a school bus or other transportation. Additionally, all staff and children ages 4 and up have to wear a face covering in all indoor common spaces. All staff and children 12 and older are required to wear a face covering in classrooms, homes, cabins, or similar indoor small-group settings, the release said.

More details: The governor also strongly encouraged all children ages 2 and up wear face coverings when indoors.

According to the release, these rules align with the existing rules on face coverings that already apply to pre-K-12 schools across Michigan.  

“Masks continue to be one of the best ways to contain the spread of Covid-19, and they can be safely worn by most of us over the age of two,” Michigan’s chief medical executive Dr. Joneigh Khaldun said. “It will take all of us, of all ages, doing our part to continue slowing the spread of this disease and to protect our families and communities.”

Contact tracing is a vitally important tool for reducing the spread of Covid-19, but it has to be communicated properly to communities in order for it to work, according to the global health organization Vital Strategies, led by former US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden.

“Those who are 50+ and from racial and ethnic minority communities are disproportionately affected; hence, it is key that the appropriate communication channels and message delivery are adopted for successful community engagement with these demographics,” the Contact Tracing Community Messaging Toolkit says.

Vital Strategies published the toolkit on Thursday after carrying out 12 sets of focus group interviews, where 88 people participated in the research for the report. The groups were comprised of English- and Spanish-speaking Black and Latinx immigrants in New York City and Philadelphia.

The toolkit highlights the need for trusted messengers, local messaging and media planning in order to have successful contact tracing in these communities.

The main three sources of information and communication mentioned by focus group participants were community-based organizations, word of mouth and government websites. 

There is a lack of trust in government, “primarily due to political and racial tensions, long-standing systemic health and, and social inequities facing ethnic minority groups,” but many of the focus group participants indicated that they trusted information from community health centers, primary doctors, local health departments and the CDC. 

This is why people who are communicating the information about contact tracing must be trusted and respected in the communities. 

The way messages are delivered is also important, with different groups and different ages preferring varying modes of communication, ranging from text messages to newspapers. 

Messaging also has to be local. It has to be relatable to those who campaigns are trying to reach, and take language considerations into account.

Media buying, when it comes to spreading information about contact tracing, must be audience-focused – so that it is able to reach all audiences and hard-to-reach groups directly.

The toolkit also details the Be The One campaign, which is a “concept that centers the individual’s participation in contact tracing as the key to helping their communities.”

Be The One was the concept that resonated most with the focus groups, according to the toolkit’s news release, “as it centers on the individual's participation in contact tracing as the key to helping their communities.

While the toolkit was developed with contact tracing in mind, it can also be used to support other public health and social measures, Vital Strategies said.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to “give the fans what they want” when it comes to sports returning to schools and college campuses this upcoming school year.

DeSantis made the remarks during a news conference in Jacksonville Thursday where he pushed for the return of girls and boys sports in his state.

DeSantis said “there is a risk out there” with sports. But, he doesn’t foresee youth sports teams operating in an “NBA style bubble.”

Instead, when an athlete develops symptoms, that athlete would be isolated and tested. And the athlete could then return 10 days after displaying symptoms. 

“What I would not do is just… shut down everything else. I mean I think if everyone else is fine, you got to just keep going,” DeSantis said.

DeSantis said the vast majority of youth either have zero or mild symptoms. The governor said that as a father, if his children were old enough to play sports, he would want them to play.

“I would want them playing,” DeSantis said. “If they bring something back to the house, I mean, as much as I wouldn't want that, I would rather take that risk, than to deprive them of the opportunity. You know, to do things like this. But that's just me as a father, the calculation I would make.”