July 27 coronavirus news

Many states and communities began loosening coronavirus pandemic restrictions in the late spring and early summer — but as cases surge across the US, there are calls for a second lockdown.

More than 150 prominent medical experts, scientists, teachers, nurses and other experts have signed a letter urging leaders to shut the country down and start over to contain the rampant spread of the virus.

The letter came just after an unpublished document prepared for the White House coronavirus task force recommended that 18 states in the coronavirus "red zone" for cases should roll back reopening measures amid surging cases.

Those states were Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.

And Dr. Anthony Fauci said earlier this month that some states reopened too quickly, allowing the coronavirus pandemic to come roaring back,

How we got here: Georgia was among the first states to reopen, allowing hair and nail salons, gyms, bowling alleys, tattoo studios and massage therapists to reopen their doors in late April. Around the same time, some businesses in Alaska and Oklahoma were allowed to reopen.

By mid-May, all 50 states were at least somewhere along the road to a full reopening. But even as more communities loosened their coronavirus restrictions, experts warned that the effects of those reopenings wouldn't be clear for weeks.

New York City continues to meet the threshold to keep the city open and has dropped the city’s infection rate to 1%, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Here are NYC's key indicators for Monday, July 27:

One thing to note: The numbers listed were released by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project. 

As the first Phase 3 clinical trial of a Covid-19 vaccine in the United States is underway, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said there will be dozens of sites nationwide where volunteers will be participating in the study.

"There are 89 sites distributed throughout the country," Fauci said during during a phone call with reporters on Monday. 

More on the trial: At least 30,000 adult volunteers are expected in the Phase 3 trial. The first patient was dosed at a site in Savannah, Georgia, on Monday.

The investigational vaccine was developed by the biotechnology company Moderna and NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health.

Fauci said during the call that the launch of the Phase 3 trial marks a "truly historic event in the history of vaccinology."

Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the World Health Organization's health emergencies program, said governments that react quickly and are honest about their countries’ Covid-19 situations should be praised.  

“The real judge and test of a country’s capacity and resolve is how quickly and how comprehensively does each country respond to those signals that the disease is back,” he said at a press briefing on Monday in Geneva.

“I think both Australia and Japan deserve a lot of praise for the way in which they’re trying to contain the disease sub-national or at community level,” Ryan added.

The WHO official said that what countries are really trying to do is “ensure that small numbers of cases and clusters don’t reignite sustained and efficient community transmission.”  

Governments should be praised, Ryan said, when they pick up on these clusters of cases and when they react quickly and demonstrate that they’re taking responsibility and communicating transparently. 

“We should refrain, I would hope, from overly criticizing governments who are actively seeking cases, actively doing surveillance, doing contact tracing, they’re trying to uncover the problem,” he said. “They’re trying to surface the issues and deal with the issues.” 

Ryan said that situations that should worry people are those where problems aren’t being surfaced, or are being glossed over, where everything looks good. 

“Because one thing is for sure with Covid, as it is with every infectious disease,” he said. “Just looking good does not mean things are good.”  

Ryan said that he would rather being in a situation with a government that is “honest and truthful about the situation on the ground,” that communicates what is happening and demonstrates that it can take action and react quickly. 

Vice President Mike Pence will head to Miami today to discuss a phase three coronavirus vaccine trial. He'll visit the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and hold a press briefing later today.

Florida has broken its record of new cases several times in recent weeks. Here's what we know about the pandemic in the Sunshine State:

Here's where each county stands on coronavirus cases:

The Miami Marlins' home opening game against the Baltimore Orioles tonight has been canceled due to a number of players and staff testing positive for Covid-19, according to multiple reports. 

According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, eight players and two coaches have tested positive for coronavirus, bringing the total cases on the team to at least 14.

Miami played their first three games of the shortened 60-game season in Philadelphia this past weekend, winning two of three.

The Marlins did not travel back to Miami after the three-game series ended Sunday as they remained overnight for more testing.

This is the first game to be canceled this season.

CNN has reached out to Major League Baseball and the Marlins for comment.

The President of Brazil’s Superior Court of Justice (STJ), Joao Otavio de Noronha, tested positive for Covid-19 on Sunday, according to the court’s press office.

Noronha is “asymptomatic and working from home” the press office told CNN via email.

Noronha, who is 63 years old, is the first high-rank official of the Brazilian judiciary to test positive for coronavirus.

He continues to be in charge of the court, which has adopted a working from home policy since the beginning of the pandemic in the country.

Trial sessions have been held by videoconference since May, according to the Court’s press office.

The White House confirmed national security adviser Robert O'Brien has tested positive for coronavirus. In a statement, the White House said O'Brien has been working off-site and "there is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President."

Here's the statement:

Google will extend its work-from-home stance until at least July 2021, according to a person familiar with the matter. 

The company had previously said most employees will be working remotely through the end of 2020, with some employees being allowed back into the office sooner. 

But the decision to extend the remote work policy well into next year indicates that one of the world’s largest tech companies is bracing for a long pandemic — and could prompt other businesses to follow suit. 

A Google spokesperson on Monday confirmed the company’s plans, citing an internal memo by CEO Sundar Pichai.

The memo was independently obtained by CNN.