August 25 coronavirus news

Usain Bolt has tested positive for the coronavirus, and the government in his native Jamaica says the fastest man on the planet won’t be spared punishment if he broke the rules stemming from a party held for his 34th birthday on Friday, according to Jamaica’s Health minister.

“It is now public knowledge that Mr. Bolt has been tested positive,” Dr. Christopher Tufton, the Jamaican Minister of Health and Wellness, said in a virtual press conference on Monday.

“He has been formally notified – I’m told – by the authorities and in keeping with standard protocols once there is a positive case, irrespective of the individual, it triggers an approach to questioning, interrogation if you will, which would then follow through with contact tracing." Tufton said.

Ricky Simms, Bolt’s agent, confirmed his positive test to CNN.

Bolt, the world-record holder in the 100m and 200m and an eight-time Olympic gold medalist, had posted a video on social media earlier Monday prior to the test results.

He had been given the test on Saturday, he said, and wasn’t showing any symptoms. He intended to quarantine and urged those who had been around him to also isolate.

“I did a test on Saturday because I have work,” Bolt said. “I'm trying to be responsible so I'm going to stay in and stay in for my friends. Also, I’m having no symptoms.”

“I'm going to quarantine myself and wait to see what the protocol is […] Until then […] I'm quarantined by myself and just taking it easy. Be safe out there.”

New York has removed five states from its Covid-19 quarantine travel advisory, and it has added Guam, according to the governor's office. 

Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Maryland and Montana were removed, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office said in a release. 

Remember: We can expect the same measures to be taken in Connecticut and New Jersey as the three states set up the quarantine travel advisory collectively. Dozens of states and territories remain. 

There were two deaths reported in the state yesterday, matching the state's previous low. No deaths were reported in New York City.

For the 18th straight day, the state remained under a 1% rate of positivity in testing.

Here's the full list of states and territories on the travel advisory list:

Iowa State University announced it has 130 reported cases of Covid-19 on campus after the school's first week of class, a statement from the university said.

The university said it tested 957 students, faculty and staff on campus between Aug. 17 and Aug. 23 to arrive at the 130 positive cases, giving the school a positivity rate of 13.6%. These results also include the athletic department, the statement noted.

The positivity rate is a sharp rise from the rest of the month when the school said its testing showed a rate of 8.8%, the statement explained.

“We also have adequate isolation and quarantine housing available," she added.

Some context: Iowa State has been operating under a hybrid instruction model with 44% of its fall courses having an "in-person component," while just more than a third of its courses are fully virtual, an earlier statement from the school explained. 

Iowa state, located in Ames, has more than 30,000 students and 6,000 full time faculty and staff, according to its website.

Florida health officials reported 2,673 new Covid-19 cases and 183 additional resident deaths on Monday, according to the Florida Department of Health (DOH).    

The state has reported at least 599,176 coronavirus cases among Florida residents and 605,502 total cases across the state, DOH data shows.   

The Florida Department of Health shows the total Covid-19 death toll in the state standing at 10,580 Florida residents.

The three hotspots of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties account for 4,490 deaths, which is 42.4%  of all deaths in the State of Florida. 

Remember: 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.  

The president of Spain's Madrid region, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, announced at a press conference on Tuesday the measures under which the education centers will open in the capital. 

Díaz Ayuso said masks will be mandatory for children from 6 years of age at all times while in the center. "This measure could be changed to 11 years of age if the situation in the region improved," she added.

She also explained that classes will be reduced to 20 pupils and that 11,000 new teachers will be hired to allow that ratio. All centers will be provided with disinfectant gel, thermometers and masks, and the cleaning procedures will be made more thorough. Díaz Ayuso added that 100.000 tests will be performed to centre's personnel.

Catalonia's President, Quim Torra, announced similar measures on Monday. He said children 12 years old and up in Catalonia will have to wear masks at school, and from the age of six in those territories with "higher risk of contagion." Classes will also be reduced to 20 students and 500,000 tests will be carried out in Catalan schools and high schools.

In Spain, the regional governments retain the responsibility and the decision power on education, as well as health, so each of the 17 regions will have to decide which measures they see fit for the schools and other educational centers to reopen in their territory. 

Children in public schools in Danbury, Connecticut, will start the year with entirely remote learning, superintendent Sal Pascarella told CNN. 

The move comes as the city is facing a "serious outbreak" of Covid-19, according to Gov. Ned Lamont.

The superintendent will revisit the decision on Oct. 1, with full-day childcare available in the meantime, he added.

Some background: There were at least 178 new Covid-19 cases reported in Danbury between Aug. 2 and 20, compared to the 40 new cases recorded in the two weeks before, according to the state department of public health. That represents a 345% increase in new reported cases.

North Carolina State Athletics has temporarily paused all athletic-related activities, including football, "due to an identified cluster within its programs," the school announced Monday in a statement.

NC State said it will continue to follow established protocols in consultation with campus and local health officials.

In an email interview with The Washington Post, that's how Dr. Anthony Fauci said he is sometimes referred to as the "skunk at the picnic" at the White House — but added that Vice President Mike Pence, head of the administration's coronavirus task force, still listens to his counsel. 

Fauci's emailed comments were published in an article about Pence in The Washington Post on Monday. 

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, praised Pence in an email to The Post as "a truly decent person, and very smart, who is trying to do his best in a very difficult and fluid situation." 

Fauci wrote that Pence is "an optimist," but the vice president has never prevented Fauci from sharing grim information with the President.

Argentina reported its highest number of both new Covid-19 cases and deaths Monday, according to numbers released from the Health Ministry.

On Monday, the ministry reported 382 new deaths from the virus — its highest daily increase since the outbreak started. The previous record — 282 new deaths — was reported on Aug. 19.

Argentina's death toll from the virus now stands at at least 7,366.

The ministry also reported a record 8,713 new cases Monday, bringing the country's total number for cases to at least 350,867. Its previous record for new cases was set on Aug. 20, when the ministry reported 8,225 new cases.

Argentina has the 6th highest number of confirmed cases in Latin America behind Chile, Colombia, Peru, Mexico and Brazil and the 12th highest death toll worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University's latest tally.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this post misstated the number of new Covid-19 deaths in Argentina. There were 382 new deaths on Monday.