August 22 coronavirus news

By Nectar Gan, Brett McKeehan, Angela Dewan, Fernando Alfonso III and Amir Vera, CNN

Updated 12:35 AM ET, Sun August 23, 2020
39 Posts
Sort byDropdown arrow
12:26 a.m. ET, August 23, 2020

President Trump to hold news conference on Sunday to discuss "major therapeutic breakthrough"

U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters at the White House on July 20, in Washington, DC.
U.S. President Donald Trump talks to reporters at the White House on July 20, in Washington, DC. Doug Mills/Pool/Getty Images

President Trump will hold a news conference at 6 p.m. ET Sunday to discuss “a major therapeutic breakthrough” regarding coronoavirus, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany announced.

She said Alex Azar, Secretary for US Health and Human Services, Stephan Hahn, the head of the Food and Drug Administration, would be in attendance.

On Saturday, President Donald Trump accused the US Food and Drug Administration of deliberately delaying coronavirus vaccine trials without providing any evidence.

"The deep state, or whoever, over at the FDA is making it very difficult for drug companies to get people in order to test the vaccines and therapeutics," Trump tweeted, continuing to push his unfounded theory that there is a "deep state" embedded within the government bureaucracy working against his reelection.

He accused the agency of delaying a vaccine for the virus until after the fall election, tweeting: "Obviously, they are hoping to delay the answer until after November 3rd. Must focus on speed, and saving lives!" Trump ended his tweet by tagging the Twitter account of Hahn, who he nominated last year to take up the role.

Hahn assured Americans earlier this month that the agency "will not cut corners" to approve a vaccine.

Read more here.

12:26 a.m. ET, August 23, 2020

Japan reports nearly 1,000 new coronavirus cases

From Junko Ogura in Tokyo and Isaac Yee in Hong Kong

A medical worker collects a nasal swab from a passenger to test for Covid-19 at a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing site inside Narita Airport in Narita, Japan, on Sunday, July 19.
A medical worker collects a nasal swab from a passenger to test for Covid-19 at a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing site inside Narita Airport in Narita, Japan, on Sunday, July 19. Akio Kon/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Japan reported 986 new coronavirus cases nationwide on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 62,459, the country’s health ministry announced on Sunday morning. 

Seven deaths were reported across Japan on Saturday, raising the nationwide death toll to 1,189.

Of the 986 new cases, 256 were reported in Japan’s capital Tokyo, marking the third day in a row that the city has seen a daily increase of over 200 cases. Over 60% of the new cases in Tokyo were in their 20s and 30s, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. The capital now has 19,121 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

11:38 p.m. ET, August 22, 2020

New Zealand reports one new locally transmitted case

From Isaac Yee in Hong Kong

A ESR member of staff is seen during a visit from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) on August 20, in Porirua, New Zealand. Prime Minister Ardern visited the ESR science center, where scientists have been mapping coronavirus genomes. 
A ESR member of staff is seen during a visit from Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern of the Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR) on August 20, in Porirua, New Zealand. Prime Minister Ardern visited the ESR science center, where scientists have been mapping coronavirus genomes.  Dom Thomas/Pool/Getty Images)

New Zealand on Saturday reported three new coronavirus cases, the Ministry of Health announced on Sunday morning. 

Of the three new cases, only one was a locally transmitted infection found in the community, according to the Ministry of Health.

The locally transmitted case is epidemiologically linked to the cluster in Auckland as a household contact of a previously reported case. The remaining two cases were imported from overseas, according to the ministry.

The country has now recorded 1,324 cases, of which 114 are active. Nine of the active cases are being treated in hospital, six are in a stable condition and three are in intensive care.

On Saturday, New Zealand conducted 7,005 coronavirus tests bringing the total number of tests conducted nationwide to 692,481.

Read more about New Zealand's outbreak here.

11:37 p.m. ET, August 22, 2020

New York Mets report no new Covid-19 cases within “entire traveling party” 

A New York Mets batting helmet in the dugout before a spring training baseball game at Clover Park on March 8, in Port St. Lucie, Florida.
A New York Mets batting helmet in the dugout before a spring training baseball game at Clover Park on March 8, in Port St. Lucie, Florida. Rich Schultz/Getty Images

The New York Mets revealed on Saturday that their “entire traveling party” has tested negative for Covid-19. 

The Mets returned to New York from Miami on Thursday. 

On Thursday, Major League Baseball announced two positive Covid-19 tests within the Mets organization.

New York’s final game of a three-game series against the Marlins in Miami was postponed due to the news. MLB also postponed this weekend’s series between the Mets and Yankees “out of an abundance of caution.”

Read more about this story here.

11:36 p.m. ET, August 22, 2020

Philippines reports almost 5,000 new Coronavirus cases

People wearing face mask and face shields to help curb the spread of COVID-19 line up for a bus ride in Caloocan city, Philippines, on Wednesday, August 19.
People wearing face mask and face shields to help curb the spread of COVID-19 line up for a bus ride in Caloocan city, Philippines, on Wednesday, August 19. Aaron Favila/AP

The Philippines reported 4,933 new cases of coronavirus on Saturday, according to the country’s Department of Health.

The Philippines has now recorded 187,249 cases, of which 69,362 are active, according to the Department of Health. The department also reported 26 new deaths, bringing the country’s death toll to 2,966. 

Another 33,672 coronavirus tests were conducted on Saturday, bringing the total number of tests conducted in the country to 2,276,622, according to the Department of Health.

8:58 p.m. ET, August 22, 2020

More than 60,000 people have died of coronavirus in Mexico

From journalist Karol Suarez in Mexico City

Mexico recorded 6,482 new cases of Covid-19 on Saturday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 556,216. 

The Health Ministry also reported 644 new deaths, bringing the country's total to 60,254.

Mexico has the third-highest number of deaths in the world from coronavirus, behind only the US and Brazil, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

Mexico is ranked third in Latin America by JHU in terms of its number of total coronavirus cases, behind Brazil and Peru. 

7:46 p.m. ET, August 22, 2020

There are at least 5.6 million coronavirus cases and 176,070 deaths in the US

From CNN's Kay Jones 

A fan wearing a mask watches the action from under an umbrella as Lipscomb Academy plays football against Brentwood Academy on Friday, August 21 in Brentwood, Tennessee.
A fan wearing a mask watches the action from under an umbrella as Lipscomb Academy plays football against Brentwood Academy on Friday, August 21 in Brentwood, Tennessee. Brett Carlsen/Getty Images

There are at least 5.6 million cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 176,070 people have died from coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the United States.

Johns Hopkins has reported 34,020 new cases and 707 reported deaths on Saturday as of 5 p.m. ET.

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

5:58 p.m. ET, August 22, 2020

Brazil reports more than 50,000 new coronavirus cases

From journalist Fernanda Wenzel in Porto Alegre, Brazil

Brazil’s Health Ministry has reported 50,032 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 3.5 million

The ministry reported 892 new coronavirus deaths on Saturday, raising the country’s death toll to 114,250.

Brazil is second only to the United States in the highest total number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world.

5:16 p.m. ET, August 22, 2020

Northeastern University says it will rescind admission to incoming students who don't agree to follow social distancing guidelines

From CNN’s Evan Simko-Bednarski and Laura Ly

Incoming students planning to attend Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, this fall will need to find another school if they don't agree to follow the university's social gathering guidelines, according to a letter published Saturday on the school's website.

New students who say they plan to either host or attend parties will have their offers of admission rescinded, according to the letter from Madeleine Estabrook, the university's senior vice chancellor for student affairs.

The schools also will take action against current students who partake in social gatherings.

"Current students can expect removal from the community, including the immediate loss of university housing," Estabrook wrote. "Disciplinary processes will be expedited so that Northeastern can move swiftly to protect the health and wellbeing of everyone."

The letter comes after the university says it was made aware of "several students expressing on social media their intent to gather in large groups and to engage in parties."

Estabrook wrote those students have been contacted directly by her office.

"Our own university standards are clear: social gatherings that do not follow healthy distancing rules put everyone’s health at risk and are strictly prohibited," Estabrook wrote. "Please consider these expectations — and the consequences for violating them — carefully before fall classes commence."

As of Saturday, Massachusetts has had 115,850 confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the start of the outbreak, according to the state's official tally.

NOTE: These numbers were released by the state of Massachusetts, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.