In April, new cases never topped 100,000 in one day, but since May 21, there have only been less than 100,000 on five days, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Newly reported cases reached a high of 130,400 on June 3. Different nations' epidemics have followed different trajectories. The number of new cases has slowed in many of the countries that were hit hard earlier on in the pandemic, including China, the US, UK, Italy, Spain and France.But many countries, particularly in South America, the Middle East and Africa, the rate of transmission still appears to be accelerating, according to a CNN analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.
In Libya, Iraq, Uganda, Mozambique and Haiti, the data shows the number of known cases is doubling every week. In Brazil, India, Chile, Colombia and South Africa, cases are doubling every two weeks.
"We are especially worried about Central and South America, where many countries are witnessing accelerating epidemics."
Brazil recorded more than 30,000 new cases on Thursday, bringing it to almost 615,000 in total, along with 1,473 new deaths, taking its total fatalities to more than 34,000.
Authorities in 214 countries and territories have reported about 6.6 million Covid-19 cases and 391,000 deaths since China reported its first cases to the WHO in December.
George Floyd protests have continued for a full week in Seattle and throughout Washington state, and despite the increased risks of the new coronavirus local public health professionals and leaders have supported the protests, both tacitly and explicitly.
Gov. Jay Inslee, who for months has been both pleading with and ordering people to stay home to slow the spread of the virus, is nowasking that people instead wear masks and try to keep some distance amid the crowds. However, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told a House panel Thursday that demonstrators need to get tested for the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the city of Seattle and the state of Washington are expanding testing for the coronavirus, the governor and mayors office announced Thursday. In Seattle, two new drive-thru sites are opening soon, one of which will be accessible starting Friday.
Throughout Friday, on this page, well post updates from Seattle Times journalists and others on the pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world. Updates from Thursday can be found here, and all our coronavirus coverage can be found here.
The following graphic includes the most recent numbers from the Washington State Department of Health, released Wednesday.
The largest outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Washingtons prison system is expanding at Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in Franklin County.
As of Thursday, 40 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19, as well as 12 staff, according to the state Department of Corrections.
A spokesperson for DOC said in an email the facility is trying to contain the outbreak through a 10-day quarantine and contact tracing of persons who may have had close contact with infected individuals.
According to the spokesperson, the prison had tested 74 incarcerated people as of Thursday, in both the medium- and minimum-security units. Thirteen people have been transferred to Monroe Correctional Complexs medical isolation area and 20 to Airway Heights Corrections Center. Three others have been sent to a local medical center.
All inmates at the prison are required to wear a protective mask when they leave cells during the quarantine, and the prison has implemented social-distancing protocols, according to the DOC spokesperson.
In all, 68 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed among people incarcerated in state prisons and work-release facilities since the start of the pandemic.
In addition, 53 DOC staff have had confirmed cases of the virus. One corrections officer, Berisford Anthony Morse, died last month due to COVID-19.
Jim Brunner
King County public health officials are worried that the use of tear gas and other respiratory irritants could increase risk of the spread of COVID-19.
As thousands of people have gathered in Seattle over the past week to protest racial injustice and police brutality, Seattle police have several times deployed pepper spray and tear gas into large groups of demonstrators, sending people into fits of coughing and gasping and leaving their eyes and skin burning.
Public Health - Seattle & King County has shared information with the city about the risk of using any agent that would cause coughing, as it increases the risk of transmission, spokeswoman Sharon Bogan said in an email. We did this as part of our advisory role as Public Health.
Research conducted by the U.S. Army in 2012 indicated a risk of acute respiratory illness in the days after exposure to tear gas and has attracted new attention as police deploy gas amid a pandemic. It is also possible that tear gas increases the risk for respiratory infection as reported in the U.S. Army research, Bogan said.
Public Health Seattle & King Co opposes the use of tear gas & other respiratory irritants based on the potential to increase COVID-19 spread, Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health wrote in a tweet Thursday evening.
Heidi Groover
If you have mild symptoms, "please get tested." That's the new guidance as Washington broadens testing to include three new groups of people. Seattle is opening two additional sites for free testing.
Washingtons unemployment fraud may have hit $650 million. Tens of thousands of jobless people are still waiting for benefits as the state scrambles to root out the scammers, clawing back a little more than half of the money so far. Those workers face a tough road: When it comes to new job openings, the Seattle area lags much of the rest of the nation, our daily Coronavirus Economy chart shows. Nationwide, many jobs lost to the virus aren't coming back.
If youre missing libraries, take heart: Gradual reopenings are on the way in Seattle and King County. But you wont be getting lost in the stacks anytime soon. Heres what bookworms can expect, and the latest county-by-county look at when other slices of life are expected to resume. Plus, drive-in theaters are open again, with new limits.
Yakima is moving in the wrong direction as COVID-19 hospitalizations spike. Track the spread of the virus in Washington state and around the globe.
Bad news for the regions seafood industry: Seattle-based American Seafoods has 25 new cases of COVID-19 aboard two factory trawlers, following a bigger outbreak on a third vessel.
Families concerned about COVID-19 protested conditions at a Seattle work-release facility; now they're accusing the state of retaliating by sending six men at the facility back to prison.
Kris Higginson
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CDC DirectorRobert Redfield said Thursday that he's "very concerned" the agency's public health message on the coronavirus isn't "resonating" with the public as the number of cases continues to rise across the U.S.
Testifying before the House Appropriations Committee,Redfield said he sees "a lot of people" not wearing masks in Washington, D.C., where he works, while many people do wear masks in his hometown of Baltimore. Crowds of people have been seen in recent weeks at protests, over the Memorial Day holiday and, Redfield noted, at the SpaceX launch Saturday.
Huge crowds gathered at Florida's space coast Wednesday to watch SpaceX's first attempt at launching astronauts to space.
During the hearing, House Democrats grilled Redfield onPresident Donald Trump's push for states to reopen after shutting down as part of social distancing measures meant to curb the spread of the virus.
All 50 states have begun easing quarantine restrictions even though Redfield said "not all states" have met the White House criteria for reopening businesses.
"We will continue to message as well we can," said Redfield, who's on the White House coronavirus task force. "We're going to encourage people that have the ability to require to wear masks when they are in their environment to continue to do that."
The coronavirus, which emerged about five months ago, has sickened more than1.8 million people and killed at least 107,175 in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. While cases have slowed in hot spots such as New York state, the U.S. is still seeing roughly 20,000 new Covid-19 cases a day.
When asked byRep. Rosa DeLauro,D-Conn., if there was any evidence the virus has become less contagious, Redfield simply said, "No."
The hearing comes as the CDC's response to the pandemic comes under scrutiny by former officials and infectious disease experts. ANew York Times reportpublished Wednesday detailed some of the CDC's early missteps, including the delay of coronavirus test kits. The CDC declined The New York Times' requests to interview top CDC officials, the Times said.
The CDC has remained largely quiet on the pandemic. Agency officials haven't held a coronavirus-related briefing in more than two months. Last month, the agencyquietly released detailed guidancefor reopening schools, mass transit and nonessential businesses that had been shut down in an attempt to curb the spread of the coronavirus in the U.S.
Redfield also warned Thursday that protests across the U.S. and other parts of the world over the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police could be a "seeding event" for more coronavirus outbreaks.
He said he would like to see people who took part in the protests get tested for the virus in the next few days.
"I do think there is a potential, unfortunately, for this to be a seeding event," he said. "And the way to minimize that is to have each individual to recognize it is an advantage of them to protect their loved ones, to [say] 'hey, I was out, I need to go get tested.'"
Public health specialists warnthat a slow burn of infection through the summercould lead to a massive resurgence this fall.
Redfield told lawmakers the U.S. is likely to have a "difficult time" during the fall and winter seasons as the coronavirus and flu circulate at the same time.
In April, Redfieldfirst warnedabout the colder seasons, saying, "we're going to have to distinguish between which is flu and which is the coronavirus."
Uncertainty about the future seems to be the one sure thing in the coronavirus pandemic. No one knows if COVID-19 will persist at its current pace or if recent increased interactions among people will spawn an onslaught of smaller outbreaks or a larger second wave. But a few things are clear: The virus that causes the disease is likely to continue circulating through the population until there is a vaccine. And flu season is only a few months away.
The overlap of COVID-19 and influenza has epidemiologists and some policy makers concerned. The U.S. may soon face two epidemics at the same time, they worry, and this combination could precipitate a crisis unlike any other. The worst-case scenario is both [the coronavirus and the flu] are spreading fast and causing severe disease, complicating diagnoses and presenting a double burden on the health care system, says Marc Lipsitch, an epidemiologist at Harvard University. A few states are planning for extra capacity in hospitals to deal with both illnesses.
Yet another, more favorable future also might be possible as these viruses cross paths, Lipsitch and other infectious disease forecasters say. The behavioral changes people have already adopted to flatten the curve of COVID-19such as social distancing, hand washing, and mask wearingcould lessen the impact of the flu.
It is hard to predict, says Sarah Cobey, an epidemiologist at the University of Chicago. Not only is it unknown whether the coronavirus will ebb and flow as seasons change, but what's really hard is that I dont have a good forecast for human behavior and policy decisions that are going to be made over the next couple of months, she says.
Jeffrey Shaman, an epidemiologist at Columbia University, says if SARS-CoV-2 follows seasonal patterns like some other coronaviruses and influenza viruses do, it could subside in the summer. But that could come back to haunt us, he adds. We might get complacent; we might not be prepared. Four flu virus pandemics over the past 100 yearsH1N1 in 1918, H2N2 in 1957, H3N2 in 1968 and H1N1 in 2009had a deadly second wave around the fall and early winter. COVID-19 could do the same. The concern that we might have a double whammy of flu and coronavirus is legitimate, Shaman says.
[Both indoor and outdoor factors influence how viruses wax and wane with the seasons.]
Every year, influenza sickens millions of people in the U.S. In particularly bad years, flu surges overwhelm hospitals and health care systems. During the 20172018 flu season, local news outlets reported that hospitals across the country flew in nurses from other states, erected tents in parking lots and sent incoming ambulances to other facilities because of the overload of patients. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that between 46,000 and 95,000 Americans died from the illness that season.
Though the new coronavirus and influenza viruses can cause some of the same symptomssuch as fever, cough and fatiguethese similarities are mostly superficial. The pathogens use different receptors on cells to gain access to our bodies. As a result, SARS-CoV-2 could enter one way, while a flu virus slips in another. A study of about 1,200 patients, conducted in northern California and published in JAMA in April, found that one in five people who were diagnosed with COVID-19 were coinfected with another respiratory virus. The risk of such coinfections is typically low, says Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at the University of Hong Kong, but it gets higher when two viruses are circulating heavily in the same region. Its possible you could get infected with both at the exact same timeif you're having a really bad day, he says.
Cowling and some other epidemiologists think the way viruses interact and interfere with each other could reduce the impact of any coronavirus-influenza collision, however. They have tracked epidemics for decades and have found that outbreaks of respiratory viruses usually do not reach their peaks during the same time period. Though no one knows exactly why, a study published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA hypothesized that temporary bursts of immunity to different viruses on the cellular level could shift the course of future epidemics. For example, an outbreak of a rhinoviruswhich causes a common coldappears to have delayed the arrival of the 2009 influenza pandemic in Europe. And that effect, in turn, likely postponed epidemics of another disease: respiratory syncytial virus.
Right now COVID-19 has a huge fraction of the population susceptible to it, Cobey says. Assuming that were not incredibly diligent about stopping transmission, its going to continue burning through populations, leaving this wake of immunity that might be slightly effective against other viruses. She admits this idea sits on the speculative side of hypotheses. And the theoretical immunity would not be strong enough for, say, someone who has recovered from a coronavirus to shrug off the flu, or vice versa. But on a population level, it could mean that other viruses might not spread as quickly as normal, so their epidemic peaks could be delayed.
Another reason why the collision might not be dramatic has less to do with virology and more to do with human behavior: both COVID-19 and the flu are transmitted, for the most part, by respiratory droplets, so the same prevention strategies used to reduce the spread of the former will also work for the latter.
[How does the coronavirus spread through the air? Scientists explain what they know about transmission.]
In a study in the Lancetin April,Cowling showed that the public health measures introduced in Hong Kong to contain the coronavirussuch as border restrictions, quarantine and isolation, social distancing, mask wearing and hand washingled to a rapid decline in flu activity. In the U.S., new flu cases plummeted a few weeks after COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. The 20192020 flu season, once headed to be among the worst in decades, ended six weeks early.
But as states in the U.S. ease restrictions on activity and travel, peoples behaviors could change in ways that ease virus transmission, so a double threat is still possible. And it is not clear what, if any, federal response is being mounted to prepare for it. In April Robert Redfield, director of the CDC, told the Washington Post that were going to have the flu epidemic and the coronavirus epidemic at the same time. After President Donald Trump claimed that Redfield was misquoted, the director walked his statement back, saying he did not mean the current crisis would be worse, just more difficult and potentially complicated. (The CDC did not respond to Scientific Americans requests for further comment.)
In late May a group of Democratic senators sent a letter to the White House asking it to prepare for the worst overlap scenario. We urge you to begin planning for and activating the resources of the federal government now, they wrote, to increase capacity, supplies, and vaccinations to prevent public health and medical systems from being overwhelmed by simultaneous peaks of both of these deadly infectious diseases in the fall.
On the state level, some are updating hospital surge plans and expanding infectious disease surveillance programs to include both the flu and COVID-19. North Carolinas state health director Elizabeth Tilson, who co-chairs the states coronavirus task force, has been working with health systems to develop plans for increasing their surge capacity by converting unused facilities, procuring extra beds or hiring extra staff. Thankfully, we havent had to pull the trigger on any of our emergency med surge plans. But we have all those plans in place, whether it be COVID-19 or COVID-19 and flu, she says.
Cobey has been trying to convince the government of her home state of Illinois to set up a sentinel surveillance plan that could alert officials to coming surges of COVID-19 and flu cases. But she says her suggestions have received little traction. Such surveillance systems already exist in other states, including North Carolina and Michigan. The CDC also tracks both illnesses on the national level and releases a weekly surveillance report on the viruses that cause them.
Tilson points out that whatever happens, there is one basic step people can take that may alter the trajectory of either epidemic. Look, we dont have a vaccine for COVID-19, she says. We do have a vaccine for flu. Get the vaccine.
Read more about the coronavirus outbreak from Scientific American here. And read coverage from our international network of magazines here.
FORT MYERS
Most people have mild symptoms or none at all but that wasnt the case for Fort Myers resident Dana Walsh, who had to battle for more than two months to beat the virus.
She has an important message for all of us as Florida moves to phase 2 of reopening.
Walsh was in the fight for her life and the ordeal lasted ten weeks.
Now she is urging everyone to continue to take this virus seriouslyand get tested.
I was pretty much showing every single symptom you can read about, said Walsh.
Walsh tested positive for COVID-19 in March and shortly after when she was showing no symptoms she made the decision to donate plasma.
I went to get another test in order to get a negative result to donate And it came back positive, said Walsh. The results left her shocked.
And the results to follow were even more confusing. The third test was inconclusive and after that, a fourth test said she was still positive.
Walsh said on the fifth test she finally tested negative. Now she has a strong message for those who had the virus.
Get tested, make sure that youre healthy, make sure youre negative before you go back because youre putting somebody else at risk, said Walsh.
Walsh did have the opportunity to finally donate plasma and she said she was happy to be able to potentially save lives through her experience.
Kevin Rathel deals with vision problems and memory issues even after beating coronavirus. USA TODAY
7 a.m., Friday, June 5
Two more Shasta County residents have tested positive for the coronavirus, raising the total known case count to 42.
One of them is a woman in her 70s who is isolated at home and had no symptoms. The other is a man in his 70s who also is isolated at home and did have symptoms, Shasta County public health officials said Thursday in the incident updates they releasedaily.
Health experts are encouraging people to get tested for COVID-19 as the stay-home restrictions are lifted and they spend more time out in the public.
The county reported the number of people who are now in isolation is seven, while 20 people are under quarantine.
More: 'Strategic' well-orchestrated heists seen amid protest chaos
In other developments on Thursday:
Tehama County confirmed one more of its residents has the coronavirus bringing the total caseloadto seven. The latest case involves a man in his 20s. The county released no other information.
Butte County reported five new cases. The total count there now is 60, nearly triple the number of cases reported May 16 22 cases.
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To date, the county estimates 1,771 tests have been conducted, with 108 still waiting for results.
There have been no deaths reported in Siskiyou related to the virus.
The county reported no new cases on Thursday. Of the nine confirmed cases, two are active.
More: 530 Crime Watch: New scam steals unemployment benefits
In far Northern California, here's where COVID-19 case totals stand:
Coastal counties:
America hit a somber benchmark in the coronavirus pandemic, with the U.S. death toll reaching 100,000. USA TODAY
Statewide, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increasedto 119,807 as of Wednesday, the California Department of Health reported Thursday afternoon.
At least 4,422 people in the state have died from the virus and 3,109 people were hospitalized withthe disease. Another 1,346 peoplesuspected to have the illness were in the hospital.
Here's how California's coronavirus cases break down by age:
Health-care workers made up10,519 of California's confirmed cases, according to state health officials. Of that number, 64have died.
More: Redding's inclusivity book club offers a forum to discuss inequality, racism
On Friday morning, the number of known coronavirus cases in the U.S. was at 1.87million, according toJohns Hopkins University.
That number includes 108,278 people who have died as a result of the virus in the U.S.
Worldwide, the number of confirmed cases was almost 6.67million. Of that total, 391,848 people have died.
Read or Share this story: https://www.redding.com/story/news/2020/06/05/california-coronavirus-updates-redding-shasta-county-covid-19/3152868001/
The cuts came after UN appeals for $2.42 billion in funding fell short by about 50% this week.
"In the countdown to closure there will have to be much wider cuts to Yemen at a time when the country is now facing the growing impact of the virus pandemic on people who are already badly malnourished and ill equipped to cope with it," Lise Grande, the head of the UN's humanitarian operations in Yemen told CNN, in a phone call from Sana'a on Wednesday, the capital of the divided nation.
"General health services in 189 of the country's 369 hospitals start to close in three weeks. Water and sanitation services for 8.5 million people, including 3 million children, close in three weeks. Nutrition support for 2.5 million malnourished starving children will start to close in eight to 10 weeks," she warned.
On Tuesday this week donors pledged $1.35 billion of the $2.42 billion the UN said Yemen needed in a virtual conference. "The worst-case scenario -- which is the one we're facing now -- means that the death toll from the virus could exceed the combined toll of war, disease and hunger over the last five years [in Yemen]," Grande told CNN.
According to Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project, just over 112,000 people have been killed in Yemen's civil war over five years -- among the dead are 12,690 civilians.
Estimates for the numbers of people who have died from disease and malnutrition in the country have varied widely. But the UN and other aid organizations are delivering humanitarian assistance to 10 million Yemenis. A cholera epidemic has, the UN believes, already infected 110,000 people this year.
Four out of five Yemenis need "lifesaving aid," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the conference on Tuesday, adding that Yemen faced one of the highest death tolls in the world from Covid-19. The country has a negligible capacity to test for coronavirus but medical aid agencies also believe the scale of infections could be vast.
This week health services for women giving birth in 150 hospitals supported by the UN were closed in the first wave of the cuts after the funding conference.
Yemen's five-year civil war has pitted Houthi rebels against the internationally recognized government, which has been backed by the UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Earlier this year the Emiratis pulled their military out of the conflict but continues to back the government, which is in exile in Saudi Arabia. Riyadh, meanwhile, has continued to back and fund tribal militias and its air force has had a punishing effect on the ground.
Much of the shortfall in new funding is being blamed on the apparent failure of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait to come forward with a combined pledge which, in previous years, has been for about $1.5 billion. This year the UAE and Kuwait did not offer any funds to the UN effort and Saudi Arabia offered $500 million of which $300 million was to be earmarked specifically for the UN.
Saudi Arabia has been keen to get out of the quicksand since late last year. The war has undermined support for Saudi Arabia in Washington, where renewed arms supplies to the Kingdom from the US have only been possible as a result of the Trump administration's use of emergency powers to get around a block on arms exports to Saudi Arabia imposed by Congress.
Some diplomats believe that the cut in funding to the UN by Gulf countries may be, in part, an attempt to force the Houthis to peace talks.
Aid to areas under Houthi control has frequently been diverted and manipulated by the rebel administration in Sanaa. The UN's World Food Programme has frequently complained about the Houthis' diversion of food -- and the US cut funding to the program to force improvement.
The US support, $225 million, to the WFP was only returned recently after the Houthis agreed to stop aid workers from being harassed and a wide range of "taxes" on aid coming into the area under their control.
Saudi Arabia and the UAE say they want to continue to help Yemen with aid -- but insist it should not be diverted to the Houthi war effort. In the Emirates it is understood that the government is trying to find ways to continue to fund aid operations.
"The UAE has spared no effort in providing medical assistance to support countries affected by Covid-19 by cooperating with international organizations, wherein UAE assistance amounted to $135 million from the beginning of March until the end of May," Reem al Hashimy, the Emirati minister for international cooperation said in a statement to CNN.
"Moreover, the UAE Red Crescent continues to work in Yemen to provide a helping hand to our Yemeni brothers, and we deeply regret the loss of two of its staff killed by terrorists in March. However, this will not deter us from delivering upon our mission and humanitarian duty," al Hashimy added.
But it is not clear to UN officials how that "duty" can be fulfilled while, as one senior UN official put it, "our operations go into near collapse."
This story has been updated to correct Lise Grande's job title.
Mark Adani, a car salesman in suburban Detroit, spent weeks working from home to avoid the coronavirus. He is 71 and has high blood pressure and a wife with heart trouble. But he recently got an ultimatum from his dealership: Come back to the office or consider a new job.
Im damned if I come to work, damned if I dont come to work, he said.
Mr. Adani said one worker had already died of Covid-19, and he flirted with letting his bosses dismiss him when he was called back to the office.
Ultimately, he decided to go back. He was unable to reach anyone from Michigans overwhelmed unemployment system to answer whether he could refuse to go back and still retain his benefits.
With customers scarce, Mr. Adani said he spent much of the day at his desk, chasing online leads and worrying about bringing home the virus to his wife. Most of his co-workers slip on masks when they head to the break room for coffee.
I really dont feel this place is safe, Mr. Adani said.
Nurses, grocery store workers, fast-food cashiers, slaughterhouse workers and others deemed essential have been navigating these fears throughout the pandemic because they never stopped working. Now, the concern is spreading to wider areas of the economy.
In Boise, Idaho, Robin Slater, a 65-year-old line cook with chronic shortness of breath from 40 years of smoking, said he was reluctant to answer the call back to work at the sports bar where he constantly bumps up against other cooks in the tiny kitchen. He said he was the only one who wore a mask. The plan, he said, was to limit tables to six people or fewer, though a party of 14 came in to eat last Sunday.
Mr. Slater said he had little choice other than returning to work because he was almost certain to lose his $220 in weekly unemployment, supplemented by the $600 passed as part of the coronavirus relief bill. So far, 147 workers in Idaho have been reported as refusing to work, though the state did not say how many had lost benefits.
