July 23 coronavirus news

By Ben Westcott, Brad Lendon, Ed Upright, Meg Wagner and Melissa Macaya, CNN

Updated 12:09 a.m. ET, July 24, 2020
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3:27 p.m. ET, July 23, 2020

New Jersey governor announces $6 million in assistance for small businesses

From CNN's Mirna Alsharif

New Jersey Governor's office
New Jersey Governor's office

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced a $6 million lease emergency assistance grant program to assist small businesses with up to $10,000 in direct help to pay their rents.

The grants, a New Jersey Redevelopment Authority (NJRA) initiative, will help small businesses in 64 communities covered by the authority. The grants will be paid for through federal CARES act funding, Murphy said.

"We will not let Covid-19 take us down," Murphy said Thursday.

"We cannot get to where we need to be and where we know we will be without the women and men who own and operate the small businesses that make a municipality a community and turn a street into a gathering place for that community," he added.

Speaking at the news conference, Leslie Anderson, president and CEO of the NJRA, emphasized that this is a grant and not a loan, meaning businesses are not obligated to pay it back. Anderson also said that businesses cannot exceed 5,000 square feet in order to be eligible for the grant, a requirement the authority is enforcing in order to ensure only small businesses benefit from the grant.

Murphy also reported during the news conference that over the last four months, 1.4 million New Jersey residents have filed claims for unemployment, "including 26,000 over the prior week."

This is the second straight week the state has seen a "significant decline" in unemployment filings, said Murphy.

The latest numbers: There are 344 new Covid-19 cases and 23 deaths in the state, said Murphy. The positivity rate is 2.88%. 

Note: These numbers were released by the county 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.

3:47 p.m. ET, July 23, 2020

China announces $1 billion loan to Latin America and the Caribbean for Covid-19 vaccine access

From Karol Suarez

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced a $1 billion loan to Latin America and the Caribbean for Covid-19 vaccine access during a virtual gathering with his Latin American counterparts on Wednesday, according to a statement released by the Mexican Foreign Affairs Ministry.

“China’s Foreign Minister said that the vaccine developed in his country will be a public benefit of universal access, and that his country will designate a loan of 1 billion dollars to support access [to the vaccine] for the nations of the region,” the statement said. 

During this daily briefing on Thursday, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador thanked China after the loan announcement. 

"We're very grateful to China, with the Chinese government, the President – you remember I had the chance to speak to him on the phone – we asked him for support with medical equipment, there have been many aid flights coming from China," he said.

"There's always been enough equipment supply, medicines, and now there is this offer," he added. 

3:17 p.m. ET, July 23, 2020

São Paulo state tops 450,000 coronavirus cases and 20,000 deaths

From Marcia Reverdosa in São Paulo

The Brazilian state of São Paulo surpassed 450,000 coronavirus cases and 20,000 deaths on Thursday while authorities work to fix a technical issue with the registration of new cases. 

Health authorities said São Paulo, Brazil's most populous state, has recorded 452,006 coronavirus cases and 20,894 deaths in the nearly five months since the start of the pandemic. The first case in Brazil was registered on Feb. 26, according to the health ministry.  

São Paulo Disease Control Coordinator Paulo Menezes said the spike in new cases registered on Wednesday and Thursday was due to a "system instability" on the data input server. São Paulo registered 16,777 cases on Wednesday, its second highest number since start of the pandemic, and 12,561 on Thursday.  

The highest daily figure in the state was 19,030, recorded on June 19.  

"Between Thursday and Tuesday, the number of cases was reduced across the country," Menezes said. "The effects of this update can be felt until tomorrow."

The Ministry of Health confirmed the issue earlier to CNN but couldn't specify what states have been affected.

"Some states had difficulty inputting their data on the Covid-19 in the system during the weekend," the ministry said. "We emphasize that the ministry promptly assisted the states in solving the problem."

3:15 p.m. ET, July 23, 2020

Quarantine mandates can send coronavirus patients into hiding, WHO says

From CNN’s Naomi Thomas

 Dr. Mike Ryan
Dr. Mike Ryan World Health Organization

Coercive quarantine mandates can send coronavirus patients into hiding, defeating the purpose of having such a policy, the World Health Organization said Thursday.

Covid-19 case contacts are more likely to develop and potentially transmit the disease to others, and it is “much, much better if someone is ready, willing and able to quarantine themselves on behalf of their community,” WHO’s Dr. Mike Ryan said Thursday.

“Quarantining yourself when you are a contact is an act of courage. It’s an act of contribution to society,” Ryan said. “We’ve seen some pretty intense clusters of cases shut down pretty quickly when quarantine has been implemented successfully in contacts.”

However, he said, some governments have laws in place to make quarantine and isolation mandatory.

“We do clearly state the where such mandatory quarantine rules are in place, the state implementing that mandate must also respect the human rights of the individual,” Ryan said. “They must be in a position to provide an appropriate level of supporting care to that individual. That should not cost that individual in terms of extra out of pocket expenses for the purposes of staying in a hotel.”

WHO is against coercive procedures, Ryan said.

“It can shove the problem underground. And it can mean that people are unlikely to report their status in terms of either being a case, or being a contact, if they feel they will be unfairly treated,” he said.

This means that it is exceptionally important to make sure that there is strong community engagement, to help people understand how diseases spread and understand the roles they play in both transmitting and breaking the transmission chains of Covid-19, he said.

“In our experience, when people understand that fact, and they understand their own personal status, and when they’re supported in the process, most — the vast majority of people — will participate in the quarantine mechanism,” Ryan said. “And we would like to avoid coercive mechanisms to do that.” 

Here's what WHO recommends: WHO’s recommendations say that contacts of confirmed cases of Covid-19 should be quarantined for 14 days in a facility or in the home if they have the ability to quarantine appropriately there.

Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical lead for Covid-19, said that quarantine in the context of contact tracing is “arguably one of the most important elements to breaking chains of transmission.” 

She also said that WHO will be updating guidelines for quarantining and isolation in the next week or so, although there will not be many changes.

The main differences include removing the testing requirement at the end of the quarantine period and including language that focuses on children in isolation and quarantining of children with family members so they aren’t separated.

 

3:06 p.m. ET, July 23, 2020

New York City reports more than 23,000 confirmed and probable Covid-19 deaths

From CNN's Rob Frehse

New York City has 18,839 confirmed coronavirus deaths and 4,624 probable coronavirus deaths as of July 23, according to the most recent data on the city website.

The New York City Health Department defines probable deaths as people who did not have a positive Covid-19 laboratory test, but their death certificate lists as the cause of death “Covid-19” or an equivalent.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus deaths and probable coronavirus deaths in New York City is 23,463.

Some context: There have been 219,489 coronavirus cases in New York City and 55,825 people have been hospitalized, according to the city.

The data is from the New York City Health Department and was updated on today at 1 p.m. ET, according to the website. The numbers may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database, which is drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

3:14 p.m. ET, July 23, 2020

Another prominent study finds hydroxychloroquine does not help Covid-19 patients

From CNN's Jacqueline Howard

 George Frey/AFP/Getty Images/FILE
 George Frey/AFP/Getty Images/FILE

More evidence is emerging to underscore that the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine does not help Covid-19 patients. 

A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine on Thursday found that the use of hydroxychloroquine – given either alone or in combination with the antibiotic azithromycin – did not improve the conditions of hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate Covid-19.

The study, led by researchers in Brazil, included 504 patients with confirmed Covid-19 who either needed no supplemental oxygen, or were receiving up to 4 liters per minute of oxygen. The study was conducted across 55 hospitals in Brazil.

The patients were randomly assigned to receive either standard of care; hydroxychloroquine at a dose of 400mg twice daily; or hydroxychloroquine at a dose of 400mg twice daily, plus azithromycin at a dose of 500mg once daily for seven days, according to the study. The researchers then assessed how the patients were doing 15 days later.

The study noted that receiving either hydroxychloroquine alone or hydroxychloroquine plus azithromycin did not appear to affect the condition of the patients at the 15-day mark.

Additionally, unusual heart rhythms and elevated liver-enzyme levels were more frequent in patients receiving hydroxychloroquine alone or with azithromycin, according to the study.

Overall, the researchers wrote that "among patients hospitalized with mild-to-moderate Covid-19, the use of hydroxychloroquine, alone or with azithromycin, did not improve clinical status at 15 days as compared with standard of care."

The study was funded by the Coalition Covid-19 Brazil and EMS Pharma, a pharmaceutical company in Brazil.

2:57 p.m. ET, July 23, 2020

GOP Senate Covid-19 stimulus text likely to be released Monday

From CNN's Ted Barrett and Phil Mattingly

The Republican stimulus text will likely be released on Monday, a GOP aide told CNN. 

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may take to the chamber floor later today to announce where things stand.  

The White House and Senate GOP still haven't finalized how they'll structure their proposal to extend expiring jobless benefits, two sources involved in the talks told CNN. The dispute centers on the mechanics of how to implement the unemployment benefits.

Latest on stimulus negotiations: After days of back-and-forth on a stimulus proposal with the White House, Republicans and the administration reached what Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called Thursday morning a "fundamental understanding," though many of the details are still being hammered out.

Republican senators say the White House conceded to Senate Republican demands during the negotiations — namely on money for contact tracing and testing, making funds available for schools that stay closed and dropping President Trump's demand for a payroll tax cut.

And, a top Republican chairman is pushing back on Trump's claim that testing is "overrated," saying it's essential to get a hold of the virus.

3:02 p.m. ET, July 23, 2020

South Africa passes 400,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases 

From CNN's Brent Swails

Health worker sister Vuyiseka Mathambo, behind a screen with rubber gloves, takes a nasal swab from a patient to test for COVID-19 at the Masiphumelele community centre in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday July 23.
Health worker sister Vuyiseka Mathambo, behind a screen with rubber gloves, takes a nasal swab from a patient to test for COVID-19 at the Masiphumelele community centre in Cape Town, South Africa, Thursday July 23. Nardus Engelbrecht/AP

South Africa has crossed the threshold of 400,000 confirmed Covid-19 cases.

The country also has 6,000 confirmed Covid-19 deaths, President Cyril Ramaphosa said Thursday evening in a televised address to the nation.  

The country’s 408,052 confirmed cases is the fifth highest globally, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University.

“The next few weeks will put our resources and resolve as never before,” Ramaphosa said.

During the address, Ramaphosa also announced that all public schools will close for the next four weeks as the country experiences a peak in infection rates, extending the current academic year beyond 2020. 

Schools were previously closed during the country’s initial lockdown. Ramaphosa announced that certain grades will return sooner than others.

“It is important that schools do not become sites of transmission as our infections are rising fast,” Ramaphosa said.

Ramaphosa said his government would be focused on investigating and punishing corruption in the country’s Covid-10 response as several scandals of alleged procurement fraud in government and price gouging by companies have surfaced in recent weeks. 

"The consequences for those who break the law or bypass regulations must be severe,” Ramaphosa said. “The people of South Africa require nothing less than full accountability from those who have been elected and appointed to serve them.” 

2:54 p.m. ET, July 23, 2020

Uganda reports first Covid-19 death

From CNN’s Sarah Dean and Stephanie Busari

Uganda has registered its first Covid-19 death, the country's Ministry of Health said Thursday.

The Seychelles and Eritrea are now the only countries in Africa not to have reported a Covid-19 death, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Uganda’s first reported death is a 33-year-old Ugandan woman, from Namisindwa District, who was admitted to the hospital on July 15 and treated for severe pneumonia after suffering Covid-19 symptoms. She died on July 21, the Ministry of Health tweeted Thursday.

So far, 30 of her contacts have been traced and placed under quarantine by local health authorities, the ministry said. They will be monitored for 14 days and tested for the virus.

"The listed contacts so far include family members, and healthcare workers. The process of contact identification and listing is still ongoing, and we believe the number of contacts may increase as the extensive epidemiological investigation evolves," the ministry added.

Some background: Since the pandemic began, at least 1,079 Ugandans have tested positive for Covid-19, Ministry of Health figures showed Thursday.

The country took stringent steps to try to halt the spread of the virus early on in March. It was one of the first African countries to impose travel restrictions on its citizens and others traveling from 16 countries it said had a high number of cases of coronavirus, including the US and UK. 

It was also among the first African country to announce a ban on large public gatherings including weddings, church and Jumat services for a period of 30 days. On March 18, schools were closed and public rallies banned.

The country’s President Yoweri Museveni notably encouraged Ugandans to stay home during the country's lockdown by releasing his own home workout video.