July 27 coronavirus news

New Jersey continues to report Covid-19 outbreaks from gatherings of young people, the state's Health Commissioner, Judy Persichilli, said during a briefing Monday.

At least 35 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Long Beach Island linked to what Persichilli described as a "common social gathering" of lifeguards.

At least 65 new cases of Covid-19 have been reported in Middletown over the past seven days, 52 of which are in people between the ages of 15 and 19, Gov. Phil Murphy said.

More on this: CNN reported last week that a house party in Middletown on July 11 may have been responsible for at least 20 cases of Covid-19 and that more cases were being reported.

Murphy didn't specify if all of those 52 cases were people who were at the Middletown party, but he did say that the parents of the teens who attended said party are cooperating with contact tracers and that the state now has the names of 59 of the attendees from the party.

New Jersey recorded 446 new cases of Covid-19 on Monday and 17 new fatalities, the governor said. The daily positivity rate in the state was 1.72%.

Murphy also reiterated that the state hopes to allow for at least some aspect of in-person learning for children in the fall. The state has released an education plan to allow for schools to reopen, but Murphy stressed that final decisions would be driven by public health indicators.

Note: The numbers listed were released by the New Jersey Governor'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.

There are at least 4,259,667 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 147,103 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases.

On Monday at 1:15 p.m. ET, Johns Hopkins University has reported 25,744 new cases and 168 reported deaths. 

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

The National Hockey League announced Monday that no players have tested positive for Covid-19 in the league's latest round of testing. 

The NHL says the conclusion of Phase 3 of its Return to Play plan resulted in zero positive coronavirus results among 4,256 tests covering 800 players.

In the two-week period of Phase 3, there were two positive results (both occurring between July 13-17) among 6,874 tests.

All 24 teams involved in the NHL’s restart entered secure zones in Edmonton and Toronto Sunday to begin Phase 4 of its Return to Play plan. All 52 members of each team will be tested on a daily basis.

The NHL plans to resume play Aug. 1, with qualifying rounds in Edmonton and Toronto. Conference Finals and the Stanley Cup Final are scheduled to be played in Edmonton.

Read the NHL's statement:

Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro returned to work on Monday morning at the Planalto Palace after testing negative for Covid-19 on Saturday. 

Talking to supporters this morning at the entrance of the Palace, headquarters for Brazil’s federal government, Bolsonaro referred to the economic impact the coronavirus pandemic has had in his country and loss of jobs. 

More context: Bolsonaro tested negative for Covid-19 on Saturday, more than two weeks after he tested positive for the virus on July 7. 

Hours after announcing he had finally tested negative, the Brazilian president was seen riding his motorcycle, surrounded by people and not wearing a mask on Saturday.

A Florida teacher’s union that is suing Gov. Ron DeSantis and others to try to stop the reopening of schools has called the recent surge in Covid-19 cases in children “alarming.”

“These numbers are alarming,” Andrew Spar, vice president of the Florida Education Association, said in a written statement.

Spar referenced numbers released by the Florida Department of Health that show a 34% increase in the number of children testing positive for Covid-19. 

The Florida Education Association is the state’s largest association of professional employees, with more than 150,000 members, according to the association.

The owners of the Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, New Jersey, were arrested and subsequently released on Monday morning after they opened their facility again despite a judge ruling that the state could force the gym to close, according to a statement from the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. 

Individuals were observed using the gym between July 24 and July 27 in violation of the judge's order, prosecutors said.

Local police said that the owners of the gym refused to leave when they were asked, leading to the arrest, prosecutors said. 

The best way to deal with Covid-19 is to have a seamless relationship between national and local strategy, said Dr. Mike Ryan, the World Health Organization’s health emergencies program’s executive director. 

“It’s striking that balance between what is national or federal strategy and what is local implementation, in the sense you fight what you see, and the only people who really see what’s happening are at local,” he said. 

Reactions can’t only be based on what is seen locally though, he said; they have to be guided by what is happening nationally. 

“In the most effective countries, what you see is a seamless relationship between a national strategy being implemented but with the local flexibility to be tactical in reaction to the disease,” said Ryan.  

He said that the right balance is national strategies that lay out, fund and support approaches, but give local authorities the ability to implement them appropriately based on what they see on the ground.

Disney has changed reopening plans for some of its hotels on the Walt Disney World property in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.

According to the resort website, Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort and Disney’s Art of Animation will reopen later than originally scheduled. Reopening dates previously announced for Disney’s Beach Club Resort and Disney’s BoardWalk Inn have been canceled.

A number of Disney resort hotels are already open, while others have not been scheduled for reopening yet.

Disney had stated in May that changes to reopening plans are likely, as the company continues to follow guidance from government and health officials.

New York state issued 132 violations to bars and restaurants for not following coronavirus-related regulations over the weekend, Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters on a press call Monday. 

Most of violations were issued to establishments in New York City, he said.

Since reopening bars and restaurants during the pandemic, 40 establishments have had their liquor licenses suspended as a result of coronavirus-related violations — 10 these suspensions were issued since Friday, Cuomo said. 

He said the lack of compliance with social distancing policies, particularly among young people, is a concern his administration is watching closely.