Stay up to date as we cover the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and its effects across the world.
Since Chinese officials implemented the first coronavirus lockdown in the city of Wuhan in January, there have been more than 17 million cases of COVID-19 across the planet.
More than 667,000 people have died from the disease, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Efforts to curb the outbreak have led to the global disruption of daily life and the economy, as schools and workplaces shuttered in hopes of slowing transmission. After months of precautions and lockdowns, governments have begun to reopen their economies.
HuffPost reporters around the world are tracking the pandemic and its effects.
Read the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic below. (To see the latest updates, you may need to refresh the page. All times are Eastern. For earlier updates on the pandemic, go here.)
Attorney General Barr Tests Negative For Coronavirus After Close Contact With Lawmaker — 7/29/20, 8:30 p.m. ET
The Justice Department said Wednesday that Attorney General William Barr had tested negative for the coronavirus after participating in a Tuesday hearing with a lawmaker who has tested positive for COVID-19.
A department spokeswoman told media outlets that Barr had received a precautionary test following his testimony before the House Judiciary Committee.
Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas), a member of the Judiciary panel, tested positive for the virus on Wednesday as part of a pre-screening at the White House. He has been a fierce opponent to mask-wearing and has often been seen walking around the Capitol without a mask.
Gohmert and Barr had a brief interaction following the hearing on Tuesday. Both men were seen without masks.
— Nick Visser
Florida Reports Largest Single-Day Coronavirus Death Toll For 2nd Consecutive Day — 07/29/20, 7:05 p.m. ET
For the second day in a row, Florida has reported a record-breaking coronavirus death toll. The state’s Department of Health said Wednesday that 216 people had died of the virus — marking the highest number of COVID-19 deaths to be recorded in Florida in a single day.
On Tuesday, health officials said 191 people had died of the virus overnight, which at the time had been the daily record.
More than 6,400 people have died in Florida of COVID-19 to date.
— Dominique Mosbergen
U.S. Officially Passes 150,000 Coronavirus Deaths ― 7/29/20, 4:28 p.m. ET
More than 150,000 people in the United States have now died from the coronavirus, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States leads the world in both coronavirus deaths and total infections.
Months after President Donald Trump claimed Democrats were starting a false panic over COVID-19, and predicted that the number of cases in the U.S. would “go down close to zero,” the pandemic continues to ravage Americans and stifle the U.S. economy.
― Ja’han Jones
Fauci: Hydroxychloroquine Is Not Effective In Treating COVID-19 — 7/29/20, 1:45 p.m. ET
Dr. Anthony Fauci doubled down on health officials’ determination that drugs like hydroxychloroquine are ineffective in combatting the coronavirus after President Donald Trump continued to endorse its use this week.
“Hydroxychloroquine is not effective in the treatment of coronavirus disease or COVID-19,” Fauci, a member of the president’s coronavirus task force, said Wednesday on MSNBC. He cited the results of numerous clinical trials that he said were randomized and controlled.
Trump has repeatedly insisted that the anti-malaria drug is a safe treatment for the virus, despite evidence showing otherwise.
“I happen to believe in it. I would take it. As you know, I took it for a 14-day period. And as you know, I’m here. I happen to think it works in the early stages,” Trump said Tuesday.
― Nina Golgowski
Federal Report Adds 3 More States To Coronavirus ‘Red Zone’ — 7/29/20, 9:45 a.m. ET
A new report from the White House’s coronavirus task force lists 21 states in the “red zone,” which means in the past week they recorded more than 100 new cases per 100,000 people as well as a diagnostic test positivity rate of at least 10%, The New York Times reported Tuesday.
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is undermining his own administration’s public health officials by urging more states to reopen.
The report, which was dated July 26 and sent to state officials, adds three states — Missouri, North Dakota and Wisconsin — to the “red zone,” according to the Times. A similar report was released roughly two weeks earlier.
Most states fall into the “yellow zone.” That means they have reported 10 to 100 new cases per 100,000 people last week and a diagnostic testing positivity rate of 5% to 10%, or that they reported one of those conditions and one of the “red zone” qualifying conditions.
Vermont is the only state currently in the “green zone,” according to the report, which was obtained by the Times.
Policy recommendations outlined in the report for “red zone” areas include closing bars and gyms and limiting social gatherings to 10 people or fewer. Individuals in affected areas should wear a mask at all times outside the home, the report states.
Despite the warnings and recommendations put forth by his own administration, Trump has repeatedly downplayed the severity of the virus in the United States.
He falsely claimed during a White House briefing on Monday that much of the country is “corona-free.” Later that day, the president shared misinformation about the virus to his more than 80 million Twitter followers, including a video in which a group of fringe doctors claimed hydroxychloroquine cures COVID-19 and that people don’t need to wear masks to prevent the virus’s spread.
No legitimate medical organizations have recognized any “cure” for COVID-19, and multiple clinical trials have shown hydroxychloroquine is not beneficial in treating the virus.
― Hayley Miller
6 States In South, West Break Records For Coronavirus Deaths – 7/29/20, 4:38 a.m. ET
More than 1,300 lives were lost in the U.S. on Tuesday to the coronavirus, making it the biggest one-day increase since May.
According to Reuters, Arkansas, California, Florida, Montana, Oregon and Texas each reported record spikes in fatalities.
At the time of this writing, nearly 150,000 Americans have lost their lives due to the pandemic.
―Jade Walker
Trump’s National Security Adviser Tests Positive — 7/27/20, 9:20 a.m. ET
Robert O’Brien, national security adviser to President Trump, has tested positive for COVID-19, the White House confirmed Monday. He is the highest-ranking official in the Trump administration known to have contracted the coronavirus.
“He has mild symptoms and has been self-isolating and working from a secure location off site,” the White House said in a statement. “There is no risk of exposure to the President or the Vice President. The work of the National Security Council continues.”
O’Brien came down with the virus after attending a family event, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. Earlier this month, he returned from a three-day trip to Paris, where he met with his counterparts from the U.K., France, Germany and Italy, according to Politico.
Several people close to Trump, including his reelection campaign’s top fundraising official and Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, have tested positive for the virus in recent months.
— Hayley Miller
Birx Urges Several States To Close Bars, Limit Social Gatherings — 7/27/20, 9 a.m. ET
Dr. Deborah Birx, the coronavirus response coordinator for the Trump administration, urged states with rising infections to impose new restrictions that include closing bars, reducing indoor restaurant capacity and limiting social gatherings to 10 people.
“We can see what is happening in the South is moving north,” Birx told reporters in Kentucky on Sunday, suggesting that new hot spots outside of Florida, Texas and other Southern states are beginning to emerge.
Birx said she is specifically focused on controlling the pandemic “before it gets worse” in Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Indiana and Virginia, and she recommended that “100%” of individuals in these states wear masks when they’re in public or around others.
Kentucky allowed bars to reopen on June 29, but Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said Sunday that he planned to announce new restrictions early this week amid a surge in new cases. As of Monday, the state has recorded more than 27,000 cases and at least 718 deaths. Meanwhile, Florida and California have surpassed New York, once the epicenter of the virus in the U.S., in known infections.
— Hayley Miller
World’s Biggest Vaccine Study Begins In U.S. — 7/27/20, 8:05 a.m. ET
The biggest COVID-19 vaccine study to date is now underway in the United States.
Beginning Monday, the first 30,000 volunteers will help test shots created by the National Institutes of Health and biotechnology company Moderna, the Associated Press reported. Researchers will inject volunteers with either the experimental vaccine or a placebo and track which people contract the virus as they go about their lives. The researchers will also track any potential negative side effects of the vaccine.
Several other vaccines made by China and Britain’s Oxford University are in the final stages of testing.
Read more from AP here.
— Hayley Miller
Florida Records More Coronavirus Infections Than New York — 7/27/20, 3 a.m. ET
According to figures released on Sunday, Florida has now recorded more coronavirus cases than New York, which was once the U.S. epicenter of the outbreak.
Johns Hopkins University reported that Florida had reached a total of more than 423,00 cases, nearly 77,000 of which were reported in the last seven days. That figure exceeds New York’s 416,000, which has seen just under 5,000 cases in the last week.
California currently has the most cases of any state in the country.
Despite the official figures, it’s hard to know just how many people have been infected in epicenters of the pandemic as both New York and California had surges earlier this year when testing was limited, The New York Times reported. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this month’s true figures may be more than 10 times higher than the reported figures in some areas.
— Nick Visser
North Korea Declares Emergency Over Suspected Coronavirus Case — 7/26/20, 12:10 p.m. ET
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un declared a state of emergency on Saturday after the country for the first time acknowledged a suspected coronavirus case within its borders.
In response to the apparent case, Kim locked down the city of Kaesong, located near the country’s border with South Korea. North Korea has previously denied having any cases of the virus, though outside experts have questioned that claim, according to The Associated Press.
North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said the suspected virus patient had illegally entered the country last week after fleeing to South Korea three years ago. The patient, anyone who had contact with them, and those who were in Kaesong recently have been placed under quarantine, according to KCNA.
During an emergency meeting of top North Korean officials, Kim was quoted as saying there was a “critical situation in which the vicious virus could be said to have entered the country.”
Read more from the AP here.
— Hayley Miller
