The United States reported yet another record daily number of new coronavirus infections, over 50,700 cases, on Wednesday, according to a tally being kept by Johns Hopkins University.
In response, California and New York City joined a growing number of states and cities rolling back reopening plans by ordering indoor dining at restaurants closed. And in Florida, hospitals braced for an influx of patients as Miami's Jackson Health System scaled back elective surgeries and other procedures.
Health experts say the virus in Florida and other Southern states risks becoming uncontrollable, with case numbers too large to trace.
Despite the virus' resurgence, President Donald Trump said in an interview with Fox Business Wednesday he hopes it will eventually just go away. "I think we are going to be very good with the coronavirus," he said.
On Capitol Hill, the House easily passed a temporary extension of a subsidy program for small businesses slammed by the coronavirus, sending the measure to the White House.
The U.S. leads the world in coronavirus cases, with more than 2.6 million infections and over 128,000 deaths, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Here are the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S.:
Pfizer Reports Encouraging, Very Early Vaccine Test Results
The first of four experimental COVID-19 vaccines being tested by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech showed encouraging results in very early testing of 45 people, the companies said Wednesday.
Study volunteers given either a low or medium dose, in two shots about a month apart, had immune responses in the range expected to be protective, when compared to some COVID-19 survivors, according to the preliminary results.
Side effects were typical for vaccines, mostly pain at the injection site and fever.
The report has been submitted for publication in a scientific journal but not yet reviewed. With its other potential candidates still in the earliest stage of testing, Pfizer aims to open a large-scale study this summer but can't yet say which shot is best to include.
About 15 different COVID-19 vaccine candidates are in human testing worldwide, with several poised to begin huge, last-stage studies to prove if they really work.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of NIAID and member of the White House coronavirus task force, testified to Congress on Tuesday that a coronavirus vaccine could be available as early as the beginning of 2021.
Officials: Students in Alabama Threw COVID Contest Parties
Several college students in an Alabama city organized “COVID-19” parties as a contest to see who would get the virus first, officials said.
Tuscaloosa City Councilor Sonya McKinstry said students hosted the parties to intentionally infect each other with the new coronavirus, news outlets reported.
McKinstry said party organizers purposely invited guests who tested positive for COVID-19. She said the students put money in a pot and whoever got COVID first would get the cash.
"It makes no sense," McKinstry said. "They’re intentionally doing it."
Smith didn't say whether actions would be taken against the students. He also didn't say which schools the students attend.
A Predicted Surge in US Job Growth for June Might Not Last
U.S. employers likely rehired several million more workers in June, thereby reducing a Depression-level unemployment rate, but the most up-to-date data suggests that a resurgent coronavirus will limit further gains.
Economists have forecast that businesses, governments and nonprofits added 3 million jobs — a record high — and that the unemployment rate fell a full percentage point to 12.3%, according to data provider FactSet. The predicted hiring gain would be up from 2.5 million jobs in May. Even so, the combined job growth for May and June would recover only a fraction of the 22 million jobs that were lost in March and April, when the virus forced business shutdowns and layoffs across the country.
And even a jobless rate above 10% wouldn’t fully capture the scope of the pandemic’s damage to the job market and the economy. Millions more people are working part time but would prefer full-time work. And an unusually high proportion of workers have been subject to pay cuts, research has found.
With confirmed coronavirus cases spiking across the Sun Belt, a range of evidence suggests that a nascent recovery is stalling. In states that are suffering the sharpest spikes in reported virus cases — Texas, Florida, Arizona and others — progress has reversed, with businesses closing again and workers losing jobs, in some cases for a second time.
Credit and debit card data tracked by JPMorgan Chase show that consumers have slowed their spending in just the past week, after spending had risen steadily in late April and May. The reversal has occurred both in states that have seen surges in reported COVID cases and in less affected states, said Jesse Edgerton, an economist at J.P. Morgan.
Nationwide, card spending fell nearly 13% last week compared with a year ago. That was worse than the previous week, when year-over-year card spending had declined just under 10%.
Real-time data from Homebase, a provider of time-tracking software for small businesses, shows that the number of hours worked at its client companies has leveled off after having risen sharply in May and early June. Business re-openings have also flattened. The economic bounce produced by the initial lifting of shutdown orders may have run its course.
California Officials Blasted for Prison Outbreak
California lawmakers harshly criticized state corrections officials' “failure of leadership” Wednesday, saying they botched their handling of the coronavirus pandemic by inadvertently transferring infected inmates to a virus-free prison, triggering the state’s worst prison outbreak.
A third of the 3,500 inmates at San Quentin State Prison near San Francisco have tested positive since officials transferred 121 inmates from the heavily impacted California Institution for Men in Chino on May 30 without properly testing them for infections.
“I don’t say this lightly, but this is a failure of leadership. This crisis is completely avoidable,” said state Sen. Mike McGuire, who represents the San Quentin area.
The transfer from the stricken prison in Southern California “should have never happened," McGuire said at a Senate oversight hearing. ”And then the virus spread like wildfire.”
Tents were set up in the yard of San Quentin State Prison to treat inmates with COVID-19. At least 1,011 cases of the virus have been reported.
Closing Bars to Stop Coronavirus Spread Is Backed by Science
Authorities are closing honky tonks, bars and other drinking establishments in some parts of the U.S. to stem the surge of COVID-19 infections — a move backed by sound science about risk factors that go beyond wearing or not wearing masks.
In the words of one study, it comes down to the danger of “heavy breathing in close proximity."
Crowded indoor spaces filled with people yelling, leaning close to hear one another and touching the same sticky surfaces are “the opposite of social distancing,” said Dr. David Hamer of the Boston University School of Medicine.
“Can you do social distancing at a bar? Can you wear a mask while drinking?” Hamer said. “Bars are the perfect place to break all those rules."
Two other factors at play in bars make them potential virus flashpoints. Alcohol lowers inhibitions, so people forget precautions, said Natalie Dean, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Florida.
Plus, the attractive, healthy person buying you a drink could be a silent carrier, shedding contagious virus with each breath.
“Young people have less severe illness, so they may be infected and able to infect others inadvertently,” Dean said, noting outbreaks in Japan and South Korea associated with restaurants, bars and karaoke parties.
How Coronavirus Has Grown in Each State — in 1 Chart
This chart shows the cumulative number of cases per state by number of days since the 10th case.
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US Virus Updates: Pfizer Vaccine Shows Encouraging Early Results; Alabama Students Threw COVID Contest Parties - NBC10 Boston
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