Italy, UK Announce Plans To Reopen Schools; Global COVID-19 Cases Near 20 Million: Live Updates

As we reported last night, the US surpassed 5 million confirmed cases (according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins) on Saturday evening (East Coast Time).

The US reported 56,070 cases Saturday, a 1.1% increase over the prior day. Total deaths have reached 162,441, the data show.

As we reported last night, Brazil also passed two critical milestones: it has now confirmed 2 million cases, and more than 100,000 deaths.

Though the numbers have rebounded a bit over the past week, on average, the daily numbers across the US have declined from a recent peak, as the outbreak in the Sun Belt outpaced the outbreak in New York. As the number of new cases in Fla. and Texas and California and Arizona has declined, some northeastern states, like New Jersey and Rhode Island, have seen a slight uptick in recent weeks (which inspired NJ, NY & Conn to add RI to the mandatory quarantine iist).

Globally, the number of confirmed cases is nearing 19.75 million.

Over in the EU, as governments sign more deals with major pharmaceutical companies to guarantee supplies of a vaccine that hasn’t even been proven safe and effective yet, EU Commissioner for Health and Food Safety Stella Kyriakides told Germany’s Handelsblatt in an interview that while a vaccine won’t immediately solve all the world’s problems, it will allow a step-by-step return to normality, the newspaper cited Kyriakides as saying.

In contrast, in the US, Dr. Fauci, who has repeatedly reassured Congress (and the American pubic) that a vaccine would be available by the end of the year, admitted yesterday that we really don’t know how effective the vaccine will be: he says it may be only “50% to 60% effective.”

As Australia’s second-most-populous state, Victoria (the home of its second-largest city, Melbourne) continues to struggle with the country’s largest outbreak yet, neighboring New Zealand has just confirmed its 100th straight day without even a single coronavirus transmission.

New Zealand on Sunday marked 100 days since it was able to effectively eliminate the spread of coronavirus.

Here’s JHU’s daily chart reflecting the daily growth rates of the 10 fastest-growing outbreaks in the world.

As New York bucks the trend in the US by moving toward a “hybrid” model of in-person learning this fall, more European economies are moving toward fully restarting in-person learning in a few weeks, almost guaranteeing another outbreak, though ideally one that can be swiftly contained with minimal fatalities. 

Schools Minister Nick Gibb said in an interview on Times Radio that opening schools is critical for reviving the country’s battered economy, by allowing parents to return to work. Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the Mail on Sunday newspaper the country has a “moral duty” to resume normal teaching and reopening. He called reopening schools a “national priority.”

Meanwhile, in Iran, the number of new cases fell to a two-month low of 2,020, bringing total infections to 326,712. The death toll climbed to 18,427 with 163 more deaths overnight. That’s compared with 132 the day before.

Italy’s Health Minister Roberto Speranza confirmed in an interview with Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera that Italian schools will reopen Sept. 14.

Another lockdown would do an “enormous damage, and we need to avoid it more than anything” Speranza said in the interview, in a reference to Italy’s battered economy, which will – to be sure – benefit from the pan-European rescue fund.