The Latest: Ore. says case drop not enough to open schools
SALEM, Ore. — Oregon public health experts say the number of new coronavirus cases in the state has dropped over the past month, but the decline hasn’t been enough for schools to safely open.
The state is averaging about 250 new cases a day, and health officials say that needs to drop to about 60 for schools to reopen.
Gov. Kate Brown said Friday that residents will have to continue to follow and enforce current statewide pandemic mandates or else bars and restaurants may have to close and travel restrictions will be implemented.
Brown says at the current rate, schools won’t be able to reopen until April.
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HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:
— WHO chief hopes pandemic ends within 2 years
— Several aging U.S. veterans will gather in Pearl Harbor next month to mark the 75th anniversary of Japan’s surrender, despite the coronavirus pandemic
— University of Wyoming reports 61 cases of the coronavirus
— A U.S. count of deaths from all causes during the seven-month period yields what experts believe is a fuller — and more alarming — picture of the disaster and its racial dimensions.
— California added more than 140,000 jobs in July and lowered its unemployment rate to 13.3%. But the unemployment rate is still higher than it ever was during the Great Recession a decade ago.
— Major League Baseball has postponed this weekend’s Subway Series to allow time for more testing and contact tracing after two members of the New York Mets tested positive for the coronavirus.
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— Follow AP’s pandemic coverage at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak
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HERE’S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:
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HARTFORD, Conn. — Connecticut is doubling the amount of federal coronavirus money dedicated to rental assistance.
But housing advocates contend it falls far short of what is needed to help as many as 130,000 households estimated to face possible eviction between now and Dec. 31 because of the pandemic. In comparison, there were about 20,000 eviction filings in all of 2019.
Gov. Ned Lamont announced Friday that $10 million will be added to the original $10 million for the rent program. His office says the amount that can go to the rent program is limited by Congress.
Lamont said he also will soon sign an executive order extending the moratorium on residential evictions until Oct. 1.
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Washington Gov. Jay Inslee is asking Canada for help with U.S. residents of a small peninsula who have been marooned by the pandemic-related closure of the U.S.-Canada border.
Point Roberts is part of Washington state, but it juts out from the Canadian mainland south of Vancouver and is not connected to the rest of Washington. About 1,300 people live there.
In a letter Friday to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Inslee suggests that residents of Point Roberts be given special travel permits allowing them to drive directly to and from the Washington state mainland.
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HARRISBURG, Pa. — The governing body for Pennsylvania interscholastic sports decided Friday to move forward with the fall season, rejecting the governor’s recommendation that all youth sports be postponed until 2021 to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
The board of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association had delayed the start of fall sports by two weeks after Gov. Tom Wolf on Aug. 6 urged that scholastic and recreational youth sports be put off until January, citing the pandemic.
The PIAA had said it was blindsided and “tremendously disappointed” by Wolf’s recommendation — which was not binding — and insisted that fall sports could be held safely. For his part, Wolf has pointed out that major collegiate leagues have independently canceled fall sports.
The board voted 25-5 on Friday to allow high school football, soccer, tennis, field hockey and other fall sports to go on as planned, starting Monday. Among those voting no: board members representing professional associations of school boards, superintendents and principals.
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SALT LAKE CITY — The annual Christmas concert by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ choir has been cancelled because of lingering concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
The cancellation of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square’s holiday concert announced Friday by church officials is the latest sign that disruptions to normal religious activity will continue through the holidays. The Utah-based faith previously announced it would hold its twice-yearly signature conference in October without in-person audience as it did at the April conference.
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LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas on Friday reported its largest single-day increase in deaths from the illness caused by the coronavirus as the state moved closer toward resuming in-person classes at public schools.
The Department of Health reported 22 people had died from COVID-19, bringing the state’s total fatalities from the illness since the pandemic began to 663. The department reported 887 new confirmed coronavirus cases, bringing the state’s total to 55,652.
The department said half of the new deaths occurred in nursing homes. Four of the deaths occurred in July and were late reports.
The spike in deaths comes days before Arkansas’ public schools are scheduled to reopen. Schools are allowed to offer virtual classes or a hybrid option that includes some onsite classes, but the state is requiring schools to be open five days a week for students who need in-person instruction.
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The size of private gatherings in Bloomington is now limited to 15 people under an emergency executive order by Mayor John Hamilton. The order took effect immediately Friday. The previous maximum crowd size was 50.
Hamilton issued the order after photos and videos shared on social media showed Indiana University students gathering in large groups without masks or practicing social distancing. Hamilton urged residents to report any violations of the new order to the Bloomington Police Department.
The mayor also also ordered people attending gatherings to practice social distancing and to use face coverings.
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — Iowa’s largest school district cannot begin the year with fully remote learning and must offer at least 50% in-person instruction despite a worsening coronavirus pandemic, the state said Friday.
Des Moines Public Schools, which has 32,000 students and 5,000 employees, blasted the decision by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds’ administration to deny its request for a waiver to allow for 100% online learning. The district announced that it would file a lawsuit to challenge the state’s order to reopen schools, a prospect that it said was simply unsafe because of the coronavirus threat.
“Unfortunately, the governor and her agencies have decided to ignore the local decision-making authority set out in the law to try and force their will on school districts to do things we all know are simply not safe at this time,” said Kyrstin Delagardelle, the chair of the school board.
The Iowa Department of Education denied the district’s waiver request on Thursday. The agency said the denial would still allow parents to choose 100% virtual learning for students, and the district could offer a hybrid approach in which students get 50% in-person learning and the rest online.
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DETROIT — Educators in Detroit concerned about exposure to the COVID-19 virus in classrooms and hallways have given their union the OK to call a “potential safety strike” in which teachers would agree to teach and work remotely.
The Detroit Federation of Teachers insists the strike would not be a work stoppage with the start of the school year looming, and said the aim is to press the public school district to implement science-based safety protocols during the coronavirus pandemic. Classes in Detroit are scheduled to start Sept 8.
Friday is the deadline for parents to complete a survey on whether they want online or face-to-face learning for the first quarter. A district spokeswoman says teachers also can choose face-to-face or online instruction.
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PHOENIX — Arizona has reported a 20% increase in deaths in the first seven months of this year.
Public health experts say not all have been directly linked to the coronavirus. They say possible explanations include overdoses and suicides by those struggling with isolation or unemployment during the pandemic.
Other possibilities are patients succumbing to chronic diseases after postponing hospital visits because of fears about contracting the virus there. Or deaths from Arizona’s regular flu season in October to April.
A more complete understanding is expected after health officials review death certificates.
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TOPEKA, Kan. — The largest school district in Kansas moved classes online for its middle and high-schoolers while public health officials in Topeka imposed stricter crowd size limits to stem the spread of the coronavirus.
The Wichita school district, with more than 50,000 students, will give the parents of elementary students the option of taking classes in person or online. But older students will be online only when classes begin Sept. 8, the district’s board of education decided Thursday in a 5-2 vote.
The district also is the latest to cancel sports and extracurricular activities. Wyandotte County called off football, volleyball and soccer, as well as marching band, last week. And the Shawnee Mission School District, which is the state’s third largest with 27,000 students, decided to suspend sports and extracurricular activities starting Friday.
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OKLAHOMA CITY — The Oklahoma State Department of Health reported an increase of 1,077 coronavirus cases and six deaths in the last 24 hours.
Also, the health department and the state Department of Education announced Friday a plan that provides public school teachers and school support staff with free coronavirus testing in their areas.
Gov. Kevin Stitt in July issued an executive order for the state health and education departments to develop a plan for teachers to be tested monthly for the virus.
Oklahoma has reported 51,746 coronavirus cases and 715 deaths.
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BOISE, Idaho — Idaho will remain in the fourth and final stage of Gov. Brad Little’s plan to reopen for at least another two weeks as coronavirus infection rates and hospitalizations remain above a threshold.
The Republican governor says the state has sufficient ICU beds, ventilators and personal protective equipment. He also says the number of people being admitted to hospitals is stabilizing.
Little spoke at the Idaho Foodbank in Boise, where he emphasized the need to support food banks during the pandemic when many people have lost jobs.
Idaho had more than 29,000 coronavirus infections and 297 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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LARAMIE, Wyo. —Officials say the University of Wyoming has reported 61 confirmed cases of the coronavirus.
The university tested more than 10,000 students and staffers ahead of the fall semester, which is scheduled to begin on Monday. Out of the 61 confirmed cases reported Thursday, 46 are still active and 15 people have recovered. Two of the 46 active cases are students who were living in the dorms. They have since been isolated.
Other students who were in close contact with the infected students are required to quarantine for 14 days. Eight of the active cases are university employees who live off campus. The final 36 of the active cases are students who live off campus, many of whom officials say don’t live in Laramie.
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LONDON — The head of the World Health Organization says he hopes the world can end the coronavirus pandemic in less than two years — less time than it took for the 1918 flu pandemic to be stopped.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described COVID-19 as a “once-in-a-century health crisis” and says while globalization had allowed the virus to spread quicker than the flu did in 1918, there was also now the technology to stop it that hadn’t been available a century ago.
“We hope to finish this pandemic (in) less than two years, especially if we can pool our efforts,” he said Friday.
WHO’s emergencies chief Dr. Michael Ryan noted the 1918 pandemic hit the globe in three distinct waves and that the second wave, which started during the fall of 1918, was the most devastating.
“This virus is not displaying a similar wave-like pattern,” he said. “When the virus is not under control, it jumps straight back up.” Ryan adds while pandemic viruses often settle into a seasonal pattern, that didn’t appear to be the case for the coronavirus.
Currently, there are more than 22 million confirmed global cases and more than 795,000 deaths from the coronavirus, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The United States leads the world with 5.6 million confirmed cases and more than 174,000 deaths.
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NEW YORK — As many as 215,000 more people than usual died in the U.S. during the first seven months of 2020, suggesting the number of lives lost to the coronavirus is significantly higher than the official toll.
Half the dead were people of color — Blacks, Hispanics, Native Americans and Asian Americans. That’s according to an analysis of government data by The Associated Press and The Marshall Project, a nonprofit news organization.
People of color make up just under 40% of the U.S. population but accounted for approximately 52% of all the “excess deaths” above normal through July.
At that time, the official death toll in the U.S. from COVID-19 was about 150,000. It has since increased to more than 174,000 dead, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.