California surpasses 600,000 coronavirus cases

A health care worker in Los Angeles carries a kit at a drive-in Covid-19 testing center on August 11. Mario Tama/Getty Images

California has now reported 602,997 coronavirus cases, according to Johns Hopkins University -- giving it the dubious distinction of having the most Covid-19 cases of any US state.

At least 10,999 Californians have died with coronavirus since the pandemic began. This number, though high, is far below the 32,805 people who have died in New York state.

Florida and Texas rank second and third on the nation’s case list, with more than 557,000 and 530,000 cases respectively.

Earlier this week, Gov. Gavin Newsom said California's hospitalization and ICU rates were down, describing them as “another indication that we are turning a corner on this pandemic."

CNN's map is tracking US cases:

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Naomi Less, a ritual leader for Lab/Shul, prepares for one of the group's online services. Courtesy Lab/Shul

For decades, Teme Ring was cut off from her Jewish faith.

The former lawyer was forced to give up her career in 2000, after an onslaught of autoimmune diseases and dysautonomia, conditions that also made her too weak to step into a synagogue for in-person services.

In recent years, Ring had hoped to reconnect with faith through a synagogue in downtown Chicago.

"I realized I really missed it," she said. "But it seemed ridiculous to belong and never show up." She only dragged herself to synagogue once, and her symptoms were such that she was physically present but spiritually absent.

Now, however, during the pandemic, with many Jewish congregations taking services online for the first time, Ring's faith has undergone its long overdue blossoming.

Empowered by technology, she can now regularly attend Shabbat and classes at two different synagogues in Chicago, and at a third in Southern California, where her parents live.

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A traveler in the arrivals hall is seen on a screen at Hong Kong International Airport on July 15. Lam Yik/Bloomberg/Getty Images

Passenger arrivals at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) in July plummeted by 98.6% year-on-year, the city's airport authority has said.

Just 96,000 people landed at the airport in July 2020. Officials also recorded a 7.3% decline in cargo passing through the airport.

"Cargo throughput declined 7.3% to 372,000 tonnes compared to the same month last year," the statement said, noting that cargo heading to or from southeast Asia, mainland China and Europe had decreased most significantly.

Hong Kong has struggled to contain a third wave of the virus in recent weeks, with a number of local transmissions linked to family gatherings and workplaces emerging.

The city has reported 4,312 cases and 66 deaths overall, according to Johns Hopkins University.

On Tuesday night, Aaron Fortner, a high school English teacher in Missoula, Montana, sat at his computer for nearly four hours watching a virtual meeting of Missoula County Public Schools' board of trustees. Leaders listened as citizens weighed in against starting the school year in person.

"Out of 50 or 60 public comments, only one person supported in-person learning," he said. "I was hopeful."

Fortner hoped on behalf of the rattled teachers he advocated for as a member of the local teacher's union. Those educators were afraid of coronavirus spreading rampantly in schools teeming with crowds of ebullient young people. Without tenure, many teachers didn't feel confident about speaking out, he said. Nonetheless, the community appeared on their side, arguing for virtual classes.

But then the board voted overwhelmingly to support a hybrid model of both online and in-person learning, to be implemented when students return on August 26. His heart sank.

"I was just blown away," he said. "It was a jaw-dropping moment after three and a half hours of public comment. It was an avalanche moment for our community."

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The Supreme Court in Washington, DC, on July 20. Stefani Reynolds/Bloomberg/Getty Images

The US Supreme Court continues to send a clear message when it comes to emergency requests to block or change state actions and regulations tied to Covid-19: not interested.

Whether it's voting access, attendance limits on churches or prison crowding, the court -- steered by Chief Justice John Roberts -- is not yet stepping in to second-guess state or local officials.

The current track could make it harder for Republicans and President Donald Trump to stop states from expanding absentee voting in blue states and could hurt Democrats and liberals in red states who want to loosen voting restrictions due to coronavirus.

So far, however, the pattern has mainly benefited GOP interests and generally limited voting access.

But on Thursday, the justices again backed a state's position when they sided with Rhode Island to turn away a Republican attempt to block an agreement to no longer require two signatures to vote absentee. It's the first time the court came down on the side of expanding voting access after several rulings going the other way in GOP-controlled states like Alabama, Idaho, Texas and Wisconsin.

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Eoin Boyle and Annie Birney on Great Blasket. Courtesy Annie Birney and Eoin Boyle

It was on Valentine's Day this year that Dublin couple Annie Birney and Eoin Boyle found out they'd landed what might just be the world's most romantic job.

They'd beaten more than 50,000 other applicants to become summer caretakers of Great Blasket, an unoccupied island off Ireland's west coast. They'd be posted there from April to October 2020 and they couldn't wait to get started.

Great Blasket is part of Europe's most westerly island group and a popular Irish tourist destination. It's not a place for sticklers for electricity or hot running water, but the views are sublime and the generous rain keeps the landscape lush.

As for stiff Atlantic breezes, they power the wind turbine that generates enough electricity to charge up a mobile phone.

As the sole full-time residents, Birney and Boyle were set to manage the island's coffee shops and three vacation cottages, and the rest of the time enjoy the majestic 1,100 acres of emerald isle as their personal domain.

Then Covid-19 was declared a pandemic, and their year started to look very different.

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Funeral workers move the casket of someone said to have died from Covid-19 at the Gerard J. Neufeld funeral home in Queens, New York, on April 29. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A new study has found that deaths in New York City in the early part of the Covid-19 pandemic were comparable to deaths in the city at the peak of what's considered the deadliest pandemic to date -- the flu pandemic of 1918.

The relative increase in deaths during the early period of the Covid-19 pandemic was actually substantially greater than during the peak of the 1918 pandemic, according to the study published Thursday in JAMA Network Open.

Faust said by comparing the first two months of the pandemic in New York to the worst two months of the pandemic in New York 100 years ago, the Covid-19 period had over 70% as many deaths per capita. 

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Airlines UK, the trade body representing carriers including British Airways, easyJet and Ryanair, has said Britain's decision to add France, Malta and the Netherlands to its quarantine list is yet “another devastating blow" for the industry.

The UK announced on Thursday evening that people arriving from France, Malta and the Netherlands, as well as Aruba and the Turks and Caicos Islands were required to quarantine for 14 days from arrival from 4 a.m. local time Saturday (11 p.m. ET Friday).

Since easing lockdown restrictions, the UK has maintained a travel corridor with listed countries from which people can travel without having to quarantine, but the list has changed repeatedly as cases spike and fade globally. Thursday's announcement followed rising coronavirus cases in countries across Europe.

Airlines UK urged the British government to consider a regional approach to quarantines as opposed to a national one, which affects people travelling from any part of an affected country, regardless of regional case rates.

The trade body said the UK's “broad-brush, weekly ‘stop and go’ changes to travel corridors at a national level” were disruptive to airlines and passengers alike.

Airlines UK has also pushed for a testing regime to be implemented for arriving passengers, so that those testing negative can avoid having to self isolate.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has also called for co-ordinated measures – it has warned already that 780,000 jobs are at risk in the UK due to the aviation shutdown.

France has said it will impose reciprocal quarantine measures on visitors from the UK.

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Drive-in haunted house in Tokyo. Kowagarasetai

We can all agree that screaming is a pivotal part of a great haunted house experience.

But at a time when exhalation is discouraged because of the Covid-19 pandemic, a Japanese company has created an attraction that follows social distancing guidelines yet remains absolutely terrifying -- a drive-in haunted house.

Kowagarasetai, a Japanese haunted house and horror event production company, claims the concept is the first of its kind.

"With the virus, I knew there would be no way we could have a traditional haunted house, with all that screaming in a small confined space," Kenta Iwana, Kowagarasetai's founder, tells CNN Travel.

"When I read that drive-through theaters were making a comeback, it was my 'aha' moment."

The car is wiped clean of the fake blood at the drive-in haunted house. Kowagarasetai

With Tokyo battling another wave of Covid-19 infections, the company says it's taking every precaution to protect both its actors and customers. Each car is wiped down with alcohol to minimize risks for the ghost actors. Rental cars are lined in plastic, which is changed for every customer.

Afterward, the car is wiped clean of the fake blood (and potential viruses from the hands of the ghosts). 

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