Covid-19 antibody therapy could be available this year, biotech CEO says

Three months after US President Donald Trump suggested ingesting disinfectants as a treatment for coronavirus, a Florida man and his three sons are facing criminal charges for allegedly selling a toxic solution to tens of thousands of people as a cure for Covid-19. 

Mark Grenon, 62, and his sons allegedly manufactured, promoted and sold "Miracle Mineral Solution," a chemical solution containing sodium chlorite and water, according to the criminal complaint affidavit.

The men sold the toxic bleach under the guise of Genesis II Church of Health and Healing, an entity they allegedly created in an attempt to avoid government regulation, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a statement.

They've been charged with criminal contempt, conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to violate the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act for their alleged actions, the US Attorney's Office said. 

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Nearly 1.5 million teachers in the United States are at higher risk of serious illness if they contract the coronavirus, according to an analysis released Friday. 

These teachers and instructors, about 24% of the total, suffer from health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or obesity, or are older than 65, which make them more vulnerable, the Kaiser Family Foundation report found.

The share of teachers at high risk based on criteria identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the same as for workers overall, Kaiser said. Schools face the challenge of high traffic and tight quarters, which could make social distancing difficult.

The analysis comes as the nation is engulfed in a debate over whether it's safe to bring children back into the classroom this fall. This week, President Donald Trump ramped up the pressure on state officials to reopen schools, threatening to withhold federal funding.

But many teachers and parents remain concerned about being able to keep children and their instructors safe, especially as the number of cases surges across the nation.

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A nurse administers a coronavirus test in Omaha, Nebraska, on July 10. Nati Harnik/AP

The US had a record number of new coronavirus cases in a single day Friday, with 63,900 reported, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

There have now been at least 3,181,846 cases of the coronavirus in the US -- a quarter of the global total -- including 134,059 related deaths.

This includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

Friday’s total eclipsed the previous high reached just a day earlier, when 63,247 new coronavirus cases were reported across the country.

CNN’s map is tracking the US cases here.

Police officers and health care workers outside a locked-down public housing tower in Melbourne, Australia, on July 8. James Ross/AAP/AP

The Australian state of Victoria recorded 216 new coronavirus cases Friday, Premier Daniel Andrews announced Saturday. 

Of the new cases, 186 remain under investigation. The other 30 have been linked to known outbreaks. 

On Thursday, Victoria reported 288 fresh cases -- the most in a single day in any Australian state since the pandemic began. 

“We will see more and more additional cases,” Andrews said. “Steps we've taken as a Victorian community this week won't be reflected in the numbers until next week and the week after. That's just the nature of how this virus moves.”

The neighboring state of New South Wales posted seven new cases on Friday, its health department said.

World Health Organization Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus speaks at a press conference at its head office in Geneva on July 3. Kyodo News/Getty Images

The director-general of the World Health Organization has condemned a "lack of leadership" in fighting the coronavirus pandemic and made an emotional plea for global unity, as cases soar in multiple countries and the world struggles to contain the devastating virus more than six months after it was first identified.

His intervention will be seen as a thinly veiled swipe at leaders including US President Donald Trump, who has waged a public battle against the WHO while failing to suppress the world's worst Covid-19 outbreak in his own country.

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Medical workers secure a Covid-19 test sample in San Jose, Costa Rica, on July 10. Ezequiel Becerra/AFP/Getty Images

Costa Rica announced Friday that an “epidemiological fence” will be put in place around the metropolitan region of its capital San José in a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

Vehicle traffic will be severely restricted in the "orange alert" area around and including the capital. Cars will be restricted by license plate numbers to only two specific days a week. Only essential businesses, such as ones involved in food provision and funeral services, are allowed to function. 

"At this point in the pandemic, the time to use the hammer has come," President Carlos Alvarado Quesada said. "Why do we have to do this? We have to do so because health is the priority. We are prioritizing the lives of people in Costa Rica." 

The country has reported a total of 6,845 Covid-19 cases so far. 

Mexican Air Force pilots fly a C-130 airplane to transport medical supplies to Hermosillo, Mexico on July 3.  Claudio Cruz/AFP/Getty Images

A Mexican Air Force plane will fly the ashes of more than 200 Mexican citizens who died of Covid-19 in the US from New York City to Mexico City on Saturday, according to a statement from the Mexican foreign ministry.

From Mexico City, the remains will be transported to locations across the country. 

The ministry wrote in a statement that it will “continue providing consular services to the families of Mexican persons who have passed away due to the virus.”

Graves in the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery in Manaus, Brazil, on June 21. Michael Dantas/AFP/Getty Images

Brazil surpassed 1.8 million confirmed cases of novel coronavirus Friday, according to the country's health ministry.

The ministry recorded 45,048 new cases in the previous 24 hours — bringing the country's total to 1,800,827.

Brazil also reached 70,000 Covid-19 deaths after another 1,214 related fatalities Friday. The nationwide toll now stands at 70,398.

President Jair Bolsonaro — in semi-isolation after testing positive for the virus this week — said he hoped the country's governors and mayors would reopen "as soon as possible" and “in a responsible way."

This illustration, created at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reveals ultrastructural morphology exhibited by coronaviruses.  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Coronavirus damages not only the lungs, but also the kidneys, liver, heart, brain and nervous system, skin and gastrointestinal tract, doctors noted Friday in a review of reports about patients.

The team at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York City — one of the hospitals flooded with patients in the spring – went through their own experiences and collected reports from other medical teams around the world.

Their comprehensive picture shows coronavirus attacks virtually every major system in the human body, directly damaging organs and causing the blood to clot, the heart to lose its healthy rhythm, the kidneys to shed blood and protein, and the skin to erupt in rashes. It causes headaches, dizziness, muscle aches, stomach pain and other symptoms, along with classic respiratory symptoms such as coughing and fever.

More details: Much of the damage wrought by the virus appears to come because of its affinity for a receptor — a kind of molecular doorway into cells – called ACE2. Cells lining the blood vessels, in the kidneys, the liver ducts, the pancreas, in the intestinal tract and lining the respiratory tract are all covered with ACE2 receptors, which the virus can use to grapple and infect cells, the Columbia team wrote in the review, published in the journal Nature Medicine.

“These findings suggest that multiple-organ injury may occur at least in part due to direct viral tissue damage,” the team wrote.