'Emerging evidence' of airborne transmission of coronavirus, WHO says

A woman wearing a face mask walks past a Boardwalk store with signs warning patrons of mask requirements on July 3, in Wildwood, New Jersey. Mark Makela/Getty Images

The World Health Organization confirmed there is “emerging evidence” of airborne transmission of the coronavirus.

It comes after 239 scientists published a letter urging the agency to be more forthcoming about the likelihood that people can catch the virus from droplets floating in the air.

Infectious disease epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkove, with WHO’s Health Emergencies Program, said many of the letter’s signatories are engineers, “which adds to growing knowledge about the importance of ventilation."

She said the WHO is working on a scientific brief summarizing the current knowledge around transmission of the coronavirus, which should be available in the coming weeks.

Alleganzi cautioned that more research is still needed on Covid-19 transmission.

“These are fields of research that are really growing and for which there is some evidence emerging but is not definitive,” she said. 

US President Donald Trump participates in an event in the East Room at the White House on July 7 in Washington, DC. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

President Donald Trump's new push to open schools shows he's learned nothing from calamities sparked by his demands for premature state openings. 

The coronavirus pandemic is again rearing out of control, rising in a majority of states as a new warning comes that more than 200,000 Americans could be dead by Election Day. 

But Trump barreled forward anyway, failing to offer detailed proposals for how schools could open safely next month even as he admitted he planned to crank up pressure on governors to do what he wants.

He also delivered a fresh rebuke to his government's top infectious disease specialist, Dr. Anthony Fauci, who had dismissed the President's discredited claims that the US has the world's lowest mortality rate.

And Trump conjured another wishful prediction: that the worsening battle against the virus, which has already killed 130,000 Americans and infected 3 million, would be far less serious within weeks.

Schools: Trump's self-serving implication that his opponents want to keep schools closed to hurt him politically ignores the complicated concerns that administrators, teachers and parents harbor over the prospect of schools staying closed -- and the dangers that are inherent in getting classes up and running again.

Economy: The US economy is now threatened by a second slump if the virus gets so bad that states and cities are forced back into lockdown. Trump's administration falls short on all those key strategies and even now is ignoring best practices and the evidence of what worked elsewhere in a bid to crank up the economy, deemed vital to the President's reelection hopes.

The coronavirus pandemic is ravaging parts of the US and affecting numerous aspects of American life. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases is nearing 3 million. 

While the future of the pandemic in the US is still unclear, here's what has happened in the last few days.

Trump addressed crowds at Mount Rushmore: During his remarks, the US President mentioned the virus once, at the very top of his remarks, thanking those working to fight it.

Beaches were packed for the Fourth of July: Some Americans altered their traditional Fourth of July celebrations while others flocked to beaches to enjoy the holiday weekend. 

People have waited several hours to get tested: Covid-19 testing capacity has increased considerably since March but the recent surge of cases is causing long lines to get tested and slow results.

Some hospitals reached capacity: Dozens of intensive care units at Florida hospitals near Miami, Orlando and Tampa have hit capacity and there are concerns that more hospitals could be next.

A debate over school reopenings has emerged: Florida schools have been ordered to reopen in August but teachers in some of the state's largest school districts are pushing back.

MLS is coming back despite coronavirus concerns: Major League Soccer's MLS is Back Tournament kicks off on Wednesday after more than a dozen people, including FC Dallas and Nashville SC players have tested positive for the virus.

Read the full story:

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison speaks to the media on June 29, in Sydney. Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the latest coronavirus outbreak in the city of Melbourne is "particularly serious" but added that it is "not surprising and that's why we need to continue to focus on our effort and work together." 

As Melbourne prepares to go into lockdown from midnight Wednesday, Morrison said, “We're all Melbournians now when it comes to the challenges we face.”

More than 800 federal public servants are helping with the door-to-door health effort in the state of Victoria, he announced. 

Morrison said he will be taking a proposal to the National Cabinet to reduce the number of international flights arriving in the country.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, wears a face covering as he listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on June 30. Al Drago/AFP/Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the US's top infectious disease expert, said he’s “strongly in favor” of local mask mandates to help control the spread of the coronavirus.

“When you look at what we can do that we know works, it’s the use of masks, physical distance and avoiding crowds,” Fauci said at a press conference on Tuesday with Sen. Doug Jones, an Alabama Democrat.

As of Monday, 35 states plus Washington DC and Puerto Rico, had some type of mask requirement order in place as coronavirus cases surge in parts of the United States. Hospital ICUs are near capacity in some areas, including Florida and Texas.

Fauci, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said he’d like to see consistency in using face coverings to slow the spread of the deadly virus.  

“Individual mandates, wherever they come from, I think are important because when people get a signal that you may or may not want to wear a mask, which means it may or may not be helpful, that's a very confusing signal,” he said.

“So, if you’re saying it doesn’t matter whether you put it on or take it off, you're giving a wrong, mixed signal. The signal should be: Wear a mask. Period.” 

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, listens during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on June 30. Al Drago/AFP/Getty Images

Dr. Anthony Fauci warned against a false sense of security from the decreasing coronavirus mortality rate in the United States.

“It’s a false narrative to take comfort in a lower rate of death,” the nation’s top infectious disease expert cautioned in a press conference on Tuesday with Sen. Doug Jones, an Alabama Democrat. 

“There’s so many other things that are very dangerous and bad about this virus, don’t get yourself into false complacency,” Fauci urged.

Fauci, the director of the National Institutes on Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the comment as the White House repeatedly pointed to the falling death rate from Covid-19 cases as proof the virus is under control. Coronavirus cases have actually surged in states across the South and Southwest and hospitals in some areas are reaching ICU capacity.

Read the full story:

Nurses transfer a coronavirus patient to the Critical Patients Unit, at Barros Luco Hospital on June 24 in Santiago, Chile. Martin Martin Bernetti/AFP/Getty Images

Latin American and Caribbean countries have recorded more than 3 million Covid-19 cases combined as of Tuesday evening, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The following 33 countries are included in this region:

Brazil; Peru; Chile; Mexico; Ecuador; Colombia; Argentina--Dominican Republic; Panama; Bolivia; Guatemala; Honduras; Haiti; El Salvador; Venezuela; Cuba; Nicaragua-; Costa Rica; Paraguay; Uruguay; Jamaica; Guyana; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; The Bahamas; Barbados; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Antigua and Barbuda'; Grenada; Belize; Saint Lucia; Dominica; and Saint Kitts and Nevis.

The combined total stands at 3,010,954 confirmed cases, according to JHU's tally.

The worsening coronavirus pandemic hit a series of somber peaks across the United States on Tuesday, renewing fears that more hospitals could be overloaded with Covid-19 patients.

At least 56 intensive care units in Florida hospitals reached capacity on Tuesday, state officials said. Another 35 hospitals show ICU bed availability of 10% or less, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration in that state. 

As nearly 3 million confirmed coronavirus cases were reported in the US, the need for testing has increased. That has led federal officials to set up new testing sites in Florida, Louisiana and Texas. But major diagnostic companies have said they are facing testing delays.

Hospitals in Texas and Florida are flooded with critical Covid-19 patients and some local and state officials have made face coverings mandatory.

Last week, the country averaged just under 50,000 new cases daily -- the highest rate recorded, and twice as high as a month ago.

Read the full story:

Vendors in an appliance parts supply store tend to clients from behind a plastic sheet to reduce the spread of coronavirus, in central Mexico City, on Monday, July 6. Rebecca Blackwell/AP

Mexico reported 6,258 confirmed coronavirus cases on Tuesday, as the country shows no signs of stemming the spread of the virus despite continuing with reopening measures.

With Tuesday's increase, the nationwide total of confirmed Covid-19 cases stands at 268,008, according to the Mexican Health Ministry.

The ministry also reported 895 new deaths, nearly doubling Monday's increase. Mexico's death toll from the virus stands at 32,014, the world's fifth-highest total.

Since Mexico entered its "new normal" phase of reopening on June 1, the number of Covid-19 cases and deaths has almost tripled in the country.

According to official data tallied by CNN, the number of coronavirus cases in Mexico has risen by 180% since June 1, and the number of deaths has also increased by 206% during the same period of time.