England is putting 'brakes' on next phase of reopening, says PM Johnson

People walk at a train station in London on July 23. Guy Bell/Shutterstock

England will “squeeze the brake pedal” on the next phase of re-opening in a bid to slow down the rising rates of coronavirus infection, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Friday.

“You’ll know that at every point I have said out plan to re-open society and the economy is conditional, that it relies on continued progress against the virus and we would not hesitate to put the brakes on if required. With those numbers creeping up, our assessment is that we should now squeeze that brake pedal in order to keep the virus under control,” Johnson said at a Downing Street press conference.

Certain venues that were scheduled to reopen in England on Saturday – including casinos, bowling allies, skating rinks and close-contact services – will now remain shuttered until at least August 15.

Johnson said the government is also empowering local authorities to close down premises and cancel events which are not following Covid-19 guidance, and called for "a greater police presence to ensure face coverings are being worn where this is required by law.”

The requirement to wear face coverings will be extended to indoor venues in England including museums, galleries, movie theaters and places of worship as of August 8.

Johnson also said he asked the Home Secretary to work with the police and others to ensure the rules which are already in place are properly enforced.

“Most people in this country are following the rules and doing their best to control the virus,” Johnson said, adding “we must keep our discipline and our focus and we cannot become complacent.”

People work at a Sanofi facility in Val-de-Reuil, France, on July 10. Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images

Drug giants GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur said Friday they had won a commitment from the US federal government to pay up to $2.1 billion to help the two companies move forward with their proposed joint coronavirus vaccine as part of Operation Warp Speed.

The companies had said in April they would work together to make a vaccine against Covid-19, using Sanofi’s flu vaccine technology and Glaxo’s adjuvant -- a compound that boosts the power of a vaccine.

Now they have a deal with the US government to produce up to 100 million doses of vaccine next year, with an option for 500 million more doses. It’s the largest funding announcement for an Operation Warp Speed vaccine so far.

The companies said they plan to start a combined Phase 1/2 safety study in September, with an advanced Phase 3 efficacy trial to start, if all goes well, by the end of the year. 

“The portfolio of vaccines being assembled for Operation Warp Speed increases the odds that we will have at least one safe, effective vaccine as soon as the end of this year,” US Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said in a statement distributed by Glaxo.

Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed, told CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen on Thursday that the program was going to fund eight different coronavirus vaccines.

These include vaccines made by Moderna and Pfizer, which started advanced trials in volunteers on Monday; a vaccine from AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford that is in Phase 3 trials in the UK, Brazil, and South Africa, and which is expected to start US trials in August; and vaccines made by Johnson & Johnson and Novavax scheduled to begin Phase 3 trials in September. The Sanofi-Glaxo joint effort would be the sixth to be named as part of the program.

Pfizer and its vaccine partner BioNTech have a $1.95 billion deal with Operation Warp Speed; Novavax has a $1.6 billion deal; AstraZeneca’s contract is for $1.2 billion; Moderna’s awards total $900 million; and Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen has a $450 million contract, according to HHS’s Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority website.

More than 17.3 million coronavirus cases have been recorded worldwide, including at least 673,800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

The US is seeing a resurgence of Covid-19 infections after states began reopening their economies, with the case count now at more than 4.4 million and the death toll at 152,075, according to JHU data.

Without a national effort to adhere to preventative measures, the nation's top infectious disease doctor has said it will be impossible to predict how much longer the pandemic will last in the US.

"The thing we need to do is we need to pull out all the stops to get it down to baseline and to keep it there by doing the things that we've been talking about -- that I've been talking about -- consistently," Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday during CNN's coronavirus town hall.

A person undergoes a swab test on July 23 at a makeshift Covid-19 testing lab in Hong Kong. Jerome Favre/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Here's the latest on the pandemic:

Hong Kong postpones elections: Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Carrie Lam announced that the city's Legislative Council elections slated for September 6 have been postponed due to the coronavirus outbreak in the city.

Europe suffers record GDP slump: Europe's economy shrank by 11.9% in the second quarter as the coronavirus pandemic plunged the region into a deep recession.

The quarter-on-quarter fall in EU GDP -- the worst on record -- comes as European countries took a battering. France, Italy and Spain, recorded second quarter falls of 13.8%, 12.4%, and 18.5%, respectively. Germany, Europe's biggest economy, suffered less, reporting a 10.1% hit to GDP.

German disease prevention center lists Spanish regions as “high-risk": Germany's Robert Koch Institute (RKI) has designated the Spanish regions of Aragon, Catalonia and Navarre as “high-risk areas,” according to its most recent update to its list of places believed to be hotbeds of the novel coronavirus.

Bolsonaro says he has "mold" in lungs as his wife tests positive: Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro said on Thursday he felt weak and might have "mold in the lung" having spent weeks in isolation after catching Covid-19. His wife, Michelle Bolsonaro, has also tested positive for coronavirus, according to the President's press office.

England will slow re-opening: England will “squeeze the brake pedal” on the next phase of re-opening in a bid to slow down the rising rates of coronavirus infection, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday. New restrictions in northwest England were announced Thursday in response to an increase in cases in the area. 

Belgium records weekly rise in infections: Belgium’s weekly average of new infections rose by 62% compared to the previous week -- with 566 cases recorded this past Monday, health authorities announced Friday. Several countries has imposed travel restrictions on travelers arriving from the country.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson speaks on July 31 at a media briefing in London. PA/Getty Images

The prevalence of coronavirus in the community in England “is likely to be rising for the first time since May” and daily infections have risen to 4,900, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Friday, citing the weekly survey by the country's Office of National Statistics (ONS).

“Around one in 1,500 now have the virus compared to one in 1,800 on the 15th of July and 1 in 2000 on the 2nd of July. The ONS also estimate there are now 4,900 new infections every day up from around 3,000 a day on the 14th of July and 2,000 a day at the end of June,” Johnson said at a press conference at Downing Street.

“As we see these rises around the world we can’t fool ourselves that we are exempt. We must be willing to react to the first signs of trouble,” Johnson said, a day after his government imposed new coronavirus restrictions on several areas in northwest England.

“We just can’t afford to ignore this evidence. It is vital to stress of course that we are in a far better position to keep the virus under control now than we were at the start of the pandemic because we know so much more about the virus, we have so many more tools at our disposal to deal with it,” Johnson said. 

At more than 46,000 deaths, the UK has the third highest death toll in the world behind the US and Brazil, according to Johns Hopkins University figures.

Bryan Cranston attends a fundraiser in Los Angeles in August 2019. Michael Tullberg/Getty Images

"Breaking Bad" star Bryan Cranston has appealed to his fans to "keep wearing the damn mask," after revealing that he contracted Covid-19.

The actor, famed for playing chemistry teacher turned crystal meth drug lord Walter White, took to Instagram to share the news that he had been "one of the lucky ones" to survive the virus.

"Hi. About now you're probably feeling a little tied down, restricting your mobility and like me, you're tired of this!!" he wrote. "Well, I just want to encourage you to have a little more patience. I was pretty strict in adhering to the protocols and still... I contracted the virus. Yep. it sounds daunting now that over 150,000 Americans are dead because of it. I was one of the lucky ones.

"Mild symptoms. I count my blessings and urge you to keep wearing the damn mask, keep washing your hands, and stay socially distant. We can prevail - but ONLY if we follow the rules together. Be well - Stay well. BC"

Cranston also shared a video of himself at the UCLA Donation Center, where he had gone to donate plasma. Scientists say people who test positive for the virus may have antibodies in their plasma that could help other coronavirus patients.

The center's website states: "You may have antibodies in your plasma that attack the virus. Your donated plasma could be used for compassionate treatment or as part of a scientific trial to determine definitively if this treatment works. It can also be used to support research efforts such as making tests to check immunity to the virus."

Read the full story here.

Belgium’s weekly average of new infections rose by 62% compared to the previous week -- with 566 cases recorded this past Monday, health authorities announced in a press conference on Friday.

On average, 371 people a day are testing positive for Covid-19 and 24 people a day are being admitted to hospital.

“This rise was of course expected," according to Frederique Jacobs, head of the Infectious Diseases Department at Université Libre de Bruxelles, Erasme Hospital.

The numbers were announced amid continuing fears of a second wave of coronavirus in Europe. Several countries have imposed travel restrictions on travelers arriving from Belgium.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, arrives to participate in a roundtable at the American Red Cross in Washington, DC, on July 30. Evan Vucci/AP

Without a national effort to adhere to preventative measures, it will be impossible to predict how much longer the Covid-19 pandemic will last in the United States, according to the country's top infectious disease doctor.

The US is seeing a resurgence of coronavirus infections after states began reopening their economies, with the number of cases now at more than 4.4 million and the death toll at 152,075, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation increased its forecast to 219,864 total deaths by November, in part because the nation continues to debate measures like wearing masks and social distancing.

Regularly taking such precautions is especially important given that a backlog in getting test results is rendering some coronavirus testing practically useless.

"It shouldn't be acceptable" that US testing is so backlogged, assistant Secretary for Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services Adm. Brett Giroir said Thursday.

While he said about 25% of tests give results in about 15 minutes, most take days. Giroir said his goal is for all tests to be "sensitive and specific and back within 15 minutes."

But, he said, "you can't test your way out of this," and people should wear masks, avoid crowds and avoid being indoors with others.

Read the full story here.

Formula One driver Sergio Pérez talks at a press conference on July 2 in Spielberg, Austria. Mark Sutton/Pool/Getty Images

Formula One driver Sergio Perez has tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss this weekend's British Grand Prix.

The Mexican was self-isolating from the rest of the paddock on Thursday after an initial test came back as "inconclusive," his Racing Point team said, before a retest confirmed he had the coronavirus.

"With assistance of the local organizer of the British Grand Prix, local health authorities and the FIA Covid-19 delegate, a full track and trace initiative has been undertaken and all close contacts have been quarantined," F1 and the FIA said in a statement.

"The procedures set out by the FIA and Formula 1 have provided for swift containment of an incident that will have no wider impact on this weekend's event."

Perez will remain in self-isolation for 10 days, per the UK's guidelines, which also rules him out of next weekend's grand prix at the same track.

Read the full story:

A San Diego gym that was shut down after operating in defiance of a county health order to close last week is now linked to an outbreak of coronavirus.

It isn't clear how many cases have been linked to "The Gym" in California, but county health officials say an outbreak is considered three or more cases from different households stemming from a specific location.

"The Gym" did not immediately respond to a CNN request for comment.

San Diego County has reported a total of 28,287 Covid-19 cases, while the state of California has the highest number of total cases in the country at 492,934, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The Pacific Beach gym remained open despite an order to close indoor operations to prevent the spread of the virus. The business was sent a letter July 23 and told to close immediately, but it didn't shut until days later on July 27, county health officials say.

According to San Diego Health Officer Wilma Wooten, any business or entity that violates the order faces a misdemeanor and a fine of $1,000.

Read the full story here: