Florida reports record number of deaths for fourth straight day

A health care worker passes paperwork to someone at a Covid-19 testing site in Miami on July 27. Lynne Sladky/AP

For the fourth day in a row, the state of Florida is reporting a record number of coronavirus related deaths.

On Friday, the state reported 257 more deaths, breaking the previous record of 253 deaths, which was set yesterday, according to the Florida Department of Health. 

The state set previous records on Tuesday and Wednesday. The statewide resident death toll is now 6,843. 

Florida also reported at least 9,007 new coronavirus cases bringing the state total to more than 470,000.

Members of the St. Louis Cardinals have tested positive for Covid-19 forcing Friday’s game between the Cardinals and the Milwaukee Brewers to be postponed, according to MLB Network and ESPN. 

MLB Network was first to report the news. ESPN reports that multiple members of the team have tested positive.

When asked about the report, a MLB spokesperson said the league would address the situation in a press release later this morning. 

 The game was slated to start at 2:10 p.m. ET in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Mayor Bill de Blasio is pictured on July 9 in New York. Mark Lennihan/AP

The Covid-19 infection rate across New York City has to be below 3% for schools to reopen, Mayor Bill de Blasio said during the city’s daily Covid-19 news conference Friday.

New York City has been below that threshold for weeks, de Blasio said.

When schools reopen, face masks will be required along with social distancing, free Covid-19 testing will be offered, and all staff and students must have the necessary personal protective equipment to work in the classroom, de Blasio said.

Teachers will be required to get tested for Covid-19 in the days leading up to schools reopening and test results will be given to teachers within 24-hours of being tested, New York City Schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said during the same press conference.

If someone gets sick in the classroom that information will be communicated fast, Carranza said.

The goal is to keep kids in the same group as much as possible and limit movement for students and who they come in contact with throughout the day, de Blasio said.

“Everything we do is going to be focused on health and safety,” the mayor said.

If a student or teacher gets sick, that entire classroom will be required to quarantine for 14-days, Dr. Ted Long said.

Long, who runs the NYC Test and Trace Corps, said the corps will investigate each case of Covid-19 at a school and schools could close for a limited time during the investigation, or they could switch to remote learning, he said.

As students and teachers prepare for the upcoming school year, CNN's "Coronavirus: Fact vs. Fiction" podcast is dedicating a week of episodes to how kids and teachers may return to school safely.

In today's episode, one listener asked, "How can I get my kids to wear a mask?"

Here's how CNN's education experts, Laura Jarrett responded:

You can listen to the full episode here.

President Donald Trump attends a meeting at the White House on July 30. Evan Vucci/AP

The President appears to be watching this morning’s coronavirus hearing with Dr. Anthony Fauci and top health experts. 

Here's what he tweeted moments ago:

Trump has repeatedly argued that more testing is leading to more cases in the US. That is comprehensively inaccurate. 

Fact's first: Trump's own officials and his Republican allies have acknowledged it's not true that a rising number of tests is the reason the number of cases has skyrocketed over the last month. One telling piece of evidence that the spike is genuine: the percentage of people testing positive, a key measure of the true spread of the virus, has also spiked. As for his assertion regarding other countries — Countries like Germany have needed to do less testing over time because they were more successful at containing their outbreaks in the first place — by employing a strategy that involved aggressive early testing.

You can read more from CNN's Fact Check team here.

Vietnam confirmed its first novel coronavirus death on Friday, the state-run Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reported.

The patient, a 70-year-old man, died on Friday morning in the Hue Central Hospital, state media said. He was a resident of Hoi An town and was admitted to Da Nang Hospital after developing symptoms on July 9, according to VNA. He tested positive for the virus on July 26. 

Vietnam also confirmed 37 new coronavirus cases on Friday evening, raising Vietnam’s total number of infections to 546, according to Chinhphu, the official state-run newspaper of the Vietnamese government.

Ron Rivera on CNN's "New Day" on July 31. CNN

A funeral home in Texas is so overwhelmed with bodies that it is using a refrigerated tractor-trailer to temporarily handle the volume of victims.

McAllen, Texas, funeral home director Ron Rivera said he encourages virtual funeral viewings, but some families cannot do them, and he tries to educate them on the dangers of in-person ceremonies. 

Rivera said he meets with grieving families whose loved ones died in the hospital and are told they must be cremated. 

“I’m trying my best…allowing them to have visitation with their loved one so they can have some sort of closure. It's important for them to be able to see them one final time and have some closure. So yes, it's very difficult every day,” Rivera said. 

He said he is meeting today with a woman who delayed the funeral of her mother who died of coronavirus because her father wasn’t feeling well. She called Rivera yesterday to inform him that her father passed away. Her parents were married for nearly 50 years, Rivera said. 

“We’re seeing these situations…more and more,” he said. 

“It's an invisible enemy we have, is what I tell the families, and everybody we speak to, we have to assume they're infected. That's the point we're at,” he added. 

Watch:

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — center left and right, respectively — speak to reporters on July 30 in Washington, DC, after a meeting with Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer. Samuel Corum/Getty Images

The unemployment benefit that has kept millions afloat during the worst economic crisis in decades officially expires tonight at midnight. Weekly jobless claims continue to rise. Economic forecasters are warning of another slowdown. The coronavirus has resurged across the country. 

And the US Senate has adjourned for the weekend. 

There's no deal in sight right now: The dire economic news, the potential for significant long-term damage, the very real deadline – nothing has jarred loose the talks over the next coronavirus relief package. Lawmakers and the Trump administration, people involved in the talks say, are nowhere near a broad deal than they were at the start of the week.

What happens next: The top White House negotiators — Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and White House chief of staff Mark Meadows — and the top Democratic negotiators — Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer — are expected to speak by phone today and through the weekend, but at this point no in-person meetings are planned. 

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.”