Genome sequence from fresh New Zealand cluster "closely resembles" patterns from UK and Australia

New Zealand’s top health official on Thursday said that the genome sequence from the country’s new coronavirus cluster “closely resembles” patterns from the United Kingdom and Australia.

Bloomfield added that the genome sequencing investigations are still ongoing and there is currently “no exact link” between the genome sequence of the new locally transmitted cases and imported cases in managed isolation quarantine facilities.  

New cluster: New Zealand authorities reported 14 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, of which 13 were locally transmitted. 

Three of the new cases were from employees at Americold, the workplace of one of the previously reported cases, and an additional seven cases were family members of employees at the firm. 

Authorities are testing at Americold's warehouse for Covid-19, but New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern emphasized that the most likely cause of the outbreak was human to human transmission.

"We are wanting to rule everything out," she said. 

Los Angeles is "making good progress" and has seen success over the past three weeks in response to the coronavirus pandemic, Mayor Eric Garcetti announced in a news conference on Wednesday.

According to Garcetti, there are fewer coronavirus cases, deaths, hospitalizations, a lower positivity rate, and stable and strong hospital bed availability in Los Angeles hospitals. 

The mayor attributed the drop in new infections and deaths to the wearing of face masks, washing hands, maintaining physical distance from others, and staying home, calling these actions “sacrifices to protect one another.”

The rate of transmission for Los Angeles County has dropped to 0.86 from 0.91 last week, Garcetti said.

While the Covid-19 threat level in Los Angeles still remains at “orange” -- the second highest level meaning residents should minimize contact with anyone outside of their households -- Garcetti said the past few weeks have made a difference and there are no plans to move forward with any further closures or restrictions. 

Electronic reporting system issues: Garcetti confirmed that a fraction of the case data numbers from a backlog has been received. He also warned that case numbers may increase once the county receives the backlog of data.

Garcetti urged residents to continue wearing masks, washing hands, physical distancing, and staying home.

“These things work and they are working to drive down the curve.”

New Zealand health officials said Thursday they had identified 14 new coronavirus cases as the country tackles a fresh outbreak that ended a run of more than 100 days without any locally transmitted infections.

Officials also warned they were likely to find more cases.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern reiterated that sentiment.

"As we all learnt from our first experience with Covid, once you identify a cluster it grows before it slows. We should expect that to be the case here," she said

All but one of the cases are locally transmitted, and are connected with four confirmed cases in Auckland, the country's most populous city. The other case is a woman in managed isolation who recently entered the country from the Philippines.

Of the 13 cases that are locally transmitted, three patients are employees at Americold, a cool storage facility where one of the previously reported cases worked. Seven of the cases are family members of Americold employees.  

One school student also tested positive for the virus, Bloomfield said. The student is a close contact of one of the four cases reported on Tuesday. 

What's happening in New Zealand: On the weekend, the country -- which has been held up as an example of how to combat the virus -- marked 100 days without any locally transmitted infections.

But that streak came to an end this week. On Tuesday, New Zealand announced four new locally-transmitted cases -- and on Wednesday, Auckland went into a level 3 lockdown for three days.

Parliament was set to be dissolved Wednesday ahead of the country's national election in September, but it was postponed. Ardern hasn't announced whether she will postpone the election, which is scheduled for September 19.

New Zealand has recorded more than 1,200 confirmed coronavirus cases, including 22 deaths.

The White House released eight new recommendations for US schools as they prepare to reopen -- but the recommendations are little more than basic hygiene tips and don’t outline what to do if they face coronavirus cases in their halls.

The broad recommendations are similar to coronavirus mitigation efforts across the country, and not particularly specific to schools.

The “general recommendations for all schools,” which were released at President Donald Trump’s daily coronavirus news conference, focus on what students and teachers should do to attempt to keep people safe as they return to the classroom.

Trump did say “we’re also providing high-risk teachers and students options to engage in distance teaching and learning.” 

The President said one of the reasons he wants students to return to school is because there are very few fatalities in younger Americans.

This new list released by the White House echoes much of what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention included in its guidelines for reopening schools, which do contain additional details.

Trump also said CDC teams can be deployed to schools that need assistance with their reopening plans.

Earlier on Wednesday, adviser to the President Kellyanne Conway said that despite the resources the federal government will provide, the decision to reopen schools will still need to be made at a local level.

“We’re the federal government. We’re not telling school districts what to do. We’re providing guidance and resources,” Conway said.

US President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, D.C.,on Wednesday, August 12. Chris Kleponis/Polaris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

US President Donald Trump claimed Wednesday that the federal government will provide up to 125 million masks to school districts around the United States.

The announcement comes amid a push by the Trump administration to reopen schools around the country.

A medical staff member collects a swab sample from a woman at a Covid-19 testing site in Saint-Nic, France, on August 12. Fred Tanneau/AFP/Getty Images

France has recorded its biggest jump in daily Covid-19 cases since around the time it began to ease its lockdown.

The French Health Ministry on Wednesday reported an increase of 2,524 Covid-19 infections in 24 hours.

This is the biggest single-day increase in coronavirus cases since May 6, five days before France eased lockdown restrictions.

This rise comes after French Prime Minister Jean Castex said Tuesday that the coronavirus situation in France has been "trending in the wrong direction."