Japan's infection count jumps over 1,000 again

Japan reported 1,177 new cases of Covid-19 and 10 deaths on Thursday, according to the country's Health Ministry.

The new infections bring Japan's nationwide confirmed total to 52,929 cases, with 712 from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

The number of deaths stands at 1,086, with 13 from the ship.

Thursday marks the first day in four days that the number of daily cases has risen back over 1,000.

On Thursday, the capital Tokyo counted 206 new infections, while Osaka had 177 cases.

Okinawa prefecture, which has the highest number of infections per capita, extended its own state of emergency for another two weeks, while adding 97 new infections.

Dr. Scott Atlas listens as President Trump speaks during a news conference at the White House in Washington, DC on August 10. Stefani Reynolds/Pool/Sipa USA

An advisor to President Donald Trump on coronavirus has said that “young people are not at risk for serious disease” from Covid-19.

 Dr. Scott Atlas made the comments to Martha MacCallum Thursday night on Fox News.

Fact check: Adults are more likely to become seriously ill from Covid-19, but children can get sick, and have serious complications. 

Rare complications: The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently reported at least 570 cases of children with MIS-C, a rare but serious coronavirus complication in children that has been associated with fever, rash, inflammation and shock. Ten of those children died.

Increased virus rates in kids: There has been a 90% increase in the number of Covid-19 cases among children in the United States over the last four weeks, according to an analysis by the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children's Hospital Association released this week. 

Director-General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield speaks to media during a press conference at Parliament in Wellington, New Zealand on August 14. Hagen Hopkins/Getty Images

New Zealand reported 12 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, the country's top health official announced today. 

All the new cases were locally transmitted, New Zealand’s Director General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said at a press conference. 

Two of the new cases were students while one case was a pre-school student. 

The two schools and the pre-school the students attended have been closed while close contacts are being traced, according to Bloomfield. 

A total of 771 close contacts of the reported Covid-19 cases this week have been identified by the national contact tracing service, he added.  

Bloomfield also announced that 15,703 coronavirus tests were conducted on Thursday alone -- the highest in a single day in New Zealand since the outbreak began, bringing the total number of tests conducted across the country to 524,414. 

Read more on the situation in New Zealand.

Mexico’s Health Ministry on Thursday reported 7,371 new cases of Covid-19, bringing the country's total to 505,751.

The ministry also reported 627 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 55,293.

An ensemble forecast published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now projects nearly 189,000 coronavirus deaths in the United States by Sept. 5.

The new projections, published Thursday, forecast 188,982 deaths, with a possible range of 181,375 to 201,431 deaths.

Some context: Unlike some individual models, the CDC’s ensemble forecast only offers projections about a month into the future.

The previous ensemble forecast, published Aug. 6, projected roughly 181,000 coronavirus deaths by Aug. 29.

At least 167,029 people have already died from Covid-19 in the United States, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, on July 31, in Washington, DC. Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Getty Images/FILE

America needs to get control of Covid-19 and carefully reopen the country, or the consequences could be devastating, Dr. Anthony Fauci told actor Matthew McConaughey in an interview on Instagram Thursday.

Fauci emphasized the importance of acting in a measured, prudent way. He noted that we have seen the consequences of jumping over the guideposts that have been established for safe reopening.

“It goes beyond the economics,” said Fauci. “If you shut down, even if there was no economic issue, what happens is that psychologically, it could be devastating." 

“If you're really shut down, children may not get their vaccinations. People don't go to hospitals when they get chest pain,” he added. “There's a lot of different things that could go wrong, beyond the economy.”

Fauci gave another grim warning.

“In fact, there's projections that if you stay shut down, the number of deaths unrelated to Covid will go up,” he said. “The number of suicides, overdoses, family issues, such as child abuse and things like that, they all go up.”

Fauci said that he believes the country can come together to overcome the virus.

“I'm old enough to have been a baby during World War II, but I remember how the country absolutely pulled together. We pulled together after 9/11. This is equivalent to that,” he said. “We've got to pull together.”

Georgia's Health Department reported 2,674 new cases of Covid-19 on Thursday.  

The statewide Covid-19 total is 228,668.

The department also reported 83 new coronavirus-related deaths, which brings the total in the state to 4,538.  

According to the Department of Health, the state reported 136 deaths Tuesday – its most in a single day since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic – and another 109 deaths Wednesday.

Note: These numbers were released by the Georgia Department of Public Health and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN