There are more than 5.9 million coronavirus cases in the US

There are at least 5,912,016 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 181,704 people have died from the virus, according to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases.

So far on Friday, Johns Hopkins has recorded 44,231 new cases and 880 reported deaths. 

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases. 

A policeman patrol the home of Rio Governor Wilson Witzel in Rio de Janeiro on August 28. Carl De Souza/AFP/Getty Images

Brazil's health ministry on Friday reported 43,412 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours. That brings the total number of cases in the country to 3,804,803.

The ministry recorded 855 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing Brazil’s total number of deaths from Covid-19 to 119,504.  

Brazil continues to be second only to the United States in the highest total number of coronavirus cases and deaths globally. 

The Colorado Supreme Court has declined to hear a case challenging Gov. Jared Polis' statewide mask order.

In a tweet sent Friday, Colorado Supreme court Public Information Officer Rob McCallum said that the court declined to hear the Neville vs. Polis case.

Vials of the drug Remdesivir. Ulrich Perrey/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

The US Food and Drug Administration said Friday it is extending emergency use authorization for remdesivir to all patients hospitalized for coronavirus, regardless of the severity of their disease. 

The FDA originally authorized remdesivir for emergency use in May only for patients with severe coronavirus who needed help breathing with extra oxygen or mechanical ventilation. The drug has been shown to shorten recovery time for some coronavirus patients.

The FDA said clinical trials of remdesivir, including Phase 3 trials, showed a five-day course of the drug could reduce recovery time in moderately ill patients with pneumonia from Covid-19. “The data show that this treatment has the potential to help even more hospitalized patients who are suffering from the effects of this devastating virus,” FDA Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said in a statement.

An emergency authorization allows the FDA to expedite use of a coronavirus drug that has not yet received full approval. The FDA is examining data from a number of clinical trials for potential coronavirus treatment drugs.

A barman in Murrays pub on Grafton street checks the head on a pint of Guinness on June 29 in Dublin, Ireland. Charles McQuillan/Getty Images

The Irish government announced a $19 million support package to help pubs, bars and nightclubs, which remain closed indefinitely, according to an Irish Department of Business statement released Friday.  

The support package will offer "restart grants" of between $6,700 and $41,700 to help businesses reopen when the time comes, and the government will also waive certain pub license fees for 2020. 

On Thursday, Irish health authorities announced "wet" pubs and bars, which do not serve food alongside alcohol, would remain closed indefinitely due to the rising number of cases in hospitals. 

That's the third delayed reopening for pubs, bars, and nightclubs, which were initially scheduled to reopen in July, which was kicked back to Aug. 10 and eventually Aug. 31. Meanwhile, pubs that also serve food were able to reopen in late June.  

"Our focus has to be on getting case numbers down, controlling the spread of this disease, and we will keep the reopening of pubs, along with the other measures that might be able to be eased, under review over the coming weeks," said Dr. Ronan Glynn, the Irish Department of Health's acting chief medical officer, during a briefing on Thursday.

Ireland recorded 127 confirmed new cases of Covid-19 on Friday and 93 confirmed new cases on Thursday, according to the latest Department of Health data.

"The cases, whilst not escalating rapidly, are continuing to escalate," said Glynn on Thursday. "If we continue along that road for a prolonged period of time, we will see more hospitalizations, we will see more people in critical care and it will have knock-on effects for many parts of our society and our economy," 

"We're not contemplating a national lockdown as things currently stand. We certainly hope that we don't get back to a situation like that, but ultimately the power to prevent that is is each of our hands as individuals over the coming weeks," he added.

In a video message posted to Twitter Friday, Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin said, "Our core values will ensure we continue to suppress COVID-19 to allow our economic, social and cultural life to safely recover and flourish into the future," he added.

The University of Virginia will welcome students to residence halls in early September and in-person undergraduate classes will start Sept. 8, the school said an announcement.

The dorms on campus will only be two-thirds full, which is about 4,400 students, and they have been modified to make social distancing easier, the university said. The school will also test everyone in the dorms if an outbreak happens.

The university explained their decision to welcome students back to campus, saying on the university's UVA Today website that "a key part of that experience is the opportunity for our students to step out on their own, in a caring and protective environment, to find their own interests, to define their personal commitments, and to form friendships that will sustain them for many years, if not a lifetime. This is quite difficult, if not impossible, to do online." 

The university also said that conditions in Virginia, in terms of coronavirus, have improved and testing material supply chain concerns have already been addressed. 

Visitors wearing face masks walk past a display of Pink Flamingos at the Los Angeles Zoo as it reopens on August 26, in Los Angeles, California. Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

California’s sweeping new coronavirus reopening system takes a slower, more cautious approach to allowing businesses and activities to resume after Gov. Gavin Newsom faced criticism for allowing counties to quickly reopen in the spring, leading to a dramatic rise in infections and deaths.

The governor previously faced criticism for allowing counties to reopen businesses too quickly before meeting key metrics required by the state. As California saw a resurgence in coronavirus cases in June, Newsom began shutting down much of the economy again, placing the majority of the state’s 58 counties on a state “monitoring list” that forced the closure of many indoor businesses and activities. In recent weeks, the state has seen its average number of new daily confirmed cases fall by more than 3,000 from its July peak as well as a falling hospitalization and death toll. 

Under the state’s new reopening rules unveiled Friday, counties must wait a minimum of 21 days before they can move to a less restrictive tier. In order to ease restrictions further, counties will need to meet reopening metrics for two straight weeks. A failure to meet those targets may require counties to return to a more restrictive tier, Newsom warned. 

The new system, the governor said, is “simple” but also “slow,” with the vast majority of the state’s population beginning the new framework under the first tier, requiring most nonessential businesses and schools to remain closed.

On Friday, the state reported 140 additional deaths, raising the statewide total since the start of the pandemic to 12,690. It also reported 5,329 new confirmed cases for a total of 688,858.

The Georgia Department of Public Health has reported the death of a 1-year-old African-American boy from Covid-19 in Cobb County, just outside of Atlanta.

He is the youngest Covid-19 death reported in the state, the department said. 

According to the department's data, the toddler had a comorbidity. The director of communications for Cobb County Public Health, Valerie Crow, told CNN that he had serious medical conditions.  

On Friday, Georgia’s Department of Public Health reported 2,383 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, and 79 new deaths from the virus.

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards speaks Tuesday, July 28, at a press conference update on the state's Covid-19 situation at the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness in Baton Rouge. Travis Spradling/The Advocate/AP

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards is concerned about the slowdown in testing for Covid-19 due to Hurricane Laura.

The governor said that 6,200 members of his National Guard were in the state assisting with recovery from the hurricane, but he added that he was eager to get them back on the Covid-19 mission.