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Canada-US border expected to remain closed until at least mid-August
From CNN’s Paula Newton in Ottawa
The majority of the customs lanes at the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel remain closed on April 10. The US-Canada border has been closed to all non-essential traffic since March. Tara Walton/The Washington Post/Getty ImagesThe US-Canada border is expected to remain closed until at least Aug. 21, two Canadian government sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN.
There will be stepped-up enforcement and surveillance at most Canadian land borders in the coming weeks, the sources add.
By mutual agreement, the US-Canada border has been closed to all non-essential traffic since March.
The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity, as they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expected to formally announce the decision later this week.
CNN has reached out to US officials for comment.
President Trump and Prime Justin Minister Trudeau discussed the matter briefly during a phone call Monday morning, according to Trudeau’s office.
Also on Monday, Trudeau said Canada recognizes that the US coronavirus pandemic is a "complex" situation.
About the current closure: Truck drivers, healthcare workers, flight crews and others including most recently sports professionals, are currently exempt from Canada’s mandatory 14-day quarantine.
According to one poll, a large majority of Canadians say the US-Canada border should remain closed for the foreseeable future.
More than 1,500 Mexicans have died of Covid-19 in the US
From CNN’s Natalie Gallón in Mexico City
At least 1,705 Mexicans have died of Covid-19 in the United States, Mexico’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement released late Monday night.
Of the US states, New York is the deadliest one for Mexicans. At least 758 people have died from the virus in the state, according to Mexico’s statement. The tally is based on information from the consulates and is subject to change, the statement adds.
At least 245 urns with the remains of Mexican citizens who have died from the virus were repatriated to Mexico on Saturday, flown in from New York to Mexico City on a Mexican Air Force plane.
Vice President Pence is on his way to a coronavirus hotspot in Louisiana
From CNN's Betsy Klein
Alex Wong/Getty ImagesVice President Mike Pence has departed Washington for Baton Rouge, Louisiana, a coronavirus hotspot, where he is expected to meet with Gov. John Bel Edwards, Sens. Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy and local and state officials.
Pence will deliver remarks at the State Emergency Operations Center at 1:00 pm ET, receive a coronavirus briefing at 1:30 pm ET, participate in a roundtable on higher education reopening at 2:45 pm ET, and hold a press briefing at 4:00 pm ET, returning to Washington in the evening.
24-year-old nurse hospitalized with Covid-19: “You never think it's going to happen to you”
From CNN's Adrienne Vogt
Heather Valentine, a 24-year-old ICU nurse who cared for coronavirus patients, ended up getting hospitalized for Covid-19 herself.
She had a fever, cough and experienced some pain in her lungs. She received both an antibody and coronavirus test, and both initially were negative, but Houston’s United Memorial Medical Center Chief Medical Officer Dr. Joseph Varon decided to do a CT scan of her lungs.
“He told me, worst-case scenario, it's possible I could have required intubation if I would have waited a couple days more,” said in an interview from her hospital bed on CNN’s “New Day.”
She said she was shocked, and urged others to take the virus seriously.
“Don't wait until you can't breathe to go get help,” she added.
Her message to others: “No matter how healthy you are, no matter how young you are, you have to be careful. I mean, these are crazy times, and you never think it's going to happen to you, but I'm a perfect example. Just take every precaution. Wear a mask. Don't go out if you don't have to. It's not worth it.”
Watch:
Officials didn't stress the importance of masks early in the pandemic. That was a mistake, Fauci says.
From CNN's Gisela Crespo
Dr. Anthony Fauci prepares to testify at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on June 30. Kevin Dietsch/Pool/Getty ImagesA "misstep" in communicating to the public the benefits of wearing a mask early in the Covid-19 pandemic has hurt its "credibility" as public health tool, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Fauci on Tuesday said that in the beginning of the pandemic, health officials in the country were trying to make sure health care workers had enough personal protective equipment, including masks, as hospitals filled with Covid-19 patients.
"What got, I think, a little bit misrepresented in that message was not that it was just we wanted to preserve them, but they don't really work that well anyway," Fauci said in an interview with CNN Contributor Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, host of the Crooked Media podcast "America Dissected."
"That was the mistake, because in fact there's no doubt that wearing a mask is better than not having a mask for the general public," he added.
As new data started to come out showing the effectiveness of wearing masks to reduce the spread of the virus and on the significant percentage of people infected with the virus who are asymptomatic, it became even more clear that everybody should wear a mask, Fauci said.
"It's almost as if we should say everybody should assume that you're an asymptomatic infected person. And that's the reason why you should wear a mask. But unfortunately that misstep in the beginning, when the connection between saving a short supply was equated with 'they don't have much benefit anyway, so why wear it?' ... I mean, that was the misstep. And you're right, it made it now a real challenge in communication," Fauci said.
India's Bihar state to impose 16-day lockdown due to rising coronavirus cases
From CNN’s Esha Mitra in New Delhi
A woman is tested for coronavirus at a hospital in Patna, India, on July 13. Santosh Kumar/Hindustan Times/Getty ImagesA 16-day lockdown will begin in the Eastern Indian state of Bihar starting on July 16, the Bihar government announced in an order on Tuesday.
The lockdown was issued in view of the "alarming surge in Covid-19 positive cases in State of Bihar in last three weeks wherein positivity rate has also been considerably high," the order read.
During the statewide lockdown, all government offices, commercial and private establishments, transport services, educational institutions, places of worship and parks will remain shut with the exception of certain essential services.
All hospital and medical facilities will remain open, agricultural activities, construction activities, industrial establishments will continue, with the implementation of necessary precautions and social distancing norms, according to the order.
Bihar has 17,959 cases of coronavirus including 160 deaths as of Tuesday, according to the Indian Ministry of Health.
Meanwhile, the northern state of Punjab issued a complete ban on public gatherings, a statement issued by the government of Punjab on Monday said.
The eastern states of Jharkhand and West Bengal and the western state of Maharashtra had also issued lockdowns which are due to end on July 31 and Uttar Pradesh announced a weekend lockdown till the end of July.
The lockdown in Bengaluru, the capital of South Indian state of Karnataka, is also set to start Tuesday at 8pm local after a sudden surge of coronavirus cases in that region.
India currently has more than 900,000 total cases of coronavirus including 23,727 deaths and 571,460 recoveries according to the Indian Ministry of Health. The country has the third highest number of total cases in the world, behind US and Brazil, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
Philadelphia cancels all large public events through February 2021 due to pandemic
From CNN’s Elizabeth Joseph
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney is seen during a City Hall press conference on March 6. Bastiaan Slabbers/NurPhoto/Getty ImagesPhiladelphia has cancelled all large public events through February 28, 2021, Lauren Cox, deputy communications director in Mayor Jim Kenney’s office, told CNN Tuesday morning.
“This is in regards to events that the City permits on public property (like parades and festivals), it does not apply to events on private property—including sports stadiums and concert venues,” she said.
“Decisions on how to resume those types of events will be based on current public health guidance as the situation in Philadelphia progresses," she added.
Additional details will be shared during the mayor's press conference later today at 1 p.m. ET.
Stock market opens in the red after banks flag risks to the economy
From CNN's Matt Egan
A woman passes the New York Stock Exchange on Monday. Johannes Eisele/AFP/Getty ImagesUS stocks opened lower Tuesday after big banks warned of significant challenges to the economic recovery.
Here's how things looked as the market opened:
More context: The shaky start comes after Wall Street suffered a sharp reversal Monday. A 563-point rally for the Dow fizzled following California’s decision to close bars, restaurants and other indoor spaces because of the pandemic.
JPMorgan Chase kicked off bank earnings season Tuesday by saying its profits plunged 51% as provisions for credit losses spiked. CEO Jamie Dimon warned, “We still face much uncertainty regarding the future path of the economy.”
Wells Fargo’s stock tumbled 6% after the troubled bank suffered its first quarterly loss since 2008 and warned it will likely slash its dividend by 80%. That would make Wells Fargo the first big bank to lower its dividend during the recession.
Science, not politics, is the only valid reason for changing school guidelines, former CDC directors say
From CNN's Naomi Thomas
Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg/Getty ImagesFour former directors of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have written that they have never seen science be so influenced by politics, in an op-ed published Wednesday in The Washington Post.
One of the roles of the CDC is to provide sound public health guidance, which is essential during a pandemic.
Speaking about the school reopening guidelines from the CDC, the former directors said that while it is not unusual for guidelines to be altered or changed after going through a clearance process, it is “extraordinary for guidelines to be undermined after their release.”
Guidelines should only be changed for new information and science, not because of politics, they said.
Writing about reopening schools and businesses amid a worsening pandemic, they said that public health experts face two opponents, “Covid-19, but also political leaders and others attempting to undermine the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.”
Remember: The President, against the advice of some of the nation's top health officials, has repeatedly called for schools to reopen as coronavirus cases surge across the country.
On Wednesday, while Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, warned that the country has to maintain control over the pandemic to get children back to school in the fall, Trump slammed the CDC's existing guidelines.
He tweeted they were "very tough" and "expensive," while in another tweet threatened to cut off school funding if they resisted opening, though the federal government's ability to do so is limited.
