US coronavirus cases shatter another record

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp speaks at Wellstar Kennestone Hospital in Marietta, Georgia, on July 16. Mike Stewart/AP

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he called on local leaders last week, and is calling on them again today to enforce the current executive order instead of “issuing mandates that are confusing and unenforceable.”

Kemp urged local leaders to use their bully pulpit and social platforms to build support for wearing masks.

Some context: Kemp announced Thursday he is suing Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms over the city's mask mandate, claiming the measure violates his emergency orders.

Earlier in the week, Kemp issued an executive order voiding masks mandates imposed by some local governments. The order also extended the state's public emergency and said face coverings are "strongly encouraged," but not required.

"This lawsuit is on behalf of the Atlanta business owners and their hardworking employees who are struggling to survive during these difficult times," Kemp tweeted of his lawsuit. "These men and women are doing their very best to put food on the table for their families while local elected officials shutter businesses and undermine economic growth."

The lawsuit marks a stunning escalation in the brewing feud between Kemp and Bottoms after the Atlanta mayor introduced her mandatory mask ordinance. Under her order, not wearing a mask within Atlanta's city limits was punishable by a fine and even up to six months in jail.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said “too many leaders” in the US are “still playing politics” with the virus – reiterating his message that Covid-19 responds to science and data “not political opinion.”

The latest numbers in the state: There were 10 deaths reported across New York state Thursday, including two in Queens, bringing the state death toll to at least 25,024, the governor's office said in a release. 

New York state added 776 Covid-19 cases, marking a 0.99% positivity rate across the entire state, Cuomo said. The state has reported a total of at least 405,551 confirmed cases.

Patient hospitalizations are down to 765, the lowest since March 18. 

New York City reported a 1% positivity in testing for Thursday. 

Remember: These numbers were released by New York State’s public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database, which is drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

The main floor of Florida's Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Tallahassee has been emptied out for cleaning and is closed until Monday after 12 workers tested positive for Covid-19, Jason Mahon, Florida Division of Emergency Management communications director, tells CNN.

Over the past two and a half weeks, 12 people have tested positive, including four positive results yesterday, Mahon said. Employees have been tested twice a week for several weeks, according to Mahon. 

The EOC has two buildings, the main EOC and another building. The first floor of the main building has been closed for cleaning, Mahon said.

People in other parts of the building can enter and work in their offices, but they must isolate in their offices, while other people are working from home, according to Mahon.

A total of 200 people have been working in the two buildings which houses several agencies, Mahon said. 

The Covid-19 response has not slowed down, Mahon says.

People stand in line to enter a restaurant in Miami Beach, Florida, on June 26. Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images

An unpublished document prepared for the White House coronavirus task force and obtained by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit newsroom, recommends that 18 states in the coronavirus “red zone” for cases should roll back reopening measures amid surging cases.

The “red zone” is defined in the 359-page report as “those core-based statistical areas (CBSAs) and counties that during the last week reported both new cases above 100 per 100,000 population, and a diagnostic test positivity result above 10%.”

The following states are in the red zone for cases:

The report also says the following 11 states are in the red zone for test positivity: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, South Carolina, Texas, Washington. The 11 states in the red zone for test positivity are also in the red zone for cases, with the exception of Washington state.

The report outlines measures counties in the red zone should take. It encourages residents to “wear a mask at all times outside the home and maintain physical distance.” And it recommends that public officials “close bars and gyms” and “limit social gatherings to 10 people or fewer, which would mean rolling back reopening provisions in these places.

Remember: The report comes despite President Trump’s insistence that states reopen and a push to send the nation’s children back to school, even as cases increase.

“Now we're open, and we want to stay open and we will stay open. We're not closing. We'll put out the fires as they come out,” Trump said at a White House event earlier this month.

Devin O’Malley, spokesperson for Vice President Mike Pence and the task force, didn’t dispute the document’s authenticity, and said the report showed “encouraging signs” amid the pandemic.

Dr. Deborah Birx also said earlier this month that people living in states with coronavirus surges should return to the White House's original "phase one" recommendations on gatherings. 

Intensive care units in Miami-Dade County, the epicenter of the virus in Florida, are at 107% bed capacity, according to the latest “Moving to a New Normal Dashboard” released by the county's government.

In the past 14 days, Miami-Dade County has seen an increase in the number of Covid-19 patients being hospitalized (46%), in the number of ICU beds being used (54%) and in the use of ventilators (86%), according to the latest data released by the county's government.

There were a total of 472 Covid-19 ICU patients on Thursday and an ICU bed capacity of 440.

Meanwhile, county officials reported a staggering 14-day average Covid-19 positivity rate of 27%.

For five consecutive days, Florida has led the nation in coronavirus cases per capita.

Currently, Florida is averaging just over 55 cases per 100,000 people according to analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

Florida took over the top spot from Arizona on Monday. Arizona — which had held the top spot for over a month — has now dropped to third as of today. Currently the top three per capita states, based on the 7-day average of new cases, are:

Here's a look at the cases across all of Florida's counties:

Dr. Kathleen Toomey, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, speaks at a news conference in Atlanta on April 27. Alyssa Pointer/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP

Georgia Public Health Commissioner Dr. Kathleen Toomey reported an increase of coronavirus cases across Georgia, “not just in urban Atlanta, but also suburban and rural areas.”

The test positivity rate in the state is on average 13.6% and hospitalizations have increased 39% over the past week, Toomey said.

Toomey said getting children back into schools is important because children not in the classroom suffer from developmental challenges. 

She said she and Gov. Brian Kemp met with White House task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx and Director of the US Centers for Disease Control Dr. Robert Redfield. They discussed a wide range of coronavirus-related topics, including getting children back to school.

Toomey said they have crafted guidelines and fully expect some cases of Covid-19 in the classroom, but schools will be given resources and cases would be followed up by the nearly 1,300 contact tracers in the state. A single case of Covid-19 would not shut down schools, Toomey said.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks at a news conference in Atlanta on May 30. Ben Gray/Atlanta Journal-Constitution/AP

Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms says that she doesn't think it is happenstance that the lawsuit brought against her by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp came the day after President Trump visited, and she pointed out that he was violating city law by not wearing a mask. 

She said she thinks Kemp "is putting politics over people."

"It's interesting even when you look at the decision making of our governor, and I'll remind you, this is the same governor who didn't know until well into the pandemic that it could be spread by asymptomatic transmission," Lance Bottoms said in an interview on the Today show this morning,

"He didn't go to Emory for guidance he didn't go to the CDC for guidance. He went to Augusta University which I'm sure is a fine University in our state but it's certainly not Emory University or the CDC in terms of its expertise with infectious disease control, so he was searching for an answer. He got it. And it's the same answer and the same playbook that we've seen come out of the White House," she added.

Some context: Kemp filed a lawsuit against Lance Bottoms over Atlanta's mask mandate, citing the measure violates his emergency orders prohibiting local leaders from adding to the state's requirements to protect against coronavirus.

Also cited is Lance Bottoms' request that the city roll back to a phase one level of reopening. In a statement issued earlier this month, Kemp has called this "confusing guidance" for businesses and Atlanta residents. 

The mayor says that she will "absolutely" prevail in court. 

"At the end of the day, this is about saving lives, over 3,100 people have died in our state 106,000 have tested positive — myself, my husband and one of my children are among the positive. I'm in quarantine as we speak. So I take this very seriously, and I will continue to do everything in my power to protect the people of Atlanta, and the Governor has simply overstepped his bounds in his authority, and we'll see him in court," she said.

WATCH:

It's Friday morning in the US, and the Covid-19 pandemic is still raging across the country. At least 77,255 new coronavirus cases were reported yesterday, breaking a previous high set two days ago, according to Johns Hopkins University.

If you're just reading in, here's what you need to know about the pandemic in the US today: