(Bloomberg) --
Texas marked its fifth consecutive day of virus cases over 10,000, while Arizona reported record deaths. New cases in Florida dropped for a second day, as did deaths. Overall, new U.S. cases rose 1.4%, below the daily average of 2% over the past week.
The Trump administration is balking at $25 billion favored by Republican lawmakers to help states with coronavirus testing and contact tracing, said a person familiar with the talks. U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson has reportedly suggested he won’t impose another lockdown.
Mayor Bill de Blasio vowed tougher enforcement against bars and restaurants in part of New York City. Canada denied the Blue Jays permission to play in Toronto, the AP reported.
Key Developments:
- Global Tracker: Cases pass 14.1 million; deaths top 598,000
- World must face Covid without vaccine, virus hunter says
- Russia is trying to beat the West to a Covid-19 vaccine
- South Africa data may underreport virus deaths, experts say
- How blind spots in Melbourne sparked virus crisis
- Mask or no mask? And which kind? What the experts say: QuickTake
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FDA Approves ‘Pool Testing’ for Covid (6:45 a.m. HK)
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized so-called “pool testing” for Covid-19, a move aimed at broadening checks for the coronavirus and using fewer testing resources.
Quest Diagnostics Inc. will be able to test samples containing as many as four individual swab specimens, the agency said on Saturday in an emergency-use authorization.
The samples collected are then tested in a pool or “batch” using one Covid-19 test, rather than running each individual sample through its own test. If the pool is positive it means that one or more of the individuals tested may be infected, so each of the samples in that pool is then tested again, individually.
U.K.’s Johnson Vows No New Lockdown, Report Says (6:33 a.m. HK)
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked his cabinet to return to the office next week and suggested he won’t impose another lockdown on the country, potentially setting his government up for further discord with its scientific advisers.
Johnson summoned his cabinet to meet in-person the first time since March, the Mail reported on Sunday, citing an unidentified person in Johnson’s office. He wants the government to set an example for the country to return back to office, the Mail said.
Trump Team Said to Balk at Virus Testing Funds (5:33 p.m. NY)
The Trump administration is balking at $25 billion in new funding favored by Republican lawmakers in the next relief bill to help states with coronavirus testing and contact tracing, said a person familiar with the talks.
Also opposed is a plan to allocate billions of additional dollars for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and extra funding for the Pentagon and State Department to address the pandemic around the world, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
Five Days of Cases Over 10,000 in Texas (5:12 p.m. NY)
Texas reported 10,158 new cases of Covid-19, its fifth straight day over 10,000. The state now has a total to 317,730 confirmed cases of the virus. The number of deaths rose by 130 to 3,865, the Department of State Health Services said on its website, after reaching a record 174 the previous day.
Mexico Says Virus Will Extend Recovery (4:52 p.m. NY)
Mexico’s economy recovery will take longer than expected and will depend on the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic, Finance Minister Arturo Herrera said.
International consensus was for a two-month lockdown followed by a fast economic recovery, Herrera said during a virtual meeting of G20 finance ministers and central bank governors.
“The recovery horizon will be longer, as long as a vaccine or an effective treatment isn’t available,” Herrera said. The Mexican economy slumped a record 20% in April when the pandemic hit.
U.S. Cases Rise %1.4 (4 p.m. NY)
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased 1.4%, below the 2% daily average over the past week, as of 4 p.m. Saturday in New York, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. Deaths rose by 586 to 139,426.
- Arizona reported 147 deaths, a record for a single day. Another 2,742 cases were reported, a 2% rise compared to the weekly average increase of 2.5%.
- Florida reported 10,328 cases, a 3.2% increase compared to the weekly daily average rise of 4.3% and a second consecutive slowdown. The state reported 90 more deaths among residents after hitting a record 156 deaths on Thursday.
- California reported 9,199 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, above the 14-day average of 8,475. The number of deaths climbed by 120 to 7,595.
Blue Jays Barred from Play (3:09 p.m. NY)
The Canadian federal government has denied the Toronto Blue Jays permission to play in Toronto, refusing to grant an exemption to the quarantine requirement for cross-border travelers, the AP reported. The baseball team had city and provincial approval to play regular-season games at its stadium.
NYC’s De Blasio Vows a Crackdown (2:50 p.m. NY)
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he would step up enforcement on bars and restaurants in an area of Queens after a news report on large crowds, late-night parties and little social distancing.
“This is unacceptable,” the mayor tweeted in reaction to a Fox 5 report from the Astoria section. “New Yorkers have made too many sacrifices to fight Covid-19. We can’t let up now.”
Earlier this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo said bars and restaurants would be subject to additional restrictions and tougher penalties, including a ban on stand-up bar service.
California Reports Over 9,000 Cases (2:25 p.m. NY)
California reported 9,199 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, above the 14-day average of 8,475, according to the health department’s website. There have been 375,363 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state. The number of deaths climbed by 120 to 7,595.
New Jersey Cases Rise, Deaths Fall (2:15 p.m. NY)
New Jersey reported 309 new virus cases, up from 202 the day before -- when Governor Phil Murphy warned that the state’s transmission rate was the highest in weeks. The governor reported 16 deaths Saturday, down from 20 the day before.
Florida Governor Says Positive Antibody Tests Rising (1:55 p.m. NY)
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said tests administered in his state Friday that aim to detect Covid-19 antibodies -- indicating whether a person had at some point been exposed to the virus -- showed a 16.1% positive rate.
“That is a significant jump from where we were a month and a half ago,” DeSantis said Saturday during a press conference in St. Augustine. “So there’s a bigger pool of people who have the antibody.”
DeSantis, a first-term Republican, urged people who tested positive for the virus antibodies to give blood to help with the treatment of patients currently suffering from the disease.
Record Fatalities in Arizona (12:20 p.m. NY)
Arizona reported 147 new deaths, a record single-day increase. Total deaths are now 2,730, the Arizona Department of Health Services reported. Another 2,742 cases were reported, a 2% rise compared to the weekly average increase of 2.5%. The new total number of cases is 141,265.
Florida Cases Slow Again (11:05 a.m. NY)
Florida reported 10,328 virus cases Saturday, a 3.2% increase compared to the weekly daily average rise of 4.3% and a second consecutive slowdown. Total cases reached 337,569.
The state reported 90 more deaths among residents after hitting a record 156 deaths on Thursday.
U.K. Cases Rise 0.3% (10:20 a.m. NY)
The U.K. said the number of new cases rose by 827, or 0.28%, to 294,066. The average increase for the previous seven days is 0.25%. The country has temporarily stopped reporting daily deaths while it investigates a discrepancy in the methodology used by Public Health England and its counterparts in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
New York Cases Remain Stable (9:56 a.m. NY)
New York reported 754 new virus cases, in line with daily increases that have remained relatively steady for the last month, and hospitalizations remained at a four-month low. Governor Andrew Cuomo said another 11 people died, compared to 10 on Friday.
Saudi Cases Decline Slightly (9:54 a.m. NY)
Saudi Arabia reported 2,565 new cases versus 2,613 on Friday, with another 40 deaths. The nation’s total cases are now 248,416. Total deaths are 2,447.
Texas Republicans Barred From In-Person Convention (9 a.m. NY)
Texas Republicans will hold a virtual convention after a federal appeals court ruled in favor of Houston’s mayor before dawn on Saturday. The GOP had won a last-minute ruling Friday allowing it to move thousands of delegates into Houston’s convention center
The party will have no access to the George R. Brown Convention Center until the appellate court in New Orleans fully reviews the fight over its convention contract, according to an order posted to the Fifth Circuit’s docket shortly after midnight.
Iran Adds Fewer Infections (6 a.m. NY)
Iran recorded 188 fatalities from the virus overnight, up from 183 the day before, bringing the death toll to 13,979. The number of known infections reached 271,606 with 2,166 new cases in the past 24 hours, down from 2,379 on Friday. Some 235,000 people have recovered and 3,529 patients are in intensive care units.
Scientists Find Six Types of Covid: Telegraph (2:55 p.m. HK)
Six distinct types of coronavirus have been identified by scientists, the Telegraph said. Scientists used artificial intelligence software to identify “clusters” of symptoms and ranked them in order of severity. Headache and loss of smell are common to all six groupings.
Scientists at King’s College London found that patients with the sixth type of Covid-19 are nearly 10 times more likely to end up needing breathing support than patients in the first group. They used data from 1,600 users of its symptom tracker app in the U.K. and U.S. who had confirmed cases. The resulting algorithm was then tested on a further 1,000 users in those countries as well as Sweden.
Almost One-Third of Iranians May Have Had Virus (2:50 p.m. HK)
Some 25 million Iranians are estimated to have contracted the coronavirus so far and up to 35 million more are at the risk of getting the infection, President Hassan Rouhani said in a televised speech on Saturday, citing a Health Ministry report.
Iran has recorded nearly 13,800 deaths and 270,000 confirmed cases since it detected its first case five months ago.
German Infection Rate Edges Higher (2:46 p.m. HK)
Germany’s infection rate rose slightly, while the number of new cases stayed significantly below the level at the height of the outbreak.
There were 595 new cases in the 24 hours through Saturday morning, bringing the total to 202,045. There was one additional fatality, increasing the total to 9,088.
©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
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