State and city leaders in U.S. respond to coronavirus surge with new rules, dire warnings

More than three months after first suspending cruises from U.S. ports, operators said they will now continue that pause for another two months — if not longer.

Cruise Lines International Association, a trade group, said in a statement Friday that its members would voluntarily extend the suspension until Sept. 15 or later if necessary. That’s almost two months after a no-sail order issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is scheduled to lift on July 24.

“[A]lthough we had hoped that cruise activity could resume as soon as possible after that date, it is increasingly clear that more time will be needed to resolve barriers to resumption in the United States,” the association said in a statement.

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Citing a spike in coronavirus cases, particularly among young people who had visited Boise bars early this month, Idaho health officials on Monday reinstated some restrictions in Ada County, the state’s most populous jurisdiction.

Nine days after progressing to Phase 4 of its reopening plan, Idaho returned to Phase 3 in the county, which includes the capital city.

Effective Wednesday, bars must close again and gatherings of 50 or more people are prohibited. Visitors are not allowed at senior centers. However, movie theaters will remain open and use of face masks will stay voluntary.

The remainder of the state will remain in Phase 4 until at least Friday.

“This is not a decision that has been taken lightly, but we feel it is absolutely necessary and the time is right now,” Central District Health Director Russ Duke said in a video statement. “We recognize the impact this pandemic is having on our communities. Because you can’t see the virus, it’s easy to become complacent.”

One infected person is expected to lead to seven more cases, Ted Epperly, a board member for Central District Health, told the Idaho Statesman. Early in the pandemic, he said, the rate was 2.5, and as of Monday it was 1.19.

Idaho has reached its highest seven-day average of confirmed and probable cases since early April.

The CBS News “60 in 6” team is believed to be one of the first known coronavirus clusters of the pandemic in New York, according to Jon LaPook, CBS News’s chief medical correspondent.

In a video produced by members of the “60 in 6” staff, the team recounts that the coronavirus tore through the team in “just days” and ultimately infected 16 people in early March. New York City reported its first case on March 1.

“The fact that it spread like wildfire shook me in a major way,” Spencer MacNaughton, a producer for “60 in 6,” said in the video.

In early March, ahead of the team’s planned launch on Quibi, the team met in person to shoot promotional material in New York with “60 in 6” correspondents Wesley Lowery, Seth Doane, Enrique Acevedo and Laurie Segall. By March 7, seven staffers were feeling ill. It is not known how or where the first coronavirus transmission within the group occurred. CBS closed its New York offices on March 11 after employees tested positive.

“60 Minutes” senior producer Matt Polevoy was among one of the first confirmed covid-19 patients at Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn. In the video, it was stated that he was one of the more serious cases, while the majority of the team had more mild cases.

President Trump will hold a rally Tuesday at an Arizona megachurch that claims its air-purification system kills “99.9 percent of covid within 10 minutes” — despite no scientific evidence that is the case.

In a video posted by Dream City Church, senior pastor Luke Barnett and chief operations officer Brendon Zastrow touted an ionization system by CleanAir EXP that, Zastrow said, “takes particles out, and covid cannot live in that environment.”

Barnett said, “You can know when you come here you will be safe and protected. Thank God for great technology and thank God for being proactive.”

Air purifiers can help reduce airborne contaminants but, on their own, cannot kill the coronavirus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency.

An email to church officials was not immediately returned.

CleanAir EXP said on its website that “lab tests confirm that CleanAir EXP eliminates 99.9% of coronavirus surrogate from the air in less than 10 minutes.” However, the company cited in a footnote that it kills 99.9 percent of active coronavirus 229E, which is not the coronavirus that causes the disease covid-19.

An email to the company seeking details was not immediately returned.

In Phoenix, Trump will speak before a largely young audience of an estimated 3,000, his second rally in the past few days. On Saturday, he appeared before a smaller-than-expected crowd at a sports arena in Tulsa.

Arizona is among several states that have seen a spike in coronavirus cases this month. On Friday, the Phoenix City Council mandated face masks in public when social distancing is not possible. The church plans to distribute masks and check body temperatures of those attending the rally.

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After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) reiterated over the weekend that he will not be implementing a statewide mandatory mask rule, several city mayors across Miami-Dade County are announced local restrictions.

The cities of Miami, Aventura, Hialeah, Miami Gardens and North Miami Beach are all enacting new mask rules, which mandate that residents wear masks or facial coverings in public.

Miami’s regulation was announced at a news conference for the Miami-Dade County League of Cities Mayors’ Coalition on Monday. Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said the city’s new mask rule was in response to the recent increase in cases.

Suarez also added that the city will not be transitioning to Phase 3 of its reopening plan, which included lifting closure restrictions on nightclubs, movie theaters and other entertainment venues. It instead will be postponed to a later date.

Miami-Dade County has tallied 26,239 reported cases as of Monday, 4,042 since last week, according to Washington Post data. There have been 884 coronavirus-related deaths in the county, 58 since last week.

On Monday, Florida passed 100,000 overall coronavirus cases since the pandemic began. The state also reported 2,926 new positive cases and a dozen deaths of Florida residents on Monday. The state set a single-day record for new cases on Saturday (4,049).

Saturday evening, the Florida Department of Health issued an additional public health advisory, recommending that residents wear masks in public, encouraging older and vulnerable populations to limit interactions outside of the home, and urging all individuals to refrain from participating in gatherings of more than 50 people.

The Orlando Pride on Monday withdrew from the National Women’s Soccer League tournament after six players and four staff members tested positive for the novel coronavirus.

All are asymptomatic, the team said. Their identities were not disclosed.

“This was obviously a difficult and disappointing outcome for our players, our staff and fans. However, this is a decision that was made in order to protect the health of all involved in the Challenge Cup,” Orlando executive vice president Amanda Duffy said in a written statement. “Our priority is now making sure our players and staff safely recover and providing any support wherever and however possible.”

The NWSL Challenge Cup is still scheduled to begin Saturday without spectators in greater Salt Lake City — the first U.S. team sport to return to since the pandemic shut down all professional sports leagues in March.

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Coronavirus cases at San Quentin State Prison in California’s Marin County climbed sharply to more than 300 active cases as of Monday evening.

According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation’s real-time covid-19 tracker, there are 317 cases in San Quentin, a massive increase from the 48 cases reported only eight days ago. It is more than double the number of reported cases 48 hours ago.

No deaths have been reported in San Quentin, but there is a growing distress that the virus will continue to spread with serious consequences. All of the reported cases have started to pop up after nearly 200 inmates from the California Institution for Men were transferred to San Quentin and Corcoran prisons, according to the Mercury News. The transfer plan was announced May 28.

Corcoran currently has 155 active infected inmates, while the California Institution for Men has 850. There are roughly 3,700 active confirmed coronavirus cases in California federal prisons, as of Monday. Nineteen inmates have died.

On Friday, a federal judge called the recent transfer of infected prisoners to the facility a “significant failure of policy and planning” in a live-streamed court hearing, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar of Oakland said that many lives could be saved if they transfer the medically vulnerable prisoners to a new facility, use a furlough-like system of releases or allow some inmates to serve sentence at home.

Tigar, visibly distraught, did not order the state to release or relocate prisoners, saying he wasn’t sure he had that authority, the Chronicle reported.

“But I’m just saying, I think that needs to happen,” he said.

The bitter, months-long negotiation between Major League Baseball and its players’ union effectively ended Monday night when the union’s executive board voted to reject the owners’ last offer of a 60-game regular season and expanded postseason, and MLB responded by saying it intended to exercise its power to implement a 2020 schedule — which it will attempt to shoehorn into a dwindling calendar amid a global pandemic.

Should the sides sign off on the health and safety protocols for navigating the coronavirus outbreak, spring training camps could reopen July 1, with Opening Day about three weeks later and a regular season that could still be 60 games — but without the expanded postseason the sides had all but agreed to. MLB has insisted the season must end by Sept. 27, with the postseason contained to October, to guard against a second wave of the novel coronavirus wiping out the playoffs.

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