(NEW YORK) — Here are today’s In Crisis headlines:
Laura now a tropical depression; at least six dead
Hurricane Laura weakened overnight to a tropical depression, with maximum sustained winds of up to 35 miles per hour as it continues moving northeast through northern Arkansas at about 15 MPH. Though significantly weakened, the storm is still bringing with it heavy rain and the threat of tornadoes. At least six deaths in Louisiana are being blamed on the storm, mostly from falling trees. “We dodged a bullet,” said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Thursday, while Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said they are only beginning to assess the damage in their state, which was hit hardest by the storm. As of 9:00 a.m. ET Friday, there were more than 750,000 power outages reported in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas, with just under 524,000 reported outages in Louisiana, according to the website Poweroutage.US.
Alleged Kenosha shooter Kyle Rittenhouse due in court today
Seventeen-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse is scheduled to appear in a Kenosha, Wisconsin court this morning for allegedly shooting three people during protests Tuesday night over Jacob Blake’s police shooting, killing two of them. Rittenhouse faces six counts: first-degree reckless homicide, first-degree intentional homicide and attempted first- degree intentional homicide, two counts of first-degree recklessly endangering safety, and possession of a dangerous weapon by a person under 18. At a Thursday news conference with Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes said of Rittenhouse, a self-described militia member, “If this sort of person is being celebrated as a vigilante, as a militia man, then that is ridiculous, and it speaks to a much larger problem.” Gov. Evers said he’s called state lawmakers back to the capital to discuss police reform legislation that already has bipartisan support. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Department of Justice publicly identified two other officers present during Jacob Blake’s shooting Sunday: Officers Vincent Arenas and Brittany Meronek. Officer Rusten Sheskey has already been identified as the officer who shot Blake in the back, discharging his weapon seven times, according to the Wisconsin DOJ report, which states no other officer fired their weapon.
COVID-19 numbers
Here’s the latest data on COVID-19 coronavirus infections and deaths.
Latest reported numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University
Global diagnosed cases: 24,490,692
Global deaths: 832,419. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 180,857.
Number of countries/regions: at least 188
Total patients recovered globally: 16,027,274
Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 5,869,692 reported cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country.
U.S. deaths: at least 180,857. New York State has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 32,926.
U.S. total patients recovered: 2,101,326
U.S. total people tested: 75,301,306
The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in California, with 693,072 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. That ranks third in the world after Maharashtra, India, which has 733,568 reported cases, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, which has 784,453 reported cases.
COVID-19 headlines
US COVID-19 deaths pass 180,000; CDC updates deaths forecast
There are now more than 180,000 COVID-19 deaths in the U.S., according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. As of Friday morning, the number of reported fatalities stood at 180,857. That represents just under 22% of the total 832,419 reported global deaths. Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention updated its COVID-19 deaths forecast to estimate there will be from 196,000 to 207,000 total deaths in the U.S. by the week ending September 19. The previous forecast was for between 187,000 and 205,000 U.S. COVID-19 deaths by the week ending September 12.
Colleges, universities continue to create COVID-19 clusters
With students returning to colleges and universities nationwide, more of those institutions are reporting clusters of infections. According to ABC analysis, at least 49 states have reported COVID-19 cases upon or after students’ arrival to colleges and universities. This includes athletes who may have arrived on campus during the summer. The University of Southern California is reporting 104 positive cases of coronavirus in the last three days. North Carolina State University students will have to leave their on-campus housing by September 6, according to a letter from Chancellor Randy Woodson. The news came just hours before the school reported three new COVID-19 clusters, including two in on-campus housing and one in off-campus housing. Pennsylvania’s Bloomsburg University will move to remote instruction after 90 people tested positive for the coronavirus, all but one of whom are students. Just two days after classes began, officials with SUNY Plattsburgh announced Wednesday 43 students have been suspended for violating campus health guidelines during the coronavirus pandemic. And in New York, where daily COVID-19 deaths have been in the single digits for some weeks due to early lockdown measures, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Thursday that colleges must shut down in-person instruction for two weeks if they have 100 cases of confirmed positives for COVID-19, or a number equal to 5% of their total student and faculty population.
Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.