(NEW YORK) — Here are today’s In Crisis headlines:
President Trump visits Kenosha, doesn’t mention Jacob Blake
President Donald Trump on Tuesday toured damaged businesses and met with law enforcement in Kenosha, Wisconsin, claiming that the city would have been “burned to the ground by now” had he not intervened. The president again took credit for sending the National Guard to Kenosha, which in fact it was the state’s governor who did so. During a roundtable with local officials, police and business representatives, the president failed to mention Jacob Blake, the Black man whose shooting seven times in the back by Kenosha police last month sparked the ongoing demonstrations. “I feel terribly for anybody who goes through that,” Trump said when asked about Blake, adding, “it’s under investigation.” The president also didn’t meet with Blake’s family, saying he refused after they insisted their lawyers be involved. The president did say he spoke with the Blake family pastor, which the Blake family disputed, declaring they do not have a family pastor. When asked whether the president’s Kenosha visit had anything to do with politics, White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said the president is “showing up to see hurting Americans.” Attorney General Bill Barr and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf accompanied the president on his visit.
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: 25,785,890
Global deaths: 857,794. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 184,697.
Number of countries/regions: at least 188
Total patients recovered globally: 17,095,478
Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University
There are at least 6,076,425 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 184,697. New York State has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 32,966.
U.S. total patients recovered: 2,202,663
U.S. total people tested: 78,996,267
The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in California, with 717,162 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. That ranks third in the world after Maharashtra, India, which has 808,306 reported cases, and Sao Paulo, Brazil, which has 814,375 reported cases.
COVID-19 headlines
More schools, universities scramble to address COVID-19 infection spikes
Just weeks after schools and universities nationwide opened for on-campus learning, many are quickly modifying those plans as students become infected with COVID-19. New York City, the nation’s largest school system, is bowing to the concerns of the teachers union and principals and delaying the start of classes, with remote learning beginning September 16th and in-person learning pushed back to September 21. Elsewhere, Ole Miss reports a 90% increase of COVID-19 cases in the last seven days, with 290 reported active cases. The number of active cases at the University of South Carolina has nearly doubled since the university last announced case numbers last week. Colorado College in Colorado Springs announced it would walk back its in-person learning plan after COVID-19 forced them to quarantine three dorms, about 430 students. Meanwhile, in a phone call with governors, Dr. Deborah Birx of the White House coronavirus task force said colleges and universities shouldn’t send COVID-19-positive students home. “It’s really important that these students are continuously tested, isolated and cared for and don’t return to their multi-generational households where they could dramatically increase spread, particularly over the Labor Day weekend,” Brix said.
NIH advises against convalescent plasma treatment for COVID-19
A National Institutes of Health panel released a statement Tuesday saying that convalescent plasma should “not be considered standard of care for the treatment of patients with COVID-19.” The guidance comes after the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the use of convalescent plasma as a treatment for COVID-19, with some claiming it was done under pressure from the Trump administration. “There are currently no data from well-controlled, adequately powered randomized clinical trials that demonstrate the efficacy and safety of convalescent plasma for the treatment of COVID-19,” the NIH COVID-19 Treatment Guidelines Panel wrote. The NIH panel called for “prospective, well-controlled, adequately powered randomized trials” to “determine whether convalescent plasma is effective and safe for the treatment of COVID-19.” Convalescent plasma treatment is when blood plasma is taken from a person who has recovered from COVID-19 and used to treat someone with an active infection, in the belief antibodies from the convalescent plasma will fight the virus in the recipient.
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