June 24 coronavirus news

Washington state is issuing new coronavirus guidelines for colleges and universities as they prepare for students to return in the fall.

“Their return to campus won't be in the usual situation. Changes are afoot,” Gov. Jay Inslee said Wednesday.

All students will be asked if they have Covid-19-related symptoms before being allowed back on school grounds. Social distancing is required, and many larger lecture classes may be switching to an online format.

“We will be building community on campus, but we'll be doing it in a very different way,” said University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce.

Inslee said he hopes for voluntarily compliance with the order.

“You don't want to hurt somebody else. You don't want to kill somebody else. You don't want to give people unknowingly, a virus,” he said.

Sacramento Kings forward Jabari Parker said he has tested positive for Covid-19 “several days ago.”

The NBA's Sacramento Kings shared Parker's statement:

“Several days ago I tested positive for Covid-19 and immediately self-isolated in Chicago which is where I remain. I am progressing in my recovery and feeling well. I look forward to joining my teammates in Orlando as we return to the court for the resumption of the NBA season.”

“There was a discrepancy with Washington state’s reporting, however, they have since corrected it and we have removed them from the list of states under travel advisory,” press secretary Caitlin Girouard said.

“We do not meet the risk criteria and were added in error,” he tweeted. “Washington has been removed from the list.”

“The President of the United States is not a civilian. Anyone who is in close proximity to him, including staff, guests, and press are tested for Covid-19 and confirmed to be negative,” White House spokesperson Judd Deere said in a statement.

Trump recently traveled to Arizona, one of the states designated by New Jersey as a hotspot requiring quarantine. The governors of New Jersey, Connecticut and New York said they would require people who’d been to those states to quarantine for 14 days or face fines.

The White House said it followed mitigation plans to prevent contagion during the visit to Arizona on Tuesday. 

“With regard to Arizona, the White House followed it’s COVID mitigation plan to ensure the President did not come into contact with anyone who was symptomatic or had not been tested,” Deere said. “Anyone traveling in support of the President this weekend will be closely monitored for symptoms and tested for COVID and therefore pose little to no risk to the local populations."

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy told CNN's Erin Burnett on Wednesday that the President falls into a carve out for essential workers.

“There is a carve out for essential workers and I think by any definition the President of the United States is an essential worker,” Murphy said. “And I know the folks around him get tested all the time. I've been tested a couple of times when I'm with him over the past couple of months."

“I think the bigger point here is we want folks to really be responsible in terms of thinking about not just themselves, but their family and their communities,” he continued. “And we've beaten this virus down to a pulp in New Jersey with an enormous loss of life. We've been through hell, and we don't want to go through hell again. And that's the spirit that underpins what we're asking folks to do.”

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said he plans to issue a new proclamation on Thursday extending the phase two restrictions under the current order another 28 days.

“Simply put, we're heading in the wrong direction. We have more cases than we can justify just by the fact that they're doing more testing,” he said during a news conference on Wednesday.

Edwards said Louisiana may not remain under the extended order for 28 days, depending on the data after 14 days and 21 days.

He also said the biggest increase in cases in Louisiana is in 18 to 29 year-olds.

“We've seen up ticks in young people, younger than 18, and people aged 30 to 39. But in that 18 to 29 years where we're seeing the largest increase," Edwards said.

The Louisiana Department of Health is reporting 52,477 cases of coronavirus and 3,039 deaths.

A senior gubernatorial staff member tested positive for Covid-19, Utah Gov. Gary Herbert announced in a news conference on Wednesday. 

The staff member has self-isolated and other staff members who were exposed to him are being tracked. Neither the governor or Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox were directly exposed to the staffer, Herbert said.

All staff are being monitored for symptoms, tested before coming into the office, and are required to wear masks at work, Herbert said. 

Herbert said he will sign an executive order requiring mask wearing in all state facilities under the purview of the governor’s office, including state higher education facilities. 

As Americans gear up for July 4 celebrations next week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is recognizing that people will gather in groups and is offering tips to help people protect themselves and others from catching coronavirus.

Wearing a face mask is important when physical distancing is hard to achieve, CDC health scientist Sarah Lee said during a briefing Wednesday, but it’s not a sure bet for protection.

“I want to stress this point. The more people an individual interacts with at a gathering, and the longer you have that interaction, the higher potential risk for spread and becoming infected with Covid-19,” Lee said.

Outdoor gatherings are better than indoor gatherings in reducing the risks for transmitting or contracting the virus at a holiday event because people tend to be in closer contact with each other indoors, she said.

“Trying to keep the gathering outside is really important,” she said. It’s also important to help keep people apart, and take special measures to ensure people at high risk or who have underlying medical conditions are protected, she said.

She said the safest gathering with the lowest amount of risk is an online party.

“Where we get more risk, this includes smaller outdoor and in person gatherings where individuals from different households and maybe our neighbors come over and hang out in your back yard,” Lee said. “They stay six feet apart. You're all wearing cloth face coverings and you're not sharing objects, such as food utensils or other items, and you're all from the same local area.”

“We're used to giving handshakes and high fives and fist bumps. So, trying to avoid those actions will help as well,” she said.

Wearing masks and washing hand frequently are also important.

“We know that the virus that causes Covid-19 can spread when respiratory droplets are produced through coughing or sneezing. So, if you have the cloth face covering on, that really helps prevent those droplets from moving and affecting someone else. And social distancing is another action that's really important. It helps reduce your chance of coming into contact with respiratory droplets that might not be captured by the face covering,” she said.

Brazil's health ministry recorded 42,725 new coronavirus cases Wednesday as the country continues to record sharp daily increases in new cases. 

The highest one-day rise in cases in the country, 54,771, was reported on June 19. 

In the past three days alone, the country reported 103,593 new cases. Brazil's total confirmed cases stand at 1,188,631, according to the health ministry.

The ministry also reported 1,185 new fatalities Wednesday, bringing the country's death toll to 53,830.

So far on Wednesday, Johns Hopkins reported 24,485 new cases and 646 deaths. 

The totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.