HuffPost reporters around the world are tracking the pandemic and its effects.

Read the latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic below. (To see the latest updates, you may need to refresh the page. All times are Eastern. For earlier updates on the pandemic, go here .)

Almost 100,000 U.S. Children Tested Positive For COVID-19 In Last 2 Weeks Of July 8/10/20, 7:42 a.m. ET

More than 97,000 children in the U.S. tested positive for the coronavirus in the last two weeks of July, according to a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Childrens Hospital Association, as schools around the country grapple with if or how they can safely reopen this fall.

The report included data from 49 states, Washington D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam. But it didnt include complete data from Texas, currently a virus hotspot, so the number of confirmed cases involving children could be much higher.

Read more here.

Marina Fang

California Public Health Director Resigns 8/10/20, 5:50 a.m. ET

Dr. Sonia Angell, the head of Californias public health department, resigned late Sunday, the Associated Press reports . While she didnt give a reason, her departure comes days after the state announced a fix to a technical glitch that was causing coronavirus test data to become backlogged.

Some 300,000 records had become backlogged in the system, which is used to make decisions about reopening businesses and schools. Not all of the records were coronavirus cases, though.

Liza Hearon

Trump Adviser Calls Testing In U.S. A Miracle Despite Long Waits 8/9/20, 12 p.m. ET

White House national security adviser Robert OBrien praised the Trump administrations coronavirus testing apparatus, calling it a miracle, despite widespread reports of test results taking days or even weeks to process.

In his first TV interview since recovering from COVID-19, OBrien was asked how long before the average American is able to access speedy, asymptomatic testing like White House officials or professional athletes can.

Well, were working on testing, OBrien told CBS News Face the Nation. I think whats happening with testing in America is really a miracle. I mean we havent theres no country in the world that comes close to what America is doing on testing. But were working on getting more testing out there.

The countrys coronavirus testing systems have been overwhelmed in recent weeks by a surge in demand, creating multiday backlogs. For some workers, the delays are causing them to miss paychecks as they await results so they can return to work.

The U.S. on Sunday surpassed 5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, continuing its run as the country with the highest number of known infections. President Donald Trump has blamed increased testing in the U.S. over the past few months for the surge in confirmed cases, but public health officials have attributed the rise in cases to further spread of the virus.

Well, weve had a lot of infections as a country and again this is something we need to keep in mind, OBrien told CBS News on Sunday before shifting the focus to China. Weve got to remember where it came from.

Hayley Miller

U.S. Surpasses 5 Million Confirmed Cases 8/9/20, 11 a.m. ET

The U.S. surpassed 5 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, continuing its run as the country with the most recorded infections in the world by far, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University . There have been at least 162,000 coronavirus-related deaths nationwide.

The actual number of infections in the U.S. is likely undercounted since many of those who contract the virus present mild symptoms or are asymptomatic, according to public health experts.

The failure of the U.S. to contain the virus has been met with shock and alarm in Europe, reported The Associated Press .

We Italians always saw America as a model, said Massimo Franco, a columnist with Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera. But with this virus weve discovered a country that is very fragile, with bad infrastructure and a public health system that is nonexistent.

Hayley Miller

New Zealand Records 100 Days Without Community Spread 8/9/20, 8:05 a.m. ET

New Zealand has marked 100 days without a domestic transmission of the coronavirus, but leaders have warned against complacency as countries like Vietnam and Australia which once had the virus under control now battle a resurgence in infections.

The Pacific island nation of roughly 5 million people has recorded more than 1,200 COVID-19 cases and at least 22 deaths related to the virus. New Zealand has attributed its success to stringent border control measures, a strict lockdown and a widespread program of testing and contact tracing.

Vietnam which went three months without detecting any domestic transmission is now racing to control a new outbreak in Danang, fueling fears in New Zealand that further loosening of measures could spark a similar resurgence.

We have seen overseas how quickly the virus can re-emerge and spread in places where it was previously under control, and we need to be prepared to quickly stamp out any future cases in New Zealand, said New Zealand Director-General of Health Ashley Bloomfield.

Read more from HuffPost U.K.

Hayley Miller

40 Million Could Face Threat Of Eviction As Congressional Aid Stalls 8/8/20, 2:10 p.m. ET

Between 30 million and 40 million people are at risk of being evicted by the end of the year, according to a report released Friday by the National Low Income Housing Coalition.

The urgency of the situation really cant be overstated, Diane Yentel, president and CEO of the organization, told HuffPosts Jenavieve Hatch and Arthur Delaney . Its keeping people very confused and anxious about whats next.

Renters with children are likely to be hit hardest by the impending wave of evictions, according to the NLIHC report. There are around 14 million such renters across the country.

In July, the U.S. economy showed signs of slowing down after making gains in May and June as the country continues to battle the coronavirus. Congress, however, appears light-years away from an agreement on the next economic stimulus package, and a measure that provided an extra $600 in unemployment benefits was allowed to expire last week.

These people in Congress who have money, they dont understand what the middle and lower class is going through, Mary Robinson, a New York mother of two, told HuffPost. She is getting by on unemployment benefits, which shrank from almost $900 to just $247 last week.

Sara Boboltz

Sturgis Motorcycle Rally Draws Thousands To South Dakota, Few In Masks 8/7/20, 5 p.m. ET

The massive annual gathering of motorcycles in Sturgis, South Dakota, takes place this weekend, with event organizers expecting 250,000 people to attend despite the COVID-19 pandemic.

South Dakota has no mask mandates or restrictions on indoor gatherings.

Associated Press reporter Stephen Groves counted fewer than a dozen people wearing masks in a crowd of thousands of people over a period of several hours.

Read more at The AP .

Ryan Grenoble

India Marks 2 Million COVID-19 Cases 8/7/20, 2:45 a.m. ET

India marked a new milestone on Friday after officials said more than 2 million people had been infected with the novel coronavirus, including more than 62,500 cases in one 24-hour period.

India has the third-highest number of cases in the world, following the United States and Brazil. Health officials had warned of the potential for rising infections as the country eased lockdown measures.

India will be essential to any of the global vaccination efforts meant to end the ongoing pandemic. The worlds largest vaccine-maker is located in the Indian city of Pune and it has ramped up capacity as drug manufacturers conduct Phase 3 trials.

Nick Visser

California COVID-19 Death Toll Surpasses 10,000 8/7/20, 2:30 a.m. ET

More than 10,000 people have died in California due to the coronavirus pandemic, officials said on Thursday.

The figure reflects Californias ongoing difficulties to stay on top of new surges in cases after the state was initially hailed as a lockdown success story. The Los Angeles Times pointed to two main vectors of infections centered on reopening efforts: the spread of the virus among low-wage workers forced to return to their jobs and young people flouting social distancing measures.

On Thursday, Los Angeles announced it would shut off water and power to homes violating COVID-19 orders in an attempt to curb such behavior.

Many of the states deaths have occurred in Los Angeles County, where 4,869 people have died and more than 200,000 have tested positive for COVID-19.

Nick Visser

Africa Passes 1 Million Coronavirus Cases 8/7/20, 2:10 a.m. ET

The number of coronavirus cases on the African continent surpassed 1 million this week, but experts warn the true toll could be much higher due to the regions significant lack of testing.

The Associated Press reported the figures on Thursday, pointing to ongoing concerns in South Africa. The country, Africas most developed, has more than 538,000 cases , the fifth-most in the world, and faces strains on its hospital system.

We think its going to be here at a slow burn, the World Health Organizations Africa chief told the AP regarding infections on the continent.

Nick Visser

U.S. State Department Lifts Level 4 Global Health Advisory 8/6/20, 8:10 p.m. ET

The State Department eased its global Level 4 travel advisory for Americans on Thursday, saying it would revert back to a scaled system of warnings as the coronavirus pandemic rages on.

With health and safety conditions improving in some countries and potentially deteriorating in others, the Department is returning to our previous system of country-specific levels of travel advice (with Levels from 1-4 depending on country-specific conditions), in order to give travelers detailed and actionable information to make informed travel decisions, the agency said.

The U.S. government has had a global advisory in place since March 19 as cases of COVID-19 began to spread rapidly around the globe. Many countries still fall under Level 4 Do Not Travel guidance, but others are listed under lesser advisories including Level 3 Reconsider Travel.

Just a few places, like Macau and Taiwan, are under Level 1 guidance, the State Departments lowest, though they may not admit American travelers due to the pandemic. A full list of guidance for Americans considering travel abroad is available here .

Nick Visser

New York City Extends State Of Emergency For 30 More Days 8/6/20, 6:26 p.m. ET

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is extending the citys state of emergency for another 30 days as the coronavirus pandemic continues across the country.

De Blasio signed the emergency executive order on Thursday night. State of emergency orders allow the mayors office to set in place regulations in the city to protect citizens from spreading COVID-19.

A day earlier, de Blasio announced that the city would be setting up checkpoints at key entry points around the city to screen travelers and residents who might be coming from states currently experiencing a spread of infections.

Travelers coming in from those states will be given information about the quarantine, they will be reminded that it is required, not optional, de Blasio said about the checkpoints on Wednesday. Theyll be reminded that failure to quarantine is a violation of state law and it comes with serious penalties.

New York City was the site of one of the worst viral outbreaks in the country and has the largest number of coronavirus-related deaths, with a death toll of 23,563, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The city first declared a state of emergency on March 12, 2020.

Carla Russo

Fauci Rejects Yale Epidemiologists Argument In Favor Of Hydroxychloroquine 8/6/20, 1:15 p.m. ET

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert on the White Houses coronavirus task force, rejected claims from a Yale University epidemiologist that hydroxychloroquine has proven to be effective in treating COVID-19.

President Donald Trumps allies have cited Dr. Harvey Risch, the Yale epidemiologist, while attempting to promote the anti-malarial drug as a treatment for the disease caused by the coronavirus. But Fauci and other public health officials, including Assistant Health Secretary Adm. Brett Giroir, have said otherwise, pointing to several randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials that found no evidence to support hydroxychloroquines efficacy.

During an interview CNN s John Berman on Monday, Risch argued that randomized, placebo-controlled trials were not the scientific gold standard, as Fauci has said. Berman asked Fauci on Thursday why he feels so strongly that such trials are necessary to determine the drugs efficacy.

Well, because it is the gold standard, Fauci said. You have to compare your intervention with something. Because the medical literature and experience is full of situations of anecdotal retrospective cohort studies that have proven to be wrong.

I might add, agreeing with me is virtually every scientist who is competent in clinical trials, that will say that the randomized place placebo-controlled trial is in fact the gold standard, Fauci added. So I would have to respectfully totally disagree with him.

Hayley Miller

Fauci Says Virus May Never Be Eradicated 8/6/20, 8:35 a.m. ET

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert on the White Houses coronavirus task force, said COVID-19 may never be eradicated, contradicting President Donald Trumps repeated claims that the coronavirus will simply go away.

I dont think were going to eradicate this from the planet because its such a highly transmissible virus that that seems unlikely, Fauci said in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday. But what I think we can do with the combination of a good vaccine and attention to public health measures by attention I dont mean shut down, I mean things that are just prudent then I think we can get behind this.

Like Fauci, the World Health Organization warned Monday that there may never be a silver bullet for the virus and that the road back to normality could be a very long one.

Despite these assessments from public health officials, Trump said Wednesday that the virus would go away one day and falsely claimed that children are almost immune to it. In fact, more than 200,000 children in the United States have tested positive for COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The vast majority of infected children have been asymptomatic, though scientists are still studying what long-term effects the virus will have on children and adults who have contracted it.

Fauci said Wednesday that hes hopeful the development of a vaccine could stop the coronavirus from immobilizing the world. But the virus may not be in check for another year, he said.

I hope and feel its possible that by the time we get through 2021 and go around for another cycle that well have this under control, he said.

Hayley Miller

L.A. Mayor Says Utility Can Shut Off Water, Power At Properties Hosting Large Parties 8/5/20, 9:32 p.m. ET

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said that the citys Department of Water and Power (DWP) will cut off service to properties hosting large parties if people continue to gather illegally during the pandemic.

At a news conference Wednesday , Garcetti said that the Los Angeles Police Department will notify the DWP to turn off services if it catches and verifies properties repeatedly hosting large parties.

If LAPD responds and verifies that a large gathering is occurring at a property, and we see these properties offending time and time again, they will provide notice and initiate the process to request that DWP shut off service, Garcetti said.

The new regulations are designed to target large-scale gatherings run by people determined to break the rules, posing significant public dangers and a threat to all of us instead of small gatherings in private homes, according to the mayor.

The new rules take effect Friday night.

Garcetti announced the rules after police responded to a party that attracted hundreds of people to a mansion in the Hollywood Hills. The party ended in gunfire and one death .

In response to the party, the L.A. Department of Public Health on Wednesday issued a legally-binding health officer order banning large parties during the pandemic in order to protect the health and lives of county residents.

We urge every resident in Los Angeles County to follow the health officer order and avoid organizing and attending gatherings that include people outside their own household, the health department said.

Carla Russo

GOP Rep. Rodney Davis Latest Congressman To Test Positive For COVID-19 8/5/20, 7:45 p.m. ET

Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Ill.) said Wednesday he had tested positive for COVID-19, the latest lawmaker to be infected with the virus as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc around the nation.

This morning, I tested positive for COVID-19, Davis said in a statement . Since the beginning of this pandemic, I have taken my temperature twice daily because serving in Congress means I interact with many people, and its my duty to protect the health of those I serve.

The lawmaker said he had a fever but no other symptoms and felt fine. Davis said he would postpone any public events and quarantine at home until he receives a negative test but will continue to work virtually.

My staff and I take COVID-19 very seriously, he added. My wife is a nurse and a cancer survivor, which puts her in an at-risk category like so many Americans. My office and I have always followed and will continue to follow CDC guidelines, use social distancing, and wear masks or face coverings when social distancing cannot be maintained.

Nick Visser

Biden Wont Attend Democratic National Convention In Milwaukee Over Coronavirus Concerns 8/5/20, 12:15 p.m. ET

Joe Biden will not travel to Milwaukee for the Democratic National Convention because of coronavirus concerns, and others slated to speak will also attend remotely, the DNC announced in a statement Wednesday.

Biden is expected to speak from his home state of Delaware, although the exact location has not yet been determined. President Donald Trump announced last month that he would not attend the Republican National Convention in Jacksonville, Florida, as cases in the state have skyrocketed.

The decision to avoid in-person conventions comes as more than 150,000 Americans have died from the virus. Trump downplayed the death toll in an interview with Axios that aired Monday on HBO.

A thousand Americans are dying a day, interviewer Jonathan Swan told Trump.

They are dying. Thats true, Trump responded. And you it is what it is.

Sebastian Murdock

JetBlue Increases Airline Safety Measures Amid Coronavirus Surge 8/5/20, 12:07 p.m. ET

JetBlue Airways announced Wednesday that it will be increasing its safety measures to protect flight crews and passengers during the pandemic.

The airline said it will adjust its face covering policy effective Aug. 10 , requiring all travelers older than 2 years of age to wear a covering over their nose and mouth throughout their journey. JetBlue also said that it will not allow masks with vents or exhalation valves, and that face shields can be worn in addition to a face covering but not in place of one.

To encourage physical distancing during flights, the airline is blocking middle seats through Oct. 15 on larger planes and most aisle seats on smaller planes, except for those traveling together. JetBlues measures are similar to those of its competitor Delta, which requires all passengers and employees to wear a face mask , and blocks middle seats in all cases where parties of at least three are not traveling together.

The decisions by JetBlue and Delta differ from those of American Airlines and United Airlines, which lifted their bans on booking middle seats last month. Dr. Robert Redfield, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, called the decision to allow passengers in middle seats a substantial disappointment .

According to CDC travel guidelines , viruses and other germs do not spread easily on flights because of how air circulates and is filtered. But the CDC added that social distancing is difficult on crowded flights, and you may have to sit near others (within 6 feet), sometimes for hours.

The International Air Transport Association recently said that the new surge of coronavirus cases in the U.S. and other countries, as well as job security concerns, have led to a more pessimistic recovery outlook for the airline industry. While airlines have seen a slight improvement in business since April, experts now believe air travel wont return to pre-pandemic levels until at least 2024.

Sanjana Karanth

Chicago Students To Start Year With Remote Learning As Schools Nationwide Grapple With Reopening 8/5/20, 11:25 a.m. ET

Chicago Public Schools announced Wednesday that students will participate in remote learning when the school year starts Sept. 8, as schools around the country experience issues with reopening during the pandemic.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot said the nations third-largest school district will keep its 355,000 students at home at least until the first quarter ends on Nov. 5, a change from its previous hybrid plan. The announcement came ahead of the Chicago Teachers Unions potential vote to strike over coronavirus concerns, but Lightfoot said her decision had little to do with the pressure from the union.

Health Commissioner Allison Arwady said Chicago is consistently averaging 277 COVID-19 cases per day with a 4.8% positivity rate, an increase from last months 200 daily case average with a 3.8% positivity rate.

In a perfect world, students would be in a classroom more, not less, CPS CEO Janice Jackson said. But unfortunately, that is not where we find ourselves today. It was evident that our families were not comfortable with the state of the pandemic and the national response.

Schools in some states have reopened amid a nationwide coronavirus surge, forcing families to grapple with the potential consequences of sending their children to class. Schools in Georgia, Mississippi and Indiana have already opened and have already experienced students testing positive.

A Georgia principal sent a letter to families over the weekend saying a football player tested positive after attending practice. By the end of the first week of classes, a Mississippi high school student tested positive and at least a dozen more were in quarantine. A student at an Indiana junior high school tested positive on the first day back to class.

Sanjana Karanth

Trump Says Virus Is Going Away, Urges Older Teachers To Avoid Schools 8/5/20, 9:20 a.m. ET

President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged all schools in the U.S. to reopen, claiming the coronavirus is going away despite rising cases in some areas of the country and warnings from public health officials.

My view is the schools should open, Trump said during an hour-long interview on Fox & Friends. This things going away. It will go away like things go away.

The head of the World Health Organization warned Monday that there may never be a silver bullet for the virus and that the road back to normalcy could be very long. The average daily case count in the U.S. has declined over the last week, but some parts of the country, including Alaska and Montana, are seeing an increase in infection rates.

White House coronavirus response coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said over the weekend that the U.S. had entered a new phase of the crisis and warned the virus was extraordinarily widespread in both rural and urban areas.

Trump claimed Wednesday that children are almost I would almost say definitely but almost immune from this disease.

In fact, children under 18 account for about 7% of confirmed cases in the U.S., or roughly 240,000 known infections, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . The vast majority of infected children appear to be asymptomatic, but a handful have developed serious symptoms and even died. Scientists are still studying the long-term effects that having the virus may have on children and adults.

The larger concern for many people is the possibility that students will spread the virus to their teachers and family members.

Trump suggested Wednesday that teachers in a certain age group shouldnt go back to school yet. They may have to wait until the thing goes by, the president said, referring to the virus.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert on the White Houses coronavirus task force, has also encouraged schools and colleges to reopen. He told CNN on Monday that most schools should be safe as long as they follow CDC guidelines , which include modified layouts to maintain social distancing and closing communal spaces.

Hayley Miller

Authoritarians Spot Opportunity In Coronavirus Pandemic 8/5/20, 6:30 a.m. ET

The authoritarian leaders of countries such as Venezuela, Nicaragua and Egypt are using the cover of the coronavirus pandemic to suppress information and clamp down on dissent, HuffPosts Travis Waldron and Nick Robins-Early report.

Governments have imprisoned journalists and doctors and obscured information and statistics about the scope of the pandemic. This represents not only a threat to democracies worldwide, but also to global efforts to fight the pandemic.

Read more here .

Liza Hearon

Mississippi Governor Issues Statewide Mask Mandate, Delays School Reopenings 8/4/20, 4:45 p.m. ET

Gov. Tate Reeves (R) of Mississippi issued an executive order requiring people to wear masks in public for the next two weeks as the state threatens to overtake Florida for most COVID-19 infections per capita.

The governor tied the measure to the prospect of watching college sports in the fall. I want to see college football, he reportedly said. The best way for that to occur is for us all to realize is that wearing a mask, as irritating as that can be & I promise I hate it more than anyone watching, is critical.

Reeves also pushed back school reopening for grades 7-12 in eight counties that have faced heavy caseloads: Bolivar, Coahoma, Forrest, George, Hinds, Panola, Sunflower and Washington, which cover much of the northwestern part of the state.

Cases have surged in Mississippi since mid-June. The state has recorded more than 62,000 cases and more than 1,750 deaths, with a positive test rate of about 20% an indicator of rampant community spread. Reeves had previously issued mask mandates in a piecemeal fashion and downplayed his power over influencing residents behavior, according to the Clarion Ledger .

Sara Boboltz

Rafael Nadal Wont Play At U.S. Open 8/4/20, 3:30 p.m. ET

Tennis star Rafael Nadal announced that he will not be participating in the 2020 U.S. Open tournament later this month.

The situation is very complicated worldwide, the COVID-19 cases are increasing, it looks like we still dont have control of it, the Spanish champ said in a tweet .

He thanked organizers for their efforts to put a version of the event together in spite of the pandemic.

This is a decision I never wanted to take but I have decided to follow my heart this time and for the time being I rather not travel, Nadal wrote.

The U.S. Open is scheduled to run Aug. 31 through Sept. 13. The United States Tennis Association decided in June to move ahead with a plan, approved by local health officials, to hold the event without spectators to minimize health and safety risks. Matches will still air on TV.

In 2019, Nadal defeated Russias Daniil Medvedev to win the mens singles title at the tournament, which is held annually in New York.

Sara Boboltz

Indy 500 To Be Run Without Fans 8/4/20, 3:07 p.m. ET

The Indianapolis 500 will run without spectators due to coronavirus concerns, Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Roger Penske announced .

It will be the first time in the famed IndyCar races 109-year history that no fans will be present. Traditionally held over Memorial Day weekend, the race was moved to Aug. 23 in response to the pandemic. Penske initially said he planned to run the race with a full crowd, before reducing planned capacity to 50% and then 25% as the pandemic spread.

Cases rose significantly in Marion County , home to Indianapolis, over the last month, prompting Penske and IMS to rethink the presence of spectators.

We said from the beginning of the pandemic we would put the health and safety of our community first, and while hosting spectators at a limited capacity with our robust plan in place was appropriate in late June, it is not the right path forward based on the current environment, IMS said in a statement .

Mollie Reilly

Uber Employees Will Get A Work-From-Home Stipend, But Not Drivers 8/4/20, 2:15 p.m. ET

Uber announced Tuesday that its employees will be allowed to work from home through the year and will be given a stipend for their home office, though drivers wont benefit from the policy change.

While not a mandate, Uber said its employees can work from remote offices through June 2021 and will be given a $500 stipend for their home office. As NBCs Ezra Kaplan pointed out on Twitter, drivers have still not been offered money to install barriers in their vehicles to help protect against the coronavirus.

Uber joins other tech companies including Google, Amazon and Microsoft in allowing employees to stay at home until at least early next year.

Sebastian Murdock

Fauci: U.S. Needs To Get Daily Cases Below 10,000 Before Fall 8/4/20, 6:45 a.m. ET

The number of newcoronavirus cases in the U.S. needs to get below 10,000 a day by the fall in order to maintain some control over the pandemic, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Monday.

Over the past week, there has been an average of over 60,194 cases per day, according to The New York Times .

In a livestreamed conversation with the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association, the nations top disease expert said the prediction was based on the expected flu season and cooler weather forcing people indoors. He again urged the country to wear masks, wash hands and practice social distancing with a degree of consistency.

Liza Hearon

New Jersey Students Will Be Required To Wear Masks At School This Fall 8/3/20, 8:45 p.m. ET

Students in New Jersey will be required to wear face coverings when public schools open up for in-person instruction in the fall, Gov. Phil Murphy announced Monday.

The masks are required inside any school building, even when social distancing is being practiced.

The new guidelines were announced after Murphy was criticized for his previous rules that only strongly encouraged students to wear masks while at school when social distancing isnt possible.

We know that face coverings work and we will now ensure that everyone in a school building will wear one, Murphy said at a press conference.

Under these guidelines, students and faculty will be allowed to take mask breaks when social distancing can be maintained throughout the school day.

Two New Jersey teachers unions have called on the state to transition to remote learning in an attempt to protect students and teachers from being infected by the coronavirus.

Carla Russo

Trump Again Pushes Potentially Deadly Anti-Malaria Drug In Rant To Press 8/3/20, 2:05 p.m. ET

President Donald Trump again touted the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a treatment for coronavirus, despite health officials continued warnings that the drug is an ineffective treatment and could be deadly for some who take it.

The Food and Drug Administration has warned the drug could cause fatal heart arrhythmia, and Trumps own health officials, including disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci and health secretary Adm. Brett Giroir have publicly rejected hydroxychloroquine as an effective treatment.

In a rant to reporters on Monday, Trump said, I dont agree with Fauci, and wrongly claimed that objections over the drugs safety were actually aimed at him.

Hydroxy has tremendous support, Trump said, mispronouncing the drug. But politically, its toxic because I supported it. If I wouldve said, Do not use hydroxychloroquine under any circumstances, they wouldve come out and said its a great thing.

Last week, Trump retweeted a video of far-right doctors decrying coronavirus restrictions and claiming hydroxychloroquine cures COVID-19. The video was removed from Twitter for violating its rules on misinformation about the coronavirus.

Jahan Jones

Scientists Concerned White House Will Wade Into Vaccine Development: NYT 8/3/2020, 3 a.m. ET

A growing number of scientists are reportedly worried the Trump administration could push through a potential coronavirus vaccine in hopes of drumming up political support for the president.

According to The New York Times, many in Trumps orbit are privately hoping for a vaccine to arrive by October just before Americans cast their votes in the November election. Several vaccines moved into large-scale Phase 3 trials last week and Dr. Anthony Fauci has said he was cautiously optimistic a vaccine could be available by the end of the year or early 2021. However, scientists have continued to caution that even if a vaccine was created, there were still many hurdles before it could be produced, shipped and distributed to hundreds of millions of Americans and potentially billions around the globe.

Trump has continued to tout his efforts to see the United States develop a vaccine as early as possible, telling supporters on Sunday that one could be available soon.

We expect to have a vaccine available very, very early before the end of the year, far ahead of schedule, Trump said, per the Times. Were very close to having that finalized.

Last week, Trumps presumptive competitor, former Vice President Joe Biden, called on the White House to keep vaccine development free from political pressure and urged the president not to hype certain treatments without the science to back them up.

Nick Visser

Young People Infected At Higher Rates Over The Weekend In Louisiana 8/2/20, 5 p.m. ET

People aged 29 and under made up 43% of all new coronavirus cases reported in Louisiana over the weekend, according to the states Department of Health.

Young adults between the ages of 18 to 29 made up 33%, and teenagers and children 18 years old and younger made up 10% of the new cases.

Health officials noted that the rates of infections for young people were higher than the >70 age group.

There were 3,477 new cases reported in the state between Friday and Sunday, bringing the states total number of cases to 119,747.

The health department said that 95% of the new cases are tied to community spread.

Louisiana has the highest rate of per capita coronavirus cases in the country, with 2,463 infections per 100,000 residents, according to USA Today .

Carla Russo

Birx Says U.S. In New Phase Of Pandemic 8/2/20, 1:40 p.m. ET

Dr. Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task forces response coordinator, said Sunday that the U.S. has entered a new phase of the pandemic. She warned that recent outbreaks across the country are different than the isolated hotspots seen in New York City and Seattle in March and April.

This new wave of infections is extraordinarily widespread and appearing in both rural and urban areas, Birx said on CNNs State Of The Union.

To everybody who lives in a rural area, you are not immune or protected from this virus, she added. And thats why we keep saying no matter where you live in America, you need to wear a mask and socially distance.