July 3 coronavirus news

The UK government has revealed a new “travel corridor” list – including 59 states and 14 British Overseas Territories – from which travelers will now be exempted from the formerly established 14-day isolation period. 

“The government is satisfied that it is now safe to ease these measures in England and has introduced travel corridors for some countries and territories,” the Department for Transport said Friday in a statement. 

“This applies to all travel to England, by train, ferry, coach, air or any other route,” the statement added. 

According to the announcement, starting on July 10, unless they have visited or stopped in any other country or territory in the preceding 14 days, passengers arriving from the countries and territories that are part of the "travel corridor" list will not be required to self-isolate on arrival into England.

The United States is not included in the list. Earlier on Friday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps confirmed that the country would not be included, due to the high infection rate in country. 

“Here, we've got things under control, but we know that [the virus] is still raging in parts of the world…so I'm afraid there is a red list," Shapps told BBC Radio 4. 

“The US, from a very early stage, banned flights from the UK and from Europe, so there isn’t a reciprocal arrangement in place,” he added, highlighting that the US still has a “very high” rate of infection.

While travelers will not be required to self-isolate on arrival to the UK, the government has confirmed that travelers from the UK must comply with coronavirus requirements in the country they travel to. 

“This may include self-isolating or providing your details to local authorities,” the Department for Transport outlined. 

Before arriving in the UK, travelers will also be required to complete a “passenger locator” form. 

“We will keep the conditions in these countries and territories under review. If they worsen, we will not hesitate to reintroduce self-isolation requirements,” the Department for Transport said. 

“This list may be added to over the coming days following further discussions between the UK and international partners,” the statement added.

Here are the countries and territories that are part of the "travel corridor" list: Andorra, Germany, New Zealand, Antigua and Barbuda, Greece, Norway, Aruba, Greenland, Poland, Australia, Grenada, Réunion, Austria, Guadeloupe, San Marino, Bahamas, Hong Kong, Serbia, Barbados, Hungary, Seychelles, Belgium, Iceland, South Korea, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, Italy, Spain, Croatia, Jamaica, St Barthélemy, Curaçao, Japan, St Kitts and Nevis, Cyprus, Liechtenstein, St Lucia, Czech Republic, Lithuania, St Pierre and Miquelon, Denmark, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Dominica, Macau, Taiwan, Faroe Islands, Malta, Trinidad and Tobago, Fiji, Mauritius, Turkey, Finland, Monaco, Vatican City, France, Netherlands, Vietnam, French Polynesia, New Caledonia

Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber says there should be a statewide mask mandate in Florida and across the whole US.

“There's over 1,300 Covid patients in my county right now and 1,000 people have died. … It's not time to make political statements about wearing a mask. It's time to comply and make sacrifices for everybody else,” he told CNN’s Jim Sciutto.

Beaches in Miami Beach are now closed for the holiday weekend. There is a curfew in place and masks are mandatory in public places. Gelber encouraged his residents to stay home and celebrate the Fourth of July.

Gelber said there have been mixed messages about the coronavirus from state and national leaders, which confuses people and is daunting for city officials.

The mayor took aim at President Trump’s remarks that there’s only more coronavirus cases in the country because there is more testing.

“This whole argument that there's more Covid simply because we're testing more is absurd. You can't fake being so sick you have to be hospitalized or so absolutely sick, you’ve got to be in intensive care or on a ventilator,” Gelber said.

Watch the interview:

Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi confirms he has tested positive for Covid-19 via his official Twitter account on Friday.

According to the foreign minister, he felt a slight fever and immediately quarantined at home. He plans on carrying his duties from home. It's not clear when he was infected. 

Qureshi Tweeted:

Qureshi met the US Special Representative for Afghanistan on Wednesday, according to the Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.

Officials fear Fourth of July weekend could bring a surge in cases, and are urging Americans to limit their festivities to avoid more outbreaks.

The holiday weekend could be the "perfect storm" for a spike in coronavirus cases due to travel, easing restrictions and people not following preventive guidelines, according to Dr. Joshua Barocas, an infectious disease physician at Boston Medical Center.

The US reported more than 52,000 new cases of the virus on Thursday, a new daily record, surpassing one set the previous day.

California, Arizona, Texas and Florida all posted record new cases this week. Florida reported more than 10,000 additional coronavirus cases Thursday, while Texas had about 8,000.

CNN's correspondents in Florida, Texas, Arizona and California report on how the states are preparing for Fourth of July:

US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams urged caution when looking at the US death rate for the virus remaining flat while the number of new cases increases. 

However, Adams said, "What we're really worried about  — particularly with young people  — is that they get it and then they spread it to their grandmother, to their grandfather." 

Adams called on the younger population to wear a face covering, practice social distancing when going out this weekend, and to take extra precautions if they live with someone who is older or vulnerable. 

The latest figures: According to Johns Hopkins University's tally of cases in the US, at least 128,740 people have died in the country from coronavirus. 

An ensemble forecast published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now projects nearly 148,000 coronavirus deaths in the country by July 25.

This week’s national forecast relies on 24 individual forecasts from outside institutions and researchers. The new projections, published Thursday, forecast 147,865 deaths by July 25, with a possible range of about 139,000 to 161,000 deaths.

Unlike some individual models, the CDC’s ensemble forecast only offers projections for the next month. The previous ensemble forecast, published last Wednesday, projected about 139,000 coronavirus deaths by July 18.

Watch Surgeon General's call to wear face coverings:

European Union Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson has urged European countries to apply “as wide a definition of partnerships as possible” to exempt the “partner or ‘sweetheart’,“ of an EU citizen from EU coronavirus travel restrictions.

The EU published on Tuesday a set of guidelines that allows for the gradual reopening of Europe’s external borders starting July 1.

The guidelines, which are primarily based on health criteria and preventing a second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, define a “family member” as a spouse, a registered partnership equivalent to marriage, children or dependents under the age of 21 and dependent direct relatives.

However, there is space for change in the guidelines and specific categories of travelers “may be reviewed by the Council, in close consultation with the Commission,” based on “social and economic considerations as well as the overall assessment of the evolution of the epidemiological situation.” 

Denmark had already expanded its definition of traveller with a “worthy purpose” to include “boyfriends/girlfriends, fiancées, grandparents and grandchildren, as well as business travel, job interviews,” in the list of those able to journey to the country.

This is news social media campaigners using the hashtags #LoveIsEssential and #LoveIsNotTourism have welcomed, like German/American boyfriend and girlfriend Eglain and Zuri.

American Zuri wrote on her social media: “It feels like I woke up to a hopeful miracle. I hope this is step in the right direction for couples separated by this travel ban.”

Her German boyfriend Eglain also took to social media, writing: “The head of European home affairs is supporting our cause of reuniting binational couples separated by travel bans!” Adding German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas to his tweet, Eglain added, “Now the member states need to act and implement exemptions for us.”

While most Americans are used to spending the Fourth of July holiday with friends at the beach or by the pool, this year the country is celebrating a little differently.

The coronavirus pandemic continues and numbers are skyrocketing with the three-most populous states setting new records for new daily coronavirus cases.

While this doesn't necessarily mean canceling your plans for the day, there are steps you can take to keep yourself and others around you healthy this holiday:

Heading to a beach or a pool?

Planning a barbecue?

Read the full article:

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The European Commission has granted "conditional marketing authorization" for remdesivir as a treatment for coronavirus infection, Gilead Sciences, the company that makes the Covid-19 drug, announced in a press release on Friday morning.

The authorization, based on a review of scientific data that dates back to April, means that the drug will be indicated in Europe for the treatment of Covid-19 in adults and adolescents ages 12 and older or weighing at least 40 kilograms, who have pneumonia that requires oxygen support.

Gilead noted in the release that the conditional marketing authorization is initially valid for one year but can be extended or converted into an unconditional authorization once additional data are submitted and assessed.

"Ongoing clinical trials continue to evaluate the safety and efficacy of remdesivir, including studies of remdesivir in combination with anti-inflammatory medicines and in special populations including pediatric patients," the press release said. "Research is also being conducted on new, investigational formulations of remdesivir that may enable studies of remdesivir in earlier stages of disease."

Remember: Previous research has shown separately that severely and moderately ill patients with pneumonia from Covid-19 who received a course of remdesivir were more likely to have clinical improvement after 11 days compared to those who received traditional standard of care alone, according to Gilead.

In the United States, remdesivir — currently administered intravenously through infusions  — is the only drug that has an emergency use authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration to treat coronavirus infections. Gilead originally studied remdesivir as a potential treatment for Ebola, but lab experiments suggested it might be active against the coronavirus that causes Covid-19.

Five Americans who flew by private jet to the Mediterranean island of Sardinia were refused entry to Italy on Wednesday due to new EU travel restrictions on countries with high coronavirus infection rates, police told CNN.

The private jet – which took off from Colorado with 11 would-be vacationers on board -- arrived in Cagliari airport on Wednesday morning, according to the Cagliari Police spokesperson.

Earlier this week, the European Union formally agreed a set of recommendations that allows travelers from outside the bloc to visit EU countries.

But the list of 14 countries did not include the United States, whose current Covid infection rate does not meet the criteria set by the EU for it to be considered a "safe country."

The five US citizens were traveling with friends from New Zealand, the UK, Germany and Italy. There were also three children on board.

Italian authorities tried to “find a solution” to the problem of the American travellers, the police spokesperson said, but there was no way around the new decree that came into effect Tuesday.

After around 14 hours on the ground, the whole group decided to leave Cagliari on their jet ‪ day and headed towards Birmingham, England, the police said.