July 15 coronavirus news

Preliminary research now suggests that skin rashes and rashes inside the mouth might be a symptom of coronavirus infection — but more study is needed.

The research, published in the medical journal JAMA Dermatology on Wednesday, found that among 21 patients in Spain who were confirmed to have Covid-19 and a skin rash, six of those patients or 29% had enanthem, or lesions or rash in the mouth.

The mean amount of time between the onset of Covid-19 symptoms and developing enanthem was about 12 days among the patients, according to researchers from the Hospital Universitario Ramon y Cajal in Madrid.

Specifically, the researchers found that one patient developed enanthem 24 days after the onset of symptoms; two patients developed enanthem 19 days after; one developed enanthem 12 days after; one developed enanthem two days after; and another developed enanthem two days before.

"This work describes preliminary observations and is limited by the small number of cases and the absence of a control group," the researchers wrote, adding that their findings still suggest enanthem to be a possible Covid-19 symptom and not a reaction to medications, for instance.

New York City will have an update on if the city is going to move into phase four of reopening in the next 24 to 48 hours, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday during the city’s daily press conference. 

The mayor made this comment after a reporter said we are nearing the two-week mark of being in phase three and asked for an update on the city’s track to reopen. 

The mayor said the state and the city are currently deliberating on the right decision to make amid the uptick of coronavirus cases across the country. 

Remember: When the city moved into phase three, it did not include indoor dining. In other parts of New York state, phase three marked the start of indoor restaurant service.

Phase three of reopening in New York City did allow for sports and recreation to resume.

Nurses who traveled to New York City to help care for coronavirus patients as the city was going through its peak returned home, only to find skepticism of the virus from others.

“It made me feel terrible because at that point, I was scared for my own life, just being out there on the front lines, providing care for my patients and also just living day to day because we were all nervous. … So I had to educate my friends and let them know the virus is real and they have to stop doing what they were doing,” said Olumide “Peter” Kolade, a nurse from California. 

Oklahoma nurse Courtney Sudduth said that she felt relief to finally get back home after seeing the virus cause so many deaths in New York. But now, she said she is taking care of Covid-19 patients in their 30s who are on ventilators. 

Both nurses encourage people to not let up on washing their hands, social distancing and wearing masks.

“We have to be the change we’re looking for,” Kolade said. “…We have to forget about all these conspiracies.” 

Watch:

Covid-19 testing turnaround time is down to 3 days, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday during the city’s daily Covid-19 presser. 

Hospital admissions across the city, as of Monday, is at 66. There are at least 3030 patients in ICUs with Covid-19.

Of the people tested across the city, the positive infection rate remains at 2%, according to data the Mayor’s office released.

Nine people across New York died due to coronavirus Tuesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s office announced Wednesday, bringing the statewide death toll to 25,003.

At least 831 of the 63,598 — or 1.3% — of the tests conducted across New York on Tuesday were positive, bringing the statewide total of confirmed cases to 404,006.

One thing to note: These numbers were released by the state and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Florida’s largest public health system has seen a 226% increase in coronavirus patients since June 14, which Jackson Health System President and CEO Carlos Migoya attributes to people not wearing masks. 

“The challenges that we’ve had is that the people have not been masking or being socially distant, especially the younger people,” Migoya said. 

He said that the biggest offenders have not been residents, but visitors. 

In Florida, there are currently 54 hospitals that have reached ICU capacity and show zero ICU beds available, according to data released by the Agency for Health Care Administration. Ten of those hospitals are in Miami-Dade County.

Another 40 hospitals show ICUs at 10% available capacity or less, according to the AHCA data.

Migoya also attributes the spread of Covid-19 to younger people who may be asymptomatic passing it on to their parents or grandparents. 

“We saw a huge influx of young people coming in. Now, those young people are still coming in, but we're getting older people in,” he said, adding that younger people would have a “rude awakening” if they visited one of his hospital’s ICUs. 

Migoya said he expects more Covid-19 patients for the next few weeks.  

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At a stop at a hospital in Shelbyville, Kentucky, this morning, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continued issuing warnings that the coronavirus is here to stay. He said that while "there were some that hoped" the coronavirus would simply go away, it isn't.

While he didn't mention Trump, it's the latest indication of how McConnell is voicing a much different message about the virus than the leader of his own party. 

Walmart, the world's largest retailer, is the latest national chain to require all customers to wear masks, CNN Business reports. The change will start next week. 

Here is the company's statement from this morning:

Walmart joins a growing list of businesses that have made this move. Starbucks said last week that it will require customers to wear facial coverings or masks in all 9,000 of its company-owned US stores beginning Wednesday. 

Best Buy announced Tuesday that it will also require all shoppers coming into its approximately 1,000 stores to wear face masks. Costco began requiring its members to wear masks in stores beginning in May.

Although no federal mandate to wear a mask exists, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says everyone "should wear a cloth face cover when they have to go out in public." The CDC said "face coverings are meant to protect other people."

The country's coronavirus response is taking "a step backwards" by rerouting hospital data on Covid-19 patients directly to the Trump administration instead of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to former CDC acting director Dr. Richard Besser.

What this is about: The Department of Health and Human Services confirmed the new policy to CNN on Tuesday. While CDC is a division of HHS, there has been tension between the CDC's Atlanta-based agency and those in Washington, Besser said.

"One of the nice things about CDC being in Atlanta — being away from Washington — is that we're able to avoid a lot of political pressure that you get in when you're in DC," he said. "What I worry with the data going directly to HHS is that it could be further politicized, and that’s the last thing you want."

Michael Caputo, the assistant secretary for public affairs at the department, said in an earlier statement that "new faster and complete data system is what our nation needs to defeat the coronavirus and the CDC, an operating division of HHS, will certainly participate in this streamlined all-of-government response. They will simply no longer control it."

"These systems need to be modernized," Besser said, "but the answer to this isn’t bypassing CDC; it's working to ensure that the flow is going faster, making sure that they're getting the right data."