August 23 coronavirus news

A police investigator stands at the site, on August 23, where 13 people were killed during a raid on a nightclub in Lima on August 22.

At least 15 partygoers who were arrested for attending an unauthorized party in Lima, which ended in a deadly stampede, have tested positive for coronavirus, Peru’s Health Ministry said Sunday. 

The country’s Minister of Interior Jorge Montoya said police had arrested the owners of the club where 13 people were killed on Saturday, Peru’s official news agency Agencia Andina reported.

Three others were injured in the stampede, when partygoers attempted to escape a police raid on the venue, according to Orlando Velasco Mujica, general of the Peruvian National Police. 

Police were called to the Thomas Restobar in the Los Olivos district of Lima on Saturday evening to shut down an illegal party that more than 120 people were attending. 

Social distancing measures are mandated in Peru, large social gatherings are banned and there is a nationwide 10 p.m. curfew in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus. 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews speaks to the media Melbourne, Australia on August 24.

The Australian state of Victoria recorded 116 new cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours, the lowest single-day increase in seven weeks, Victorian State Premier Daniel Andrews said Monday.

The total number of cases reported in Victoria is now 18,330, Andrews said.

The state has been under a tight lockdown, including an 8 p.m. curfew, since a new outbreak in July which quickly spread to thousands of people.

Andrews said that 15 new coronavirus deaths were reported on Sunday, raising the state-wide death toll to 430. All the new deaths were linked to outbreaks in aged-care facilities.

The Premier said 629 Victorians remain in hospital, of which 31 are receiving intensive care.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, president of Mexico speaks at Palacio Nacional in Mexico City, on August 13.

Mexico’s President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said the pandemic “is losing steam” in a YouTube video Sunday, adding that there are now enough hospital beds for the sick.

New cases: Mexico’s Health Ministry reported 3,948 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the country’s total number of confirmed infections to 560,164.

The ministry also reported 226 new deaths, taking the total number of coronavirus-related fatalities to 60,480.

Mexico has reported the third-highest number of coronavirus cases in Latin America, behind Brazil and Peru.

New Zealand recorded eight new coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, seven of which were locally transmitted, the country’s top health official announced on Monday.

The total number of confirmed cases in New Zealand now stands at 1,332. No new deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours, leaving the countrywide death toll at 22.

All seven of the new local cases were linked to the existing cluster in Auckland, New Zealand’s Director General of Health Dr. Ashley Bloomfield said at a news conference. He added that one imported case was also reported.   

Bloomfield said 4,589 coronavirus tests were conducted on Sunday, bringing the total number of tests administered across the country to 697,070. Nearly 100,000 tests have been conducted in the past week, according to Bloomfield.  

Lockdown decision: The new cases come as New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is set to make a decision later today on whether to extend coronavirus restrictions in the country, after they were reimposed on August 14 following the new outbreak.

US President Donald Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar look on as FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn addresses the media during a press conference in James S. Brady Briefing Room at the White House on on August 23, in Washington, DC.

US Food and Drug Administration commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn said that his organization makes decisions “on data only,” denying he was pressured by the White House to issue an emergency use authorization (EUA) for convalescent plasma.

The FDA issued an EUA for blood plasma taken from coronavirus survivors as a treatment for Covid-19 infections late Sunday, just before a White House briefing where US President Donald Trump called the decision “historic.”

Several medical experts told CNN Sunday that the EUA decision seemed to have been made under pressure. Speaking at the briefing, Trump tacitly admitted he pressured the agency. 

Trump said he believed there were officials at the FDA and in the Department of Health and Human Services “that can see things being held up and wouldn’t mind so much.”

“It’s my opinion, very strong opinion, and that’s for political reasons,” Trump said at Sunday’s briefing.

Hahn denied the decision was made for anything other than legitimate medical reasons.

Venezuela reported 607 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 39,564, according to Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.

Rodriguez reported six new coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the total death toll to 329.

The White House may have bullied the US Food and Drug Administration into giving emergency use authorization to using blood plasma from coronavirus survivors as a treatment for new patients, a prominent vaccine expert said Sunday.

Moving things along quickly is fine, Offit told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, but it’s the FDA’s job to hold products to a standard of safety and efficacy. Offit said he worries that the FDA, like other science-based agencies “get bullied to do what Donald Trump wants them to do, and I think it’s a dangerous game he plays.”

The potential side effects of convalescent plasma are not known, Offit said. While he said he thinks it is likely that it is generally a safe product, “until something has been shown clearly to work, we shouldn’t put it out there.”

It makes sense that administering a serum with high levels of neutralizing antibodies to a person who is mildly ill would help, but “the trick is proving that it makes a difference,” Offit said minutes after the White House announcement about the EUA.

The data so far have not proved that the plasma makes a difference, said Offit, which is why the FDA was “loath” to approve the treatment.

In making the announcement, the FDA and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar cited data from a study posted online to a pre-print server, meaning it had not been peer-reviewed, on August 12. Offit questioned whether there was newer data that the FDA had not shared.

Offit said that what worries him the most is the repercussions this could have on vaccines.

Nurse Lina Acevedo checks the plasma donated by a man who recovered from Covid-19 on August 14 in Bogota, Colombia.

The US Food and Drug Administration gave emergency use approval to convalescent plasma as a treatment for coronavirus Sunday, but some experts say there is not a lot of solid data to support its use.

Trump administration officials cited a Mayo Clinic-led study that showed a 35% improvement in survival among people given the highest doses of the treatment early on in their illness compared to those who were treated later. Reiner pointed out this is not the same as a randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial, medicine’s gold standard, which can demonstrate whether the treatment really works better than not treating people.

“While the data to date show some positive signals that convalescent plasma can be helpful in treating individuals with COVID-19, especially if given early in the trajectory of disease, we lack the randomized controlled trial data we need to better understand its utility in COVID-19 treatment,” said Dr. Thomas File, president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America. “For this reason, IDSA supports the continued collection of data in randomized clinical trials to better understand the benefits of convalescent plasma treatment before authorizing its wider use in patients with COVID-19.”

Art Caplan, founding head of the Division of Medical Ethics at NYU School of Medicine, told CNN he did not think the evidence was sufficient for an emergency use authorization.

At a White House briefing Sunday night, President Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar urged coronavirus survivors to donate plasma.

Caplan said he’s worried about whether there’s a large enough supply of convalescent plasma, which relies on donations from Covid-19 survivors. Under an emergency use authorization, doctors will be more likely to give convalescent plasma without tracking data, so it will then be difficult to determine which donors have the most effective plasma, and which patients are the best candidates to receive it. 

Dr. Stephen Hahn, commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, speaks during a media briefing at the White House on Sunday, August 23.

US Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Stephen Hahn says studies have shown convalescent plasma is safe and the treatment has been given to patients with infectious diseases for more than a hundred years.

Emergency use authorization is not the same as full approval, but it will allow more people to try the treatment.

“We are waiting for more data,” Hahn said. “We are very pleased with these results.”

He described one Mayo Clinic-led study that showed that patients who got the highest doses of convalescent plasma were 35% more likely to survive that other patients, although the trial was not a randomized controlled trial – the gold standard for determining whether a treatment really works. The trial compared people who were treated earlier to those who were treated later – not people who were treated versus those who were not treated.

Some researchers have said trials haven’t shown clearly how well the treatment works.

“We have seen a great deal of demand for this from doctors around the country,” Hahn said

The FDA has encouraged coronavirus survivors to donate their blood in the hope that immune system proteins they developed while fighting off infection will help newly infected patients.

President Donald Trump points to reporter to ask a question during a briefing at the White House on Sunday, August 23.

President Donald Trump told reporters Sunday he believed “political reasons” created a slowdown of approval for a coronavirus treatment at the Food and Drug Administration – but said he “broke the logjam” over the last week.

Trump’s remarks amount to tacit confirmation that he applied pressure on the agency ahead of its announcement Sunday that it was issuing an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19.

He said he believed there were officials at the FDA and in the Department of Health and Human Services “that can see things being held up and wouldn’t mind so much.”

Trump insisted his focus on treatments for coronavirus – which has slowed the American economy and caused his poll numbers to sink – was apolitical.

Earlier in the briefing, Trump seemed enthusiastic when asked by a reporter from Fox News whether patients should have access to treatments or vaccines before they reach the end of trials.

“We have all of these great, seemingly great answers that are ready to come out, but because of the process it takes – can we use some of this early under right to try?” he asked, referring to legislation that allows patients access to drugs that are still in the investigational phase.

FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn declined to answer when asked by Jim Acosta as the briefing concluded whether there was pressure on him to approve the emergency use of convalescent plasma.

President Donald Trump said Sunday the emergency use authorization of convalescent plasma to treat Covid-19 patients was a “truly historic announcement” that will “save countless lives.”

On Sunday, Trump thanked Dr. Stephen Hahn, the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, saying the agency had really stepped up “especially over the last few days” in getting the authorization done.

Last week, Trump accused some health officials of playing politics regarding the emergency authorization for convalescent plasma. When asked about the FDA not having granted one, Trump said the reason was political.

The University of Kentucky began a second phase of Covid-19 testing Sunday, testing 5,500 students who belong to fraternities and sororities, according to a letter from the university’s president.

The university previously mandated Covid-19 testing for all students on campus, offering testing between August 3 and 22.

The second-phase of testing comes following a roughly 3% positivity rate for Covid-19 among fraternities and sororities in initial testing, approximately triple the roughly 1% positivity rate for the general student population. Of the 49 students currently in isolation following a positive Covid test, 30 come from two fraternity houses, university spokesman Jay Blanton said in a news release.

In a letter written to the campus community and provided to CNN, University President Eli Capilouto cautioned against blaming the students for the higher positivity rate.

“Retesting has always been a part of our restart plan,” Capilouto wrote. “We will begin that process with the students for whom the data indicate retesting is most appropriate.”

Capilouto said that 21,000 students had been tested in the initial phase. The university lists its enrollment as “more than 30,000 students.”

According to the most recent data from Kentucky Public Health, the state has had a total of 43,529 Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began.

NOTE: These numbers were released by the state of Kentucky, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Peru’s Health Ministry reported 3,706 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 594,326.

The ministry reported 210 new deaths, bring the number of coronavirus-related deaths to 27,933 since the pandemic started.

On Saturday, at least 13 people were killed in a stampede at a nightclub in Lima, as partygoers attempted to escape a police raid on the venue. Police were called to shut down an illegal party with more than 120 people in attendance.

Social distancing measures are mandated in Peru, large social gatherings are banned and there is a nationwide 10 p.m. curfew to slow the spread of the virus.

Brazil’s Health Ministry has reported 23,421 new Covid-19 cases over the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases in the country to 3.6 million.

The ministry reported 494 new coronavirus deaths on Sunday, raising the country’s death toll to 114,744.

Brazil is second only to the United States in the highest total number of coronavirus cases and deaths worldwide.

A statue outside of Bryant-Denny Stadium at the University of Alabama before a football game on September 22, 2018, in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

University of Alabama President Stuart R. Bell asked students, faculty and staff to work together to follow safety protocols so the university can finish the fall semester with in-person classes. Bell said there will be consequences, including suspension, for not following the rules on and off campus.

According to the letter, university police and the Tuscaloosa Police Department will partner to monitor bars, restaurants and off-campus housing to ensure the city’s Covid-19 ordinances and university guidelines are followed.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson attends a ceremony in Alrewas, England, on August 15 to mark the 75th anniversary of Victory over Japan Day.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Sunday that it is “vitally important” to get children back in the classroom when schools reopen next week.

Referring to comments made earlier Sunday by Chris Whitty, the UK’s chief medical adviser, Johnson said it is “far more damaging” than the virus itself for pupils to stay out of school for any longer.

The Prime Minister thanked school staff who have been making preparations for a full return in September and reiterated his previous statements about “the moral duty to reopen schools to all pupils safely.”

On Sunday, the chief medical officers and deputy chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales released a statement on risks and benefits of schools and child care centers reopening.

The statement also said international real-world evidence suggests that schools reopening have usually not been followed by a surge of Covid-19.

The US Food and Drug Administration on Sunday issued an emergency use authorization for convalescent plasma for the treatment of Covid-19 in hospitalized patients.

The agency said it concluded that the product may be effective in treating Covid-19 and that “the known and potential benefits of the product outweigh the known and potential risks of the product.”

President Donald Trump is expected to discuss the announcement during a Sunday media briefing.

Convalescent plasma is created from the blood of people who have recovered from Covid-19, and it has shown some success in two other deadly coronaviruses: MERS and SARS. It has also been used to treat flu and Ebola.

Emergency use authorization from the FDA does not require the same level of evidence as full FDA approval. At the end of March, the FDA created a pathway for scientists to try convalescent plasma with patients and study its impact. 

Physicians have been using the treatment since. So far, more than 60,000 people in the United States have been treated with convalescent plasma.

One of President Donald Trump’s nightly appearances at the Republican National Convention will be with a group of doctors, nurses and EMTs who helped respond to the coronavirus crisis, according to a person familiar with the planning.

Trump will honor their heroism and highlight other frontline workers who are responding to the pandemic. 

CNN reported earlier Sunday Trump is expected to make some type of appearance during each night of this week’s Republican Convention.

The RNC is expected to focus heavily on Trump’s accomplishments in his current term and lay out a second-term vision for the administration. The convention will present “a complete change in the perception that I believe the media tries to tell of what a Trump supporter looks like, or who a Trump supporter is,” Trump campaign senior adviser Jason Miller said.

A woman and her son walk by a discarded face mask in Long Beach, California on August 22.

California reported 146 new Covid-19-related fatalities Sunday, bringing the state’s total number of coronavirus-related deaths to 12,134. 

The state reported 6,777 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 663,669. 

The California Department of Public Health noted that the numbers may not represent true day-over-day change as reporting of test results can be delayed.

California’s Covid-19 seven-day positivity rate is 5.7%, and the 14-day positivity rate is 6.4%.

Note: These numbers were released by the California Department of Public Health and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

The Hattiesburg Police Department in Mississippi has sandbags and face masks available for people head of Hurricane Marco and Tropical Storm Laura, according to a Facebook post from the department.