July 25 coronavirus news

A Texas couple who have been married for 46 years have both survived Covid-19, while the wife battled cancer.

Robert and Janice Beecham started to feel symptoms of Covid-19 in March. Robert was taken to the hospital on March 25 and found out he was positive the next day.

Janice had just had surgery in February, after finding out about a second battle with breast cancer and had been given a new diagnosis of ovarian cancer. She also tested positive for Covid-19, but luckily her symptoms were mild.

Janice had not started chemotherapy when she was diagnosed with Covid-19. She later had the treatment and has been declared cancer free, with only preventative radiotherapy left to do.

After surviving cancer and Covid-19, the Beechams say they are feeling fortunate.

“It would have been impossible to make it with all the odds against you without God, and he has been our help, all these many years,” Robert said.

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Related article They have been married 46 years and just overcame Covid-19, cancer and chemo together

The Texas city of Houston saw more people die from coronavirus in July than died in the previous four months combined, said Mayor Sylvester Turner.

The number of hospital admissions appears to be going down somewhat – but there is still rapid community spread, he said.

In May, about 3,700 people tested positive for the virus. In June, that figure rose to 13,000. In July, it was more than 20,000, he said.

The Houston Department of Health reported 811 new cases Saturday, bringing the total to 40,897. Houston also reported 16 new coronavirus-related deaths, bringing the total death toll to 386. 

A longtime staffer for Florida GOP Rep. Vern Buchanan died of Covid-19 on Friday at a Florida hospital, according to the congressman’s Facebook post.

Buchanan described Gary Tibbetts, who was being treated at Manatee Memorial Hospital since July 15, as a “consummate professional.”

Rep. Buchanan’s office had tweeted a statement earlier this month that Tibbetts had not had any recent interactions with anyone else in the office. Tibbetts, a field representative, had worked for Buchanan since 2011.

Spike across the state: Florida has emerged as a major coronavirus hotspot in recent weeks. On Saturday, it became the US state with the second-highest official coronavirus case count, passing New York, once the country’s epicenter early in the pandemic.

The number of hospitalizations has increased by 79% since July 4, data from the state’s health care administration shows.

A 9-year-old girl from Putnam County, Florida, became the state’s youngest victim of coronavirus last week.

Kimora “Kimmie” Lynum passed away on July 18, according to state health records. She had no pre-existing conditions before she died of Covid-19 complications.

According to her cousin and family spokesman Dejeon Cain, Kimmie’s mother took her to a local hospital to treat a “very high” fever. 

Cain said the hospital instructed the family to return home. After doing so, Kimmie complained of not feeling well and collapsed a short time later. She did not have a detectable heartbeat, Cain added.  

Cain described Kimmie as an “amazing young lady.” 

“She was always happy and made everybody happy. She was phenomenal,” Cain said. 

The family does not know how or where Kimmie contracted Covid-19. Cain said Kimmie appeared healthy and spent the summer at home. She did not attend school or camp, per Cain.  

Kimmie’s mother has been tested for Covid-19, Cain said, but as of Saturday she has not received her results. 

A person walks up a road beginning to flood as Hurricane Hanna makes landfall on Saturday in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Hurricane Hanna made landfall on Padre Island, Texas, at 5 pm CT, according to the National Hurricane Center. 

Before the storm made landfall Saturday, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott discussed the challenges the state is still facing with coronavirus and the storm.

“Any hurricane is an enormous challenge,” he said. “This challenge is complicated and made even more severe, seeing that is sweeping through an area that is the most challenging area in the state for Covid-19.”

Abbott said that during hurricanes and severe weather people “will come together, come together to shelter, come together as just close family, come together as friends, come together to respond.”

“That coming together will continue to provide the ability for Covid-19 to transmit form one person to another,” he said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un convened an emergency meeting after the country’s first suspected case of Covid-19 was reported, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Sunday morning local time.

KCNA reported that the infected individual illegally entered North Korea through Kaesong City on July 19 after defecting to South Korea three years ago. The patient has received medical checkups and has been quarantined, along with everyone the individual has been in contact with recently, KCNA reported.  

Kim Jong Un put isolation measures in place for regions around Kaesong and declared a state of emergency in one “relevant area,” KCNA reported.

The country’s Central Military Commission will investigate the unit responsible for the illegal entry of the patient and “administer a severe punishment,” KCNA reported.

Brazil’s health ministry reported 51,147 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the nationwide total to 2.39 million.

Saturday marks the fourth day in a row that Brazil has reported more than 50,000 new Covid-19 cases and this week marks a weekly record of 321,623 new cases, according to date from the state Ministry of Health.

The ministry reported 1,211 new Covid-19 deaths, raising the national death toll to 86,449.

Jordan will gradually reopen airports for international flights on August 5 after months of closure due to COVID-19 crisis, government official says. 

“The Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority informed airline operators in the world that Jordanian airports are ready to receive international flights from some selected countries based on a methodology prepared by the Ministry of Health previously dependent on the epidemiological situation,” Haitham Misto, chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority, told Jordanian TV channel Al-Mamlaka Saturday. 

Amjad Al-Adayleh, Jordan’s Minister of State for Information Affairs, announced Tuesday that airports in the kingdom will gradually open under comprehensive health preventive measures and requirements and only to flights from a specific group of countries depending on the epidemiological situation therein. 

On Tuesday, the government set a list of 22 “green countries” that will be allowed to travel to and from Jordan. They include:

Misto said that travelers “coming from green countries will not need a 14-day quarantine, but there are procedures, including a PCR test, before traveling.” He added that “the list set by the government for green countries may change every two weeks.”

Texas is reporting 8,112 new cases of coronavirus and 168 new deaths Saturday, according to data from the state Department of Health and Human Services.

A total of 375,846 cases and 4,885 deaths have been reported in total statewide.

Corpus Christi-Nueces County Public Health District began separating confirmed and probable cases, removing 2,092 probable cases from the county and statewide totals, according to a message on the state health department’s website.

The Rio de Janeiro city government announced on Saturday that the city’s popular New Year’s Eve celebration will be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement, the city government said that the event, which draws millions of people to the iconic Copacabana beach each year, “is not viable in the pandemic scenario, without the existence of a vaccine.”

The statement said the city’s tourism bureau will soon present alternative event proposals to Mayor Marcelo Crivella that are “without in-person attendance, in a virtual format” and that take into account “an atmosphere of reflection and hope in the face of so many losses.”

The future of Rio de Janeiro’s pre-Lenten Carnival samba performances and street parties, which normally take place in February, is still uncertain.

The city government’s statement says that the local tourism bureau is awaiting an official position from the Independent League of Samba Schools, the body which represents the thousands-strong samba schools that compete in elaborate performances during Carnival. The statement said there is no official decision yet regarding whether block parties in the street will be canceled during Carnival.

Rio de Janeiro’s announcement follows neighboring São Paulo’s decision to postpone its Carnival celebration to May or June next year, despite the fact that Carnival’s date is pegged to the religious holiday of Easter and Lent. 

Earlier in July, the city of São Paulo announced that its New Year celebrations would be canceled this year.