August 8 coronavirus news

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The Australian state of Victoria has confirmed another 394 coronavirus cases in the past 24 hours, bringing the total confirmed coronavirus cases in the virus-stricken southeastern state to 14,659.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced the new numbers at a press conference Sunday.

In addition, Andrews said that 17 more people had died from the virus since the last update – two males in their 50s, four males in their 70s, four females and two males in their 80s and two females and three males in their 90s. 

To date, the death toll in Victoria stands at 210 people. Andrews said that there are 634 Victorians in hospital, 43 of whom are in intensive care.

Melbourne, the Victorian capital and one of Australia’s largest cities, is currently living through the country’s tightest restrictions yet in response to the surge in case numbers.

A curfew has been put in place across the city, requiring people to be indoors from 8 p.m. every night.

Health workers collect nasal swab samples to test for Covid-19, in Xochimilco, Mexico City on August 5.

Mexico’s Health Ministry reported 6,495 new Covid-19 cases Saturday, bringing the country’s total number of cases to 475,902.

The Health Ministry also announced 695 new deaths. The country’s death toll is now at least 52,006.

Mexico has the world’s 6th highest total number of confirmed cases and the 3rd highest total number of deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University’s tally.

Aerial view of the Vila Formosa Cemetery, in the outskirts of Sao Paulo, Brazil, on August 6.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro published a photo of himself on his official Facebook account celebrating the victory of his soccer team, Palmeiras, in the Sao Paulo championship, shortly after the Brazilian Health Ministry announced the country’s coronavirus death toll had surpassed 100,000.

The photo shows Bolsonaro wearing a Palmeiras T-shirt and making a hand gesture in the shape of a heart. A message on the photo reads: “Congratulations Palmeiras champion of Sao Paulo 2020.”

Palmeiras won the state title over Corinthians in a game without the presence of spectators Saturday afternoon in Sao Paulo. 

So far, Bolsonaro hasn’t made a public statement about Brazil surpassing 100,000 coronavirus deaths. 

He later attributed the high number of deaths to what he described as an error in diagnosing the cause of deaths in Brazil.

Brazil’s health ministry announced 905 new deaths from coronavirus in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of deaths to 100,477. The ministry said there were 49,970 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in Brazil to 3,012,412.

A phlebotomist wearing protective gloves draws blood from a patient for a Covid-19 antibody test at a GUARDaHEART Foundation testing site in Los Angeles, California, on August 5.

California reported 7,371 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, bringing the state’s total number of cases to 545,787.

There were 178 new deaths, for a total of 10,189, the California Department of Health said.

The positivity rate across the state remained at 6% over the past 14 days, while the number of patients hospitalized dropped to 5,746.

Some context: Earlier this week, White House coronavirus task force coordinator Dr. Deborah Birx said California had moved into the “red category,” with more than 10% of tests coming back positive. She also warned about significant movement of the virus in the state’s Central Valley.

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

Health officials in Texas said the state’s 7-day Covid-19 positivity rate has risen to 19.41% – the highest average since the pandemic began.

The previous high of 17.43% was reported in July, according to data from the state’s Department of State Health Services website.

At least 6,959 new coronavirus cases were reported on Saturday and 247 new deaths linked to the virus, health officials said.

There have been 481,483 cases statewide and 134,797 cases remain active. As of Saturday, 8,343 people have died due to the virus, the agency said.

Note: These numbers were released by the Texas Department of State Health Services, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and The COVID Tracking Project.

An official from a northeastern state run by a Democratic governor laughed on Saturday when asked about President Donald Trump’s executive action asking states to pay 25% of the $400 unemployment relief.

“We don’t have that money,” the official said.

The official went on to say they were not given a heads up on this executive action and that in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, their funds are completely tapped.

President Donald Trump said Saturday that his administration was looking at additional income tax and capital gains tax cuts for American taxpayers besides the payroll tax holiday that would be instituted by his executive order.

The President did not provide further details.

President Donald Trump on Saturday signed executive actions, one of which would provide $400 a week in federal enhanced unemployment benefits after Democrats and the White House were unable to reach an agreement on a Coronavirus stimulus relief bill this week.

“I’m taking action to provide an additional or extra $400 a week and expanded benefits, $400. That’s generous but we want to take care of our people,” Trump said at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.

Trump signed one executive order and three memoranda, one of which will enact a payroll tax deferment for Americans earning less than $100,000 a year. He also proposed to extend an eviction moratorium and defer student loan payments and forgive their interest.

Trump said the federal government will pay $300, leaving it up to the states to pay the remaining $100. He did not outline where the federal funds would be coming from. 

When asked by a reporter why $400 instead of the previous $600, Trump responded: “This is the money they need, this is the money they want, this gives them a great incentive to go back to work.”

Trump went on to say, “there was a difficulty with the 600 number because it really was a disincentive.” 

Trump also took the opportunity to criticize the Democrats, saying, “We are doing that without the Democrats. We should have been able to do it easily with them but they want all of these additional things that have nothing to do with helping people.”

Democrats are likely to challenge the executive actions in court. Trump first laid out the executive orders at a hastily called news conference on Friday at his New Jersey golf club, where he said he wasn’t concerned about the legality of the actions he promised.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine acknowledges the media while entering his residence on Thursday, August 6.

Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and his wife Fran DeWine have tested negative for Covid-19 for a second time after getting a false positive, DeWine said in a statement. 

Some context: On Thursday morning, following the testing protocol established to be able to greet the President, “DeWine took a rapid antigen test and the results reported back for that test were a false positive,” the statement said.