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Summary:

• US cases climb 1% Friday
• California becomes 3rd state to top 10k deaths
• Miami-Dade hospitalizations lowest since 7/10
• Illinois reports 2k+ new cases for first time since May 24
• Gov Cuomo says NY schools can reopen next month
• Arizona cases decline, deaths tick higher
• Florida sees continued decline in new cases
• Global total tops 19 million
• Newsom says Cali struggling to fix under-counting bug
• Philippines, Indonesia add new cases
• Hong Kong launches free testing scheme for all 7.5 million residents
• India passes 2 million cases, joining US and Brazil
• U of Washington scientists project 300k US deaths by December

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Update (1640ET): COVID-19 cases in the US increased 1% on Friday, bringing the tally to 4.9 million. The increase was less than the average 1.2% daily gain over the past week, and marked a return to the trend of slowing case totals after yesterday’s brief interruption. Deaths, meanwhile, climbed 0.6% to 160,437.

And here’s Goldman’s COVID tracker for Aug. 7:

• Changes in state-level coronavirus-related restrictions have slowed almost to a halt over the past couple weeks, as states representing 80% of the population have already reimposed restrictions or explicitly put reopening on hold in response to the summer coronavirus resurgence. Over the past week, a handful of states renewed or tweaked existing restrictions on business and individual activity.
• States including Georgia, North Carolina, and Louisiana announced they would remain in their current reopening phase. Ohio and Rhode Island imposed new restrictions on alcohol sales for bars, and New Jersey tightened restrictions on indoor gatherings.
• Restrictions are unlikely to change much in the near term if virus spread remains on a downward trajectory but new cases remain at high levels.

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Update (1410ET): California on Friday became the third US state to top 10,000 deaths – the exact death toll is 10,011 – after reporting 142 new deaths on Friday. It’s the first time a state has seen deaths eclipse 10k since the US’s ‘second wave’ started in June.

Still, it’s well behind New York’s toll of 32,756 and New Jersey’s 15,849 dead.

The day’s data had at least one silver lining: Hospitalizations, meanwhile, fell by 137 to 5,932, down from a peak of close to 8,000.

The state also reported 8,436 new cases (more than the prior day) bringing its total to 538,416.

With more than 8,500 coronavirus deaths, and 7,740, respectively, Texas and Florida could pass the same milestone shortly.

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Update (1325ET): Illinois just reported its biggest daily spike in new cases since May for the second day in a row on Friday as cases in the Midwestern state start to make a comeback. For first time in more than 2 months, the state reported 2,000 new COVID-19 cases (2,084 to be exact), while Gov. Pritzker announced new emergency rules for mask requirements.

The state also reported another 21 deaths. The state last passed 2,000 new cases on May 24, with 2,508 new cases reported during a 24-hour period. That brought the state’s total to 190,508, and total deaths to 7,613.

Meanwhile, Miami-Dade hospitalizations have declined to their lowest level in nearly a month…

• MIAMI-DADE COVID-19 HOSPITAL PATIENTS 1,785, FEWEST SINCE 7/10

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Update (1145ET): NY Gov Cuomo announced Friday that schools can reopen across New York state next month.

He also released the latest COVID-19 numbers.

Today’s update on the numbers:

Of the 70,170 tests reported yesterday, 714 were positive (1.0% of total).

Total hospitalizations are at 579.

Sadly, there were 5 COVID fatalities yesterday. pic.twitter.com/cdZ56yDq6r

— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 7, 2020

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Update (1125ET): Arizona reported a slight decline in new COVID cases day-over-day, with 1,406 mew cases, compared with 1444 yesterday. However, deaths ticked higher to 79 from 74. The total climbed to 4,081. Hospitalizations fell by 107 to 1,772.

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Update (1100ET): Continued improvement in infections was seen in Florida on Friday – although deaths, with 180 new ones, remain very high – as the state reports 7,719 new cases on Friday…

…while the Sunshine State’s positivity rate ticked higher to 13.8%. Testing has recovered after a brief pause during the Hurricane.

Notably, Friday was the 13th day in a row the Florida Department of Health reported fewer than 10,000 new cases.

Source: Orlando Sentinel

Friday’s cases pushed the state total to 518,075 infected, while the 180 new virus fatalities pushed the state total to 7,927 Florida residents now dead.

* * *

The biggest news in the US on Friday has been brewing since at least Tuesday, when California public health official acknowledged that the country’s largest testing-and-tracing effort may have accidentally undercounted cases over the past week or two, suggesting that the recent decline in new cases might be illusory. On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom touted a 21% drop in the average daily rate of new cases from the prior week. According to Bloomberg, as of Thursday evening, state officials still couldn’t say when this problem would be fixed.

To be sure, this vexing bug in California’s system doesn’t necessarily negate the recent decline in new cases. It just means California state officials can’t say anything for certain. Top Cali public health official have warned that the actual numbers are likely too low, but by how much, they couldn’t say.

California officials have uncovered a bug in their virus reporting effort — the nation’s largest, with more than 120,000 people tested each day. as a sign of stabilization. The next day, his top public health official warned the numbers were likely too low — by how much he couldn’t say — and the state didn’t know when the problem would be fixed.

We don’t know if our cases are plateauing, rising or decreasing,” Sara Cody, public health director for Silicon Valley’s Santa Clara County, said at a press briefing. “I would say that right now, we’re back to feeling blind.”

Here’s a chart of California cases…

…and deaths.

Globally, cases have reached 19,089,364 on Friday, topping the 19 million mark, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The worldwide deaths hit 714,744.

Across the US, the number of new cases has been declining.

While deaths have continued to edge higher, though the 7-day average has started to creep lower in the US.

But more signs of a second (or third) wave have emerged in Southeast Asia, where the Philippines recently surpassed Indonesia as the worst-hit country. The later country reported 2,473 new infections Friday, bringing the total in the country to 121,226. The country also reported 72 new deaths, bringing its total to 5,593.

The Philippines reported 3,379 new cases, bringing the country’s total infections to 122,754, while deaths increased by 24 to 2,168.

The Hong Kong government is introducing a universal voluntary coronavirus testing scheme to test all of the city’s 7.5 million residents for free. Meanwhile, the city reported nearly 100 new cases Friday. Tokyo, meanwhile, reported 462 new cases, its first 400+ reading since Aug. 1. China reported 37 new cases, unchanged from a day earlier.

India’s cases topped 2 million, with a record single-day spike of 62,538 in the last 24 hours. Fatalities jumped to 41,585 after reporting another 886 since Thursday morning.

Finally, nearly 300,000 Americans could die from COVID-19 by Dec. 1 according to the latest forecast fro  University of Washington health experts. They also projected that 70,000 lives could be saved if people wore masks regularly. This, despite the fact that the pace of deaths in the US once again is on the decline…though that could soon change as school reopen.