Weather Outside Your Window: Daily coronavirus briefing: Partygoer at viral pool bash tests positive

By Staff, AccuWeather

Updated Jun. 1, 2020 8:30 PM

The coronavirus pandemic altered life as humans knew it in 2020, and as much of the world starts to examine how and when to resume daily activities, it's clear that there are many challenges to overcome before normal daily life can resume in full.

The outbreak, which originated in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, officially became a pandemic in March. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease COVID-19, has infected millions worldwide and killed hundreds of thousands, but more than 2 million have recovered from the ferocious disease. Health experts are conducting a frantic race to develop a vaccine while also performing vital research into the behavior of the virus, what factors may inhibit its spread and other possible symptoms it may cause.

The contagion triggered much of the world to shelter indoors and practice social distancing. Severe damage has been done to the global economy, which has caused experts to issue bleak economic predictions that harken back to the days of the Great Depression. With much of life on pause over the past several months, government officials around the world are facing the difficult choice of reopening economies while the threat of a second wave lingers for later in 2020.

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Here are the latest updates, listed in eastern time, and the most important things you need to know about coronavirus.

June 1, 8:31 p.m.

Philadelphia Eagles receiver DeSean Jackson believes players should be miked if NFL teams have to play in empty stadiums this season. His reasoning behind the idea was to give fans a behind-the-scenes look that they wouldn’t normally get otherwise. "I think they should [mike up players]. They should give fans the [insight] to see what really goes on between the white lines," Jackson said on teammate Lane Johnson's "Outside the Lane" podcast. "It gets crazy, bro. I know in the trenches it gets crazy. And I know on the outside it gets crazy, too, the conversations we go back and forth on." Jackson went on to say "it's gonna definitely be a culture shock" if stands are empty this season. Atlanta Falcons center Alex Mack said he would be concerned if people heard his play calls, but is still open to the idea, according to ESPN. "I like the idea of finding new ways to entertain people and add the second level of sports viewing for people at home because it's all we have," Mack said.

June 1, 7:23 p.m.

Italy’s famous Colosseum in Rome reopened on Monday with new health protocols in place. The amphitheater that used to bustle with tourists and held fights with gladiators and wild animals centuries ago, has been eerily quiet the past couple of months. Workers have been taking advantage of the lack of crowds to make repairs on the site. The Colosseum's director, Alfonsina Russo, saidit had been "surreal" seeing the empty landmark during the three-month closure, and said ”It's a symbol of Rome and of Italy.” Typically the site sees thousands of tourists a day, however officials said they expected 300 people. "But the sense of emptiness highlighted the great beauty of this place and it's fragility," Russo told AFP, according to The Local.

June 1, 6:29 p.m.

A new executive order from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer will allow retail stores to reopen on June 4 and bars and restaurants on June 8. The move to reopen was announced on Monday. Groups of 100 or less are now allowed to gather outdoors as long as social distancing permits, as well. “The data has shown that we are ready to carefully move our state into the next phase,” Whitmer said in a statement, Reuters reported. “While Michiganders are no longer required to stay home, we must all continue to be smart and practice social distancing.”

June 1, 5:38 p.m.

Thousands of graduates across the country have literally crossed the finish line to mark the end of their high school career. Seniors at Notre Dame Senior High School in East Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania, gathered at the nearby Pocono Raceway for their commencement ceremony where they were able to drive around the track. It was a perfect day for the unique ceremony with warm and sunny weather. AccuWeather’s Bill Wadell crashed a similar ceremony at Texas Motor Speedway where students graduating from Westlake Academy used the racetrack to hold a commencement ceremony that followed social distancing guidelines.

June 1, 4:42 p.m.

Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has announced that all types of businesses in the state are now allowed to reopen. All restrictive orders were lifted in the state bringing movie theaters, bowling alleys, and other entertainment venues back up and operational. This comes despite Mississippi seeing cases continue to climb. Currently, Mississippi has over 15,000 confirmed cases and more than 700 deaths related to COVID-19, according to the AP. Just a day before the reopening was announced, 251 new cases were reported. The state health department said nearly 184,000 coronavirus tests have been conducted and more than 7,700 were blood tests that detected antibodies that usually show up after an infection clears.

June 1, 3:54 p.m.

As the Atlantic hurricane season kicks off today,the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued guidelines on how to properly prepare for hurricanes in the wake of COVID-19. The CDC said planning will look different this year because of the extra precautions needing to be taken. Some recommendations for hurricane preparation are:

Allow for more time than usual to prepare for supplies
Sign up for mail delivery for prescriptions to limit in-person visits
Stay up to date on local shelters, including shelters for pets
Prepare an evacuation kit that includes necessities such as cloth face coverings and hand sanitizer
Follow social distancing guidelines when checking in on loved ones

In the event that someone must go to a disaster shelter, the CDC has recommended they stay six feet apart from others, follow the policies of the shelter, keep up with hygiene like hand washing, avoid touching high-traffic surfaces, frequently clean and disinfect your cleaning area andimmediately alert staff if you begin to feel sick. In response to what is expected to be an active hurricane season for the Atlantic, AccuWeather held it's first ever hurricane town hall to address disaster planning and response amid the pandemic.“We expect the 2020 hurricane season to be different and we recognized early planning was the key to everyone staying safe and prepared,” AccuWeather TV Network Executive Producer Jim Proeller said during the town hall.

June 1, 3:03 p.m.

Vietnam, a country of 97 million people, has yet to report a single death from COVID-19. Considering the country only has eight doctors for every 10,000 people, some have said the numbers are too good to be true, according to CNN. "I go to the wards every day, I know the cases, I know there has been no death," infectious disease doctor Guy Thwaites said. "If you had unreported or uncontrolled community transmission, then we'll be seeing cases in our hospital, people coming in with chest infections perhaps not diagnosed -- that has never happened."

The country acted quickly in preparing for an outbreak weeks before the first reported case. “We were not only waiting for guidelines from WHO. We used the data we gathered from outside and inside (the country to) decide to take action early,” saidPham Quang Thai, deputy head of the Infection Control Department at the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology.

June 1, 2:14 p.m.

At 100 years old, an Indonesian woman has become the oldest survivor of the coronavirus in Indonesia. Kamtim was born in 1920 and was taken to the hospital last month upon developing symptoms of COVID-19, she later tested positive for the virus, according to France24. Kamtim was discharged from the hospital after a month of treatment. East Java Governor Khofifah Indar Parawansa expressed that she hopes the story of Kamtim will help give hope to residents who are at-risk. Indonesia currently has over 26,000 cases and over 1,600 deaths.

June 1, 1:48 p.m.

New findings from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide new insight on the early spread of COVID-19. An analysis provided by the CDC suggests the virus could have begun spreading in the U.S. as early as mid to late January, despite evading health surveillance systems that could have worked to mitigate the spread of the deadly virus. Despite a delayed response, CDC Chief Robert Redfield said they were “never really blind when it came to surveillance,” and compared widespread diagnostic testing to “looking for a needle in a haystack.”

William Hanage, an epidemiologist at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the CDC failed to curb the spread of the virus early on, which he said they had the opportunity to do, according to The Washington Post. “There’s a succession of missed opportunities here,” he said. “Surveillance at the time was wholly inadequate to the task of catching a pandemic virus of this sort, whenever it was introduced."

June 1, 12:44 p.m.

Major League Baseball players are proposing a 114-game regular season, countering the owners' proposal for a 82-game season. The proposal from the MLB would lower 2020 salaries from $4 billion to approximately $1.2 billion, The Associated Press reported. Under the suggestion from the players union, salaries would be around $2.8 billion. The league is reportedly worried play extending into the fall, due to COVID-19 concerns, but the latest proposal from the players calls for the regular season to end on Halloween, and depending on the length of the playoffs, the World Series could extend past Thanksgiving.

June 1, 12:15 p.m.

A French designer is working on a new way to allow diners to return to restaurants and eat their food safely without fear of contracting the coronavirus. According to Reuters, designer Christophe Gernigon has created a device called the Plex'Eat. It's a cylinder of transparent plastic shaped like a lampshade that surrounds a person's face while an opening in the back of the plastic allows the person to move freely from their table. Gernigon told Reuters that some other protective designs already on the market "looked like booths in prison visiting rooms," and were not as "inviting" for customers. “I wanted to make it more glamorous, more pretty,” he said. His design will reportedly go into production next week.

June 1, 11:51 a.m.

Bangladesh lifted its coronavirus lockdown on Sunday despite seeing a record amount of deaths on the same day. On Sunday, 2,454 new cases of the coronavirus were reported along with 40 deaths, a record for the country. The lockdown was put into place on March 26 with restrictions easing over the last couple weeks. Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, saw passengers piling into trains and traffic becoming slow, according to AFP. Bangladesh has 47,151 reported cases and 650 deaths. However, experts have warned that the country is not conducting enough tests so the actual numbers are likely higher.

June 1, 11:28 a.m.

The coronavirus pandemic has directly impacted health services worldwide for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer and cardiovascular disease, the World Health Organization said Monday. A survey involving 155 countries showed that low-income countries are most affected by the disruption to prevention and treatment services for these diseases. Compounding matters is that those who live with NCDs are at a higher risk of COVID-19 related death, the WHO said. Rehabilitation services have been disrupted in over two-thirds of the countries surveyed. Many hospital staff workers have been reassigned to support the onslaught of COVID-19 cases, while other elective procedures have been delayed or postponed. The WHO's survey also showed how widespread the disruptions were for specific diseases.

More than half (53%) of the countries surveyed had partially or completely disrupted services for hypertension treatment
49% for treatment for diabetes and diabetes-related complications
42% for cancer treatment
31% for cardiovascular emergencies

“Many people who need treatment for diseases like cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes have not been receiving the health services and medicines they need since the COVID-19 pandemic began. It’s vital that countries find innovative ways to ensure that essential services for NCDs continue, even as they fight COVID-19 said, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization.

June 1, 11:13 a.m.

Boris Johnson warns Brits to be wary of social distancing while out enjoying warmer weather. The British Prime Minister on Sunday took to Twitter to remind people not to forget about social distancing as they head outside to enjoy a stretch of more pleasant weather. "I know many of you will be enjoying the warmer weather today," Johnson wrote on Twitter, adding "If you’re out exercising or meeting a friend, remember to stay" at least six feet apart. He also underscored the importance of handwashing. The weather over the weekend in London was mostly sunny and pleasant with above-normal temperatures in the low 70s Fahrenheit. On Monday and Tuesday, that trend is continuing with temperatures forecast to be about 10-12 degrees above normal, before more seasonable temperatures return on Wednesday. The U.K. is third worldwide with more than 276,000 COVID-19 cases and nearly 40,000 fatalities.

June 1, 10:21 a.m.

A mix of peaceful protests and violent looting continued across the United States this past weekend following the death of George Floyd, 46, who was killed while in police custody on Monday, May 25 in Minneapolis. Many people who took to the streets could be seen wearing face masks but were also in close contact with one another, ignoring social distancing guidelines. The U.S. already has the most confirmed cases and deaths of COVID-19 by a wide margin. The latest numbers provided by Johns Hopkins University on Monday morning showed over 1.7 million cases and more than 104,000 deaths in the country.

Now, some officials are worried about a spike in coronavirus cases due to the protests. “I’m concerned that we had mass gatherings on our streets when we just lifted a stay-at-home order and what that could mean for spikes in coronavirus cases later,” Muriel Bowser, the mayor of Washington D.C., said, according to The Guardian. “I’m so concerned about it that I’m urging everybody to consider their exposure, if they need to isolate from their family members when they go home and if they need to be tested … because we have worked very hard to blunt the curve.” "If you were out protesting last night, you probably need to go get a COVID test this week," Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said on Sunday, according to NBC News. "Because there's still a pandemic in America that's killing black and brown people at higher numbers."

June 1, 10:02 a.m.

A week after a video of a huge Memorial Day weekend party at Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks went viral, one person who attended the bash has reportedly tested positive for COVID-19. The Associated Press reported that a resident of Boone County in central Missouri tested positive on Sunday, May 24, after arriving at the lake a day earlier. Officials have since released a brief timeline of the person's whereabouts including what bars and restaurants the individual visited over that time because “mass numbers of unknown people” need to be notified, The AP reported. Check out the video embedded in the tweet below to see how enormous the gathering was.

June 1 9:01 a.m.

COVID-19 is losing its potency and becoming less lethal, according to some Italian doctors. Alberto Zangrillo, the head of the San Raffaele Hospital in Milan, said some doctors may have been overly alarmist in regards to a second wave of the virus emerging, and that the virus is actually weakening. “In reality, the virus clinically no longer exists in Italy,” Zangrillo said, according to Reuters. “The swabs that were performed over the last 10 days showed a viral load in quantitative terms that was absolutely infinitesimal compared to the ones carried out a month or two months ago.” In Italy, over 200,000 people have contracted COVID-19, and more than 33,000 have died from the disease, according to Johns Hopkins University. However,new infections and fatalities in the country steadily decreased throughout May.

A second doctor weighed in, as well. Matteo Bassetti, head of the infectious diseases clinic at the San Martino hospital in the city of Genoa, echoed the sentiments made by Zangrillo. “The strength the virus had two months ago is not the same strength it has today,” Bassetti said. “It is clear that today the COVID-19 disease is different.” The claims made by Zangrillo and Bassetti are not undisputed, however. “Pending scientific evidence to support the thesis that the virus has disappeared ... I would invite those who say they are sure of it not to confuse Italians,” Sandra Zampa, an undersecretary at the health ministry, said in a statement. “We should instead invite Italians to maintain the maximum caution, maintain physical distancing, avoid large groups, to frequently wash their hands and to wear masks.”

June 1, 6:17 a.m.

Here are the latest totals from around the world, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University:

Total confirmed cases: 6,185,523
Total deaths: 372,377
Total recovered: 2,648,538

May 31, 7:55 p.m.

Here are the latest COVID-19 global numbers, provided by researchers at Johns Hopkins University:

Confirmed cases: 6,152,160
Reported deaths: 371,700
Recoveries: 2,637,496

May 31, 6:32 p.m.

As many states and counties begin the process of reopening, Utah is continuing to see a rise in new cases of COVID-19. The Utah Department of Health reported over 260 new cases three days in a row, KSL TV reported. In the past three days, a total of 876 new cases have been reported in the state. “Low and moderate risk does not mean ‘no risk,’” Angela Dunn, the state’s epidemiologist said as a reminder to residents, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “We all have a responsibility to be proactive and to do the things we know will help limit the spread of this virus.”

May 31, 5:04 p.m.

A new study suggests that COVID-19 could be more than just a respiratory illness -- it could be a vascular infection as well. The study comes as a result of many mysterious symptoms of the virus, including blood clotting, strokes, and painful red and purple toes that are being called “COVID toes,” all of which are related to blood circulation complications. Elemental reported cardiovascular complications are responsible for 40% of deaths related to COVID-19. “The concept that’s emerging is that this is not a respiratory illness alone, this is a respiratory illness to start with, but it is actually a vascular illness that kills people through its involvement of the vasculature,” Mandeep Mehra, medical director of the Brigham and Women’s Hospital Heart and Vascular Center, said.

“All these COVID-associated complications were a mystery,” William Li, president of the Angiogenesis Foundation, said. “We see blood clotting, we see kidney damage, we see inflammation of the heart, we see stroke, we see encephalitis [brain swelling]. A whole myriad of seemingly unconnected phenomena that you do not normally see with SARS or H1N1 or, frankly, most infectious diseases.”

May 31, 3:35 p.m.

After the global case count for COVID-19 surpassed 6 million, the World Health Organization has adjusted their recommendations for mass gatherings. To make events safer once they are allowed again, WHO suggests:

Staggering the arrival of participants
Increasing the frequency of transport
Designated seating arrangements
Adjusting the capacity of venues
Hold gatherings either outside or online when possible

“In the context of COVID-19, mass gatherings are events that could amplify the transmission of the virus and potentially disrupt the host country’s response capacity,” WHO said, according to CNN. WHO recommended at risk people stay away or seek out special accommodations.

May 31, 2:05 p.m.

New York Governor says the number of coronavirus deaths in the state continues to drop. At least 56 people died due to coronavirus in New York state on Saturday, which is a decrease from 67 deaths on May 29, Gov. Cuomo said at his daily news briefing on Sunday. "This reduction in the number of deaths is tremendous progress from where we were," he said. The number of total hospitalizations, new hospitalizations and intubations have also all decreased, Cuomo said. Last weekend, the state's single-day death toll from the virus fell below 100 for the first time in weeks.Eighty four people died from the coronavirus in New York on May 22, down from 109 the day before on May 21. "All good news," Cuomo said.

Photo by: John Nacion/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 5/27/20 A view of a person enjoying the weather in Battery Park with Statue of Liberty in the background during the coronavirus pandemic on May 27, 2020 in New York City. Government guidelines encourage wearing a mask in public with strong social distancing in effect as all 50 states in the USA have begun a gradual process to slowly reopen after weeks of stay-at-home measures to slow the spread of COVID-19.

May 31, 12:35 p.m.

This week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued new guidelines encouraging people to drive themselves to work and avoid mass transit to prevent the spread of COVOD-19. With an estimated 400,000 people returning to work in New York City next month, advocates of public transit, however, say this guidance could lead to a gridlock in the city. "We cannot be in a situation where literally everyone is abandoning mass transit for cars,” City Council Speaker Corey Johnson told NY1. “So clearly that guidance did not have New York City in mind.”

May 31, 10:55 a.m.

One of the holiest sites in Jerusalem reopened on Sunday morning for the first time in more than two months. The site is known as the Noble Sanctuary or the Temple Mount is considered to be the holiest site in the world for Jewish people and the third holiest site for Muslims. Worshippers were allowed to enter the mosque building, as well as the Dome of the Rock shrine, but they were required to have their own prayer rug and mask. Approximately 4,000 people arrived for dawn prayers, the director of the mosque told CNN.

May 31, 9:15 a.m.

President Donald Trump has postponed the Group of Seven summit that was originally planned for June, as the world passed the milestone of six million confirmed coronavirus cases, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker. President Trump will also expand the list of countries invited to attend the rescheduled event to include Australia, South Korea, Russia and India. Trump told reporters the G7 in its current format was a “very outdated group of countries. I’m postponing it because I don’t feel that as a G7 it properly represents what’s going on in the world.”

May 31, 7:38 a.m.

World coronavirus cases eclipse 6 million as recoveries top 2.5 million. Here are the latest totals from around the world, according to researchers from Johns Hopkins University:

Total confirmed cases: 6,082,549
Total deaths: 369,544
Total recovered: 2,575,166

Previous coverage:

Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 28-30.

Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 26-27.

Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 23-25.

Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 20-22.

Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 17-19.

Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 13-16.

Click here for previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak from May 10-12.

Click here previous daily briefings on the coronavirus outbreak.

Reporting by Lauren Fox, John Murphy, Brian Lada, Mark Puleo, Maria Antonieta Valery Gil, Kevin Byrne, Chaffin Mitchell, Adriana Navarro, John Roach, Dexter Henry, Bill Wadell, Jonathan Petramala, and Monica Danielle

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Weather Outside Your Window

Monday, June 1, 2020

Daily coronavirus briefing: Partygoer at viral pool bash tests positive