| Mayors sign letter to AG, DHS, demanding federal troops be withdrawn from their cities Fifteen Democratic mayors of major U.S. cities including Portland, Chicago and Kansas City on Tuesday signed a pair of letters addressing the presence of federal law enforcement in their cities and others. The first letter is addressed to Attorney General Bill Barr and Department of Homeland Security Acting Secretary Chad Wolf and demands they “withdraw your forces and agree to no further unilateral deployments in our cities.” President Trump is scheduled to deliver remarks today about “Operation Legend,” the federal law enforcement initiative announced early July seemingly at the crux of these developments. The letters come as increasing attention has been focused on the actions of federal troops in Portland, Oregon particularly, where there are claims of allegedly peaceful protestors being arrested by federal agents that many say are unidentified. “What is occurring in Portland in the early hours of every morning is not peaceful protesting,” said Acting DHS Secretary Wolf, who also takes issue with claims that the federal agents are unidentified and says they were called up to protect federal property from vandalism, noting, “These officers are not storm troopers.” Oregon officials say the presence of federal agents there has made tensions worse. COVID-19 numbers Here’s the latest data on COVID-19 coronavirus infections and deaths. Latest reported numbers globally per Johns Hopkins University Global diagnosed cases: 14,974,446 Global deaths: 617,254. The United States has the most deaths of any single country, with 142,073. Number of countries/regions: at least 188 Total patients recovered globally: 8,490,228 Latest reported numbers in the United States per Johns Hopkins University There are at least 3,902,233 reported cases in 50 states + the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. This is more than in any other country. U.S. deaths: at least 142,073. New York State has the greatest number of reported deaths in the U.S., with 32,520. U.S. total patients recovered: 1,182,018 U.S. total people tested: 47,224,382 The greatest number of reported COVID-19 cases in the U.S. is in California, with 409,382 confirmed cases out of a total state population of 39.51 million. That is second only to Brazil, which has 422,669 cases, as the most reported cases of any single region in the world. COVID-19 headlines California now leads nation as state with most reported COVID-19 cases California has now surpassed New York as the state with the most reported COVID-19 infections. Data collected by Johns Hopkins University shows as of Wednesday morning, California reported 409,382 cases, compared to 408,181 cases in New York. The day before, New York led the nation in reported cases, with 407,326. The news comes after California again reported its highest number of coronavirus cases in a single day, with 11,554 cases recorded Monday. That number surpasses a record broken just one week ago, when 11,142 cases were reported, and further highlights the escalating seriousness of California’s pandemic situation. New York still reports far more COVID-19 deaths than any state in the U.S., with 32,520; California is fourth, with 7,890. NFL Players Association says 59 players positive for COVID-19; preseason officially scrapped The National Football League Players Association says 59 players have so far tested positive for COVID-19. The news comes a week before NFL training camps are scheduled to open, and less than a week after the league’s COVID-19 testing guidelines were updated ahead of the season. The NFLPA’s website initially listed the number of players who tested positive as 95, then revised that number down late Tuesday. The news comes as the NFLPA and the NFL are finalizing details on the 2020 football season, which is still scheduled to begin September 10. The NFL and NFLPA on Tuesday also officially agreed to eliminate the preseason schedule, giving players more time to get in shape for the regular season, and also allowing more time for agreed-upon COVID-19 prevention protocols to be put into place. Those measures currently include daily COVID-19 testing for the first two weeks of training camp, after which testing would be every other day if the positive test rate is below 5%. Additionally, players upon reporting to training camp would be tested twice in three days, with both tests negative, before being allowed to train with their teams. |
In Crisis Afternoon Update 072220
