3:21
- ABC News
- July 31, 2020
Latest: More health protocols for NYC schools
The city plans to reopen schools with partial in-person learning.
3:21
The businessman and radio talk show host campaigned for the Republican nomination in 2012.
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Tennessee has experienced a 33% jump in coronavirus cases among children in the last 10 days, ABC Memphis affiliate WATN reported.
And in some parts of rural west Tennessee, cases among kids have surged by more than 100%, WATN reported.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said at a news conference Tuesday that reopening schools for in-classroom learning is the \"best option\" and \"planned delays should be reserved for the most extreme situations,\" The Tennesseean reported.
An internal FEMA memo obtained by ABC News highlights a surge in New Jersey and a doubling death toll in the Atlanta area.
New Jersey saw 2,066 new coronavirus cases in the last week (ending July 27) -- a 112% increase from the week prior, the memo said.
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Beach town Long Beach Island reported 35 cases linked to social gatherings among lifeguards, the memo said.
And in nearby Connecticut, 943 new cases were reported for the week ending July 27 -- a 77.9% increase from the week prior.
People under the age of 30 made up 40% of those new cases, the memo said.
Meanwhile in Georgia, the number of new COVID-19 deaths in the last week nearly doubled in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs area. The week ending July 20 saw 71 deaths while the week ending July 27 brought 139 deaths, the memo said.
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In some parts of Georgia, some patients were forced to wait in ambulances because of the surge in COVID-19 patients, the memo said.
In Alabama, new cases are increasing despite a 28.3% decrease in new tests administered, the memo said.
As of Monday, only 12% of Alabama's ICU beds were available. A record high number of ICU beds were filled, with 496 COVID-19 patients in intensive care units.
Callers to 911 in Houston will no longer be asked if they are experiencing COVID-like symptoms, changing a months-long practice to pass on the information to first responders. Firefighters are now told to treat every call as if the patient or home is COVID-positive.
Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena said the change is an admission of the widespread nature of the virus in the city and out of concern that callers were not always offering true information.
For months, Pena pleaded with the public to give honest answers to protect firefighters, who have sustained large numbers of COVID-forced quarantines.
The change was announced on the same day the Houston Fire Department attended a funeral for Captain Leroy Lucio, Houston's first firefighter to die from COVID-19.
Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association president Marty Lancton told ABC13 he can't understand why the department would want less information for firefighters instead of more.
\"Less information to the men and women on the front lines responding to calls is dangerous to firefighters, paramedics and citizens of Houston,\" Lancton said.
Chief Pena explained the change to HFD members in a memo obtained by 13 Investigates. \"The prevalence of COVID-19 is high in the Houston area and COVID-19 cannot be 'ruled out' in the field nor appropriately screened via OEC. In the best interest of HFD members' health and well-being, all addresses and patients should be considered as possible COVID-19 positive places and patients. No attempts should be made or opinions formed to consider and treat any patient as 'non-COVID.'\"
The change is the second in recent weeks affecting COVID-19 information in dispatch. Earlier in July, the department stopped logging addresses of COVID-19 positive patients in the city-wide dispatch system. Chief Pena says that was taking too much time to enter thousands of cases in an antiquated system one by one.
Globally, there are now more than 17 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, per John Hopkins University tally.
The current number now stands at 17,031,281 but the actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their nations' outbreaks.
The global tally surpassed 15 million just eight days ago on July 22. Just four days later on July 26, the 16 million mark was reached.
Florida's governor Ron DeSantis has extended the moratorium on evictions and foreclosures until Sept. 1.
The ban was initially set to expire on Aug. 1 but the governor extended it for the third time in three months after the moratorium began in April.
State Rep. Ana Eskamani, D-Orlando, tweeted the news saying: \"BREAKING— Eviction and foreclosure moratorium has been extended for another month.\"
BREAKING— Eviction and foreclosure moratorium has been extended for another month. https://t.co/stSFcShplY
— Rep. Anna V. Eskamani 🔨 (@AnnaForFlorida) July 29, 2020
DeSantis issued the executive order without comment.
The Florida Division of Emergency Management (FDEM) announced that all state-supported drive-thru and walk-up COVID-19 testing sites will temporarily close at 5 p.m. on Thursday, July 30, in anticipation of impacts from Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine.
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Testing sites are closing out of an abundance of caution to keep individuals operating and attending the sites safe. All sites have free standing structures including tents and other equipment, which cannot withstand tropical storm force winds, and could cause damage to people and property if not secured.
Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine is expected to impact Florida with heavy rains and strong winds arriving to South Florida as early as Friday. The sites will remain closed until they are safe to reopen, with all sites anticipated to be reopened at the latest by 8 a.m., Wednesday, August 5.
Free COVID-19 testing remains available through local County Health Departments.
ABC News' Dee Carden, Will Gretsky, Rashid Haddou, Ahmad Hemingway, Aaron Katersky, Rachel Katz, Josh Margolin, Tom Shine, Christine Theodorou and Scott Withers contributed to this report.
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