Courtesy of Alisha MorrisBy Katie Kindelanvia, GMA
(OLATHE, Kan.) — A high school teacher in Kansas started a spreadsheet of COVID-19 cases in schools as a way to ease her anxiety about the upcoming school year.
Less than two weeks later, the teacher, Alisha Morris, of Olathe, Kansas, has more than 700 entries and counting in her spreadsheet, which has now gone viral and become a go-to resource for other teachers.
“I started the spreadsheet purely out of curiosity,” Morris told “Good Morning America.” “Making the sheet allowed me to channel my anxiety about the impending school year into something more productive and useful.”
Speaking about her decision to make her spreadsheet open to the public, Morris added it was “based on the surprising information I was collecting.”
Morris uses publicly available information from news articles to compile the spreadsheet. As far as she knows, she is the first person to organize the data in a way that shows the breakdown of cases by state and school district and school.
Morris’s spreadsheet has been shared on Facebook and among teachers as the debate continues across the country over whether it is safe for schools to start in-person learning amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Morris, who is entering her eighth year of teaching, said she does not yet know whether she will be required to return to school in person or teach virtually this fall.
She hopes its not just teachers who are looking at the data she continues to compile, but also the district officials and school board members who are deciding whether teachers and students return to classrooms.
“I do hope that teachers are able to take this information to their district and school board members to help them make informed decisions,” said Morris.
(NEW YORK) — A pandemic of the novel coronavirus has now killed more than 774,000 people worldwide.
Over 21.8 million people across the globe have been diagnosed with COVID-19, the disease caused by the new respiratory virus, according to data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher due to testing shortages, many unreported cases and suspicions that some national governments are hiding or downplaying the scope of their outbreaks.
Since the first cases were detected in China in December, the United States has become the worst-affected country, with more than 5.4 million diagnosed cases and at least 170,548 deaths.
Here’s how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
11:49 a.m.: New York state adds Alaska, Delaware to travel advisory list
Two more states have been added to New York’s coronavirus travel advisory list, which mandates a 14-day self-quarantine for individuals who have traveled from those states.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that Alaska and Delaware meet the metrics to qualify for the travel advisory. Delaware was removed from the list earlier this month but was re-added on Tuesday.
No areas have been removed from the list, which now includes 35 states that Cuomo says have “significant community spread.”
The states are Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. 11:31 a.m.: WHO chief warns against ‘vaccine nationalism’
The head of the World Health Organization is warning against what he calls “vaccine nationalism,” saying that sharing supplies is in each country’s national interest.
“We have learned the hard way that the fastest way to end this pandemic and to reopen economies is to start by protecting the highest risk populations everywhere, rather than just the populations of some countries,” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO’s director-general, said at a press conference Tuesday. “No one is safe until everyone is safe.”
“It’s critical that countries don’t repeat the same mistakes,” he added. “We need to prevent vaccine nationalism. And for this reason, WHO is working with governments and the private sector to both accelerate the signs through the ACT Accelerator and ensure that new innovations are available to everyone, everywhere.”
The allocation of vaccines through the WHO’s Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator is slated to be rolled out in two phases, according to Tedros. In the first phase, vaccines will be allocated proportionally to all participating countries simultaneously to reduce overall risk. In the second phase, consideration will be given to countries in relation to threat and vulnerability.
Tedros noted that front-line workers in health and social care settings will be prioritized because they are essential to treating and protecting populations and also come in close contact with people in age groups at the highest risk of dying from COVID-19.
“For most countries, a phase one allocation that builds up to 20% of the population would cover most of the at-risk groups,” he said. “If we don’t protect this highest risk people from the virus everywhere and at the same time, we can’t stabilize health systems and rebuild the global economy.”
Dozens of potential vaccines for the novel coronavirus are undergoing clinical trials around the world. Last week, Russia became the first country in the world to officially register a COVID-19 vaccine and declare it ready for use. However, Moscow approved the drug before completing its final Phase III trial, and no scientific data has been released from the early trials so far.
11:07 a.m.: Over 2,000 students in Georgia school district under quarantine
More than 2,000 students in a single Georgia school district have been ordered to self-quarantine this month, as dozens of COVID-19 cases were confirmed in various schools.
Georgia’s Cherokee County reopened its schools on Aug. 3, welcoming back 30,000 students for in-person learning. Since then, at least 2,221 students and 47 staff members from more than a dozen schools have been placed under mandated two-week quarantines, according to data published Tuesday on the school district’s website.
More than 150 students and staff who had quarantined earlier are now eligible to return to school, the data shows.
So far, three high schools in the district have been forced to temporarily close due to the growing clusters of cases among pupils and staff.
10:30 a.m.: New Zealand’s prime minister claps back at Trump
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has clapped back at U.S. President Donald Trump for saying her country is experiencing a “big surge” in COVID-19 cases, calling his comments “patently wrong.”
“I think anyone who’s following COVID and its transmission globally will quite easily see that New Zealand’s nine cases in a day does not compare to the United States’ tens of thousands, and in fact does not compare to most countries in the world,” Ardern told reporters at a press conference Tuesday.
“Obviously, it’s patently wrong,” she said of Trump’s remarks.
The American commander-in-chief made the comments Monday during a campaign rally in Minnesota.
“Do you see what’s happening in New Zealand? They beat it, they beat it, it was like front-page news because they wanted to show me something,” Trump told the crowd of supporters. “Big surge in New Zealand, you know it’s terrible, we don’t want that.”
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, New Zealand has reported fewer than 1,700 diagnosed cases of COVID-19 with at least 22 deaths, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University. Last week, after going 102 days without local transmission, the country of 5 million people recorded a cluster of new cases in Auckland, its most populous city.
Meanwhile, the United States is by far the worst-hit nation with well over 5 million diagnosed cases and more than 170,000 deaths.
9:10 a.m.: Gov. Cuomo is writing a book about the coronavirus pandemic
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is writing a book about his experiences leading the state through the coronavirus pandemic and interacting with the Trump administration.
The Crown Publishing Group, an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group, announced Tuesday that Cuomo’s book, American Crisis, will be published on Oct. 13, three weeks before Election Day.
“In his own voice, Andrew Cuomo chronicles in ‘American Crisis’ the ingenuity and sacrifice required of so many to fight the pandemic, sharing his personal reflections on 40 years in government and the decision-making that shaped his political policy, and offers his frank accounting and assessment of his interactions with the federal government and the White House, as well as other state and local political and health officials,” Crown said in a statement. “Real leadership, he argues, requires clear communication, compassion for others, and a commitment to truth-telling—no matter how frightening the facts may be.”
New York City was once the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the United States. In an excerpt from his upcoming book, which Crown released to the media, the Democratic governor discusses fear.
“If you don’t feel fear, you don’t appreciate the consequences of the circumstance,” Cuomo writes. “The questions are what do you do with the fear and would you succumb to it. I would not allow the fear to control me. The fear kept my adrenaline high and that was a positive. But I would not let the fear be a negative, and I would not spread it. Fear is a virus also.”
8:26 a.m.: ‘Cases are falling,’ says Adm. Brett Giroir
Adm. Brett Giroir, assistant secretary for health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said the country is indeed seeing a drop in coronavirus infections, with the number of new cases decreasing by about 22% since the third week of July.
“We know that’s a real number because hospitalizations have also gone down 24%, so those things track,” Giroir told ABC News in an interview Tuesday on Good Morning America.
Currently, around 825,000 COVID-19 tests are being conducted in the United States per day. The nation has the capacity to carry out almost 50 million tests in August, and that’s expected to ramp up to nearly 90 million in September, according to Giroir, who is a medical doctor and a key member of the White House coronavirus task force.
“Cases are falling, and we know that’s true. We have plenty enough testing to know that,” he said.
7:58 a.m.: FDA warns popular COVID-19 test could be inaccurate
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning of “a risk of false results” with a widely-used COVID-19 test.
The federal agency issued an alert Monday to clinical laboratory staff and health care providers using Thermo Fisher Scientific’s TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit, a molecular assay for the detection of the novel coronavirus from respiratory specimens. The FDA said issues related to laboratory equipment and software used to run the popular test could lead to inaccuracies.
The agency advised clinical laboratory staff and health care providers to “implement promptly the software updates and the updated instructions for use” from the company.
“The FDA is working with Thermo Fisher Scientific and our public health partners to resolve these issues,” the agency said in a statement Monday. “The FDA will continue to keep clinical laboratory staff, health care providers, manufacturers, and the public informed of new or additional information.”
ABC News has reached out to Thermo Fisher Scientific for comment.
7:14 a.m.: Finland’s prime minister to be tested after experiencing ‘mild’ symptoms
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced Tuesday that she will be tested for COVID-19 after experiencing “mild respiratory symptoms.”
Marin wrote on Twitter that she will be working from home while she awaits her test results.
As of Tuesday afternoon, Finland had reported at least 7,752 cases of COVID-19 with 334 deaths, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
6:39 a.m.: UNC-Chapel Hill shifts to remote learning within a week of starting classes
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced Monday that it will suspend in-person classes after seeing the COVID-19 positivity rate on campus rise almost fivefold.
The public research university in the town of Chapel Hill, about 25 miles from Raleigh, held its first day of class just one week ago after welcoming students back into its residence halls the week prior. Although residence halls were at less than 60% capacity and fewer than 30% of total classroom seats were taught in-person, the school said the COVID-19 positivity rate on campus increased from 2.8% on Aug. 10 to 13.6% on Aug. 16.
As of Monday morning, the university said it has tested 954 students so far, and 177 were in isolation and 349 were in quarantine, both on and off campus. Most students who have tested positive for COVID-19 “have demonstrated mild symptoms,” according to a letter to the university community from chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz and executive vice chancellor and provost Robert A. Blouin.
“Effective Wednesday, August 19, all undergraduate in-person instruction will shift to remote learning,” Guskiewicz and Blouin wrote. “Courses in our graduate, professional and health affairs schools will continue to be taught as they are, or as directed by the schools. Academic advising and academic support services will be available online. Our research enterprise will remain unchanged.”
“Due to this announcement as well as the reduction of campus activities, we expect the majority of our current undergraduate residential students to change their residential plans for the fall,” they added. “As much as we believe we have worked diligently to help create a healthy and safe campus living and learning environment, the current data presents an untenable situation.”
5:21 a.m.: WHO warns younger people are ‘driving’ COVID-19 spread in Asia Pacific
The World Health Organization warned Tuesday that the coronavirus pandemic is “changing” in the Asia-Pacific region, where younger people are now the ones “driving its spread.”
“What we are observing is not simply a resurgence; we believe it is a signal that we have entered a new phase of the pandemic in the Asia Pacific,” Dr. Takeshi Kasai, WHO Regional Director for the Western Pacific, said at a virtual press conference. “The epidemic is changing. People in their 20s, 30s and 40s are increasingly driving its spread.”
Various countries in the region, including Australia, the Philippines and Japan, are reporting rising numbers of people under the age of 40 contracting the novel coronavirus, according to the WHO.
“Many are unaware they are infected with very mild symptoms, or none at all,” Kasai said. “This can result in them unknowingly passing on the virus to others.”
4:50 a.m.: Walgreens coding error causes under-reporting of 59,000 test results in Texas
The Texas Department of State Health Services tells Corpus Christi ABC affiliate KIII-TV that Walgreens Pharmacy reported experiencing a coding error, causing the under-reporting of some 59,000 COVID-19 test results statewide.
The coding error has now been corrected, according to KIII, but counties across Texas will likely see their COVID-19 statistics change as the data dump is set to take place.
ABC News has reached out to Walgreens for comment.
As of Monday, the Lone Star State had reported at least 542,950 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 10,034 deaths, according to a count kept by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
3:35 a.m.: US reports under 40,000 new cases for first time since June
There were 35,112 new cases of COVID-19 identified in the United States on Monday, according to a count kept by Johns Hopkins University.
It’s the first time since June 28 that the country has reported under 40,000 new cases in a single day. Monday’s case count is also well below the record set on July 16, when more than 77,000 new cases were identified in a 24-hour reporting period.
An additional 445 coronavirus-related deaths were also recorded Monday.
A total of 5,443,162 people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with COVID-19 since the pandemic began, and at least 170,548 of them have died, according to Johns Hopkins. The cases include people from all 50 U.S. states, Washington, D.C. and other U.S. territories as well as repatriated citizens.
By May 20, all U.S. states had begun lifting stay-at-home orders and other restrictions put in place to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus. The day-to-day increase in the country’s cases then hovered around 20,000 for a couple of weeks before shooting back up and crossing 70,000 for the first time in mid-July.
However, week-over-week comparisons show that the nationwide number of new cases has continued to decrease in recent weeks, according to an internal memo from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, obtained by ABC News on Sunday night.
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) — Survivors of Joseph DeAngelo, the man now known as the “Golden State Killer,” addressed him directly in court this week in powerful and emotional victim impact statements.
DeAngelo’s four-day sentencing hearing, which includes statements from survivors and victims’ families members, began Tuesday with victims of rapes in Sacramento County.
‘Had complete control over me’
The daughter of rape survivor Patricia Murphy read a statement on her mother’s behalf Tuesday as DeAngelo sat silently in a white face mask and orange jail shirt.
On Sept. 4, 1976, Murphy, a 29-year-old single mother, was attacked outside her parents’ house.
“That night forever changed me,” the statement said. “I never felt safe for many years. It was hard for me to trust … I was always looking over my shoulder expecting someone to jump out at me.”
“I wonder why he picked me to be one of his rape victims? Did he know my name?” she said. “He punched me in the face and broke my nose. I had a concussion from falling backwards … it soon became clear that he and his knife had complete control over me for the next two hours.”
“The lump on my nose [from the punch] never went away,” her statement said. “I learned to accept it was just part of my face.”
Murphy later turned to alcohol and drugs to “numb my pain,” she said.
Murphy, still suffering from PTSD, was hospitalized for several days after DeAngelo’s arrest. She had trouble sleeping and had vivid nightmares.
DeAngelo pleaded guilty to 13 counts of first-degree murder in front of dozens of victims and victims’ relatives in June as part of a plea deal, which also required him to admit to multiple uncharged acts, including rapes, which were described in horrific detail by prosecutors.
The death penalty was taken off the table in exchange for the guilty pleas. DeAngelo will be sentenced to life without parole.
‘Whatever it took to save herself and her family’
On Oct. 18, 1976, Winnie Schultz, a wife and mother of two, was raped in her home.
Her son, Pete Schultz, who read a statement on her behalf Tuesday, recalled how DeAngelo tied him to the bed until his hands turned blue.
His mother was bound, blindfolded and raped, and her wedding ring was stolen, he said.
“Our mother is not Jane Doe No. 22 and we are not just No. 37 uncharged offense. We are the family of Winnie Schultz and we have all survived because of her bravery and resolve to do whatever it took to save herself and her family,” Pete Schultz said.
Pete Schultz said his mother, now a breast cancer survivor and grandmother of four, is still married to his father after 55 years.
‘I would never be a child again’
On Dec. 18, 1976, Kris Pedretti was 15 years old when she raped by a knife-wielding man who said he would kill her if she did not obey him.
“He tormented me. And he told me over and over again he would kill me. And I believed him,” she said in court Tuesday.
Pedretti said she thought she was going to die at three different times that night.
The next morning, “I woke up knowing I would never be a child again,” she said.
Pedretti said her parents did not let her talk about that night, which forced her “to live my life like the rape never happened.”
She said she struggled for 41 years with extreme panic attacks, failed relationships, unhealthy coping mechanisms, few friends and frequent job changes.
“Though I have found my way to a happy and safe life,” she said, “DeAngelo deserves his sentence of life without parole in the most dark and lonely containment.”
Pedretti said she thinks the victim impact statements should be his only reading materials in his prison cell.
DeAngelo, now 74 years old, was accused of committing 13 murders as well as multiple rapes and burglaries in the 1970s and 80s, terrorizing communities from Northern to Southern California.
The “Golden State Killer” crimes went unsolved until April 2018, when DeAngelo was arrested in Sacramento County.
DeAngelo became the first public arrest obtained through genetic genealogy, a new technique that takes the DNA of an unknown suspect left behind at a crime scene and identifies him or her by tracing a family tree through his or her family members, who voluntarily submit their DNA to public genealogy databases. This allows police to create a much larger family tree than using law enforcement databases.
To identify DeAngelo, investigators narrowed the family tree search based on age, location and other characteristics.
Authorities conducted surveillance on DeAngelo and collected his DNA from a tissue left in a trash. Investigators plugged his discarded DNA back into the genealogy database and found a match, linking DeAngelo’s DNA to the DNA found at multiple crime scenes, prosecutors said.
Since DeAngelo’s arrest, over 150 other crime suspects have been identified through genetic genealogy.
(NEW YORK) — Several new wildfires have exploded in the West due to lightning and bone dry conditions on the ground.
There are currently at least 28 wildfires burning in California alone which puts the national total to more than 100 wildfires.
Here is the latest information on the recent fires:
The Holser fire in Lake Piru, Ventura County is 1,200 acres and 15% contained. Two firefighters have suffered minor injuries and there has been an evacuation order for 26 residences.
The Hennessey fire in Napa Valley near St. Helena is 2,400 acres and 0% contained with 205 structures threatened and evacuation orders issued.
The Lake fire in Lake Hughes is 19,026 acres and 38% contained with mandatory evacuations still in place and 21 structures destroyed so far and 4,570 structures still threatened.
The Loyalton fire near the California and Nevada border in Sierra County is 39,725 acres with just 10% of it contained so far. Five structures have been destroyed, six have been damaged and mandatory evacuations are in place.
The River fire east of Salinas is 3,793 acres and 10% contained with six structures destroyed, two damaged and 1,500 more threatened with evacuation orders issued.
The Butte Lightning Complex fire near Oroville is made up of 26 fires in total and is 0% contained more than 1,130 acres.
Meanwhile, dozens of record highs were broken Monday in the West from Montana down to southern California.
Here are some of the records from Monday: The hottest temperature was in Death Valley at 127 degrees, Phoenix, Arizona reached 115 as well as a record-breaking 41 days this summer with temperatures above 110 degrees. Tucson, Arizona, hit 109, Las Vegas peaked at 112, Palmdale, California made it to 111, Salt Lake City reached 102, Denver got up to 98, Boise, Idaho, hit 102 and even Billings, Montana, broke a record high reaching 100 degrees.
Lightning along with gusty erratic winds continue to be the biggest threat for development and spread of new fires.
Looking ahead, some slight weakening of this western high dome is forecast which should slightly lower the temperatures for most of the West.
Even though it will turn not as hot, gusty erratic winds and a dry lightning threat will continue through the rest of the week.
Elsewhere, the tropical Atlantic that is getting active, and two tropical waves are moving east and could form into a Tropical Depression in the next day or so.
One tropical wave is currently over the eastern Caribbean and has a 60% chance of forming into a depression over the next few days but is also not really a threat to the U.S. at the moment.
The second tropical wave, still far in the Atlantic, could form into a tropical depression in the next 24 hours and currently has a 90% chance of becoming one.
Models currently take the system over the northern Caribbean over the weekend and it has to be watched closely as the weekend draws closer.
(NEW YORK) — California health officials have confirmed that an individual has tested positive for a case of the plague in the state — the first such case in five years.
El Dorado County health officials were notified by the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) that a resident in South Lake Tahoe had tested positive for the plague and that it is thought that person, who is an avid walker, may have been bitten by an infected flea while walking their dog along the Truckee River Corridor, according to a statement released by El Dorado County.
The patient who tested positive for the plague is currently under the care of medical professionals and is recovering at their home.
El Dorado County’s Health and Human Services said that, once transmitted, symptoms of the plague usually show up within two weeks of exposure to an infected animal or flea and that the symptoms can include fever, nausea, weakness and swollen lymph nodes.
The plague is deadly but if it is detected early it can be effectively treated with antibiotics.
“Plague is naturally present in many parts of California, including higher elevation areas of El Dorado County. It’s important that individuals take precautions for themselves and their pets when outdoors, especially while walking, hiking and/or camping in areas where wild rodents are present. Human cases of plague are extremely rare but can be very serious,” said El Dorado County Public Health Officer Dr. Nancy Williams.
El Dorado County officials said that the CDPH routinely monitors rodent populations for plague activity in California.
From 2016 to 2019, authorities discovered a total of 20 rodents with of evidence of exposure to plague bacterium in the South Lake Tahoe area but there were no reports of plague-associated illnesses during that time.
“The last reported cases of plague in California were two human cases which were exposed to infected rodents or their fleas in Yosemite National Park in 2015,” the El Dorado County Health and Human Services said in a statement. “Both people were treated and recovered. These were the first reported human cases in the state since 2006.”
Since the announcement of the first case of the plague in five years, several areas of South Lake Tahoe now have signs posted both advising the public of the presence of plague as well as ways to prevent potential exposure, including not feeding wild animals, not touching sick or dead animals, protecting your pets with flea control products, wearing long pants and using insect repellent.
Just last month public health officials in Colorado announced that a squirrel in Colorado has tested positive for the bubonic plague which was the first such case in the state this year.
“Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis, and can be contracted by humans and household animals if proper precautions are not taken,” officials from Jefferson County Public Health (JCPH) in Colorado said in a statement released to the public at the time.
“Arguably the most infamous plague outbreak was the so-called Black Death, a multi-century pandemic that swept through Asia and Europe,” according to National Geographic. “It was believed to start in China in 1334, spreading along trade routes and reaching Europe via Sicilian ports in the late 1340s. The plague killed an estimated 25 million people, almost a third of the continent’s population. The Black Death lingered on for centuries, particularly in cities. Outbreaks included the Great Plague of London (1665-66), in which 70,000 residents died.”
However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that there is now only an average of seven human plague cases per year and the World Health Organization says the mortality rate is estimated to be between 8-10%.
National Geographic is owned by Walt Disney, the parent company of ABC News.
Courtesy of Alisha MorrisBy Katie Kindelanvia, GMA
