U.S. Cases Rise 1.2%; Dutch Protest Turns Violent: Virus Update

(Bloomberg) --

California’s new cases rose by a record and Florida infections jumped more than the weekly average, more signs of a possible resurgence of coronavirus in U.S. Sun Belt states. U.S. infections rose 1.2%.

An anti-government protest in The Hague over government steps turned violent, prompting hundreds of arrests. China blocked poultry from a Tyson Foods plant where many workers tested positive.

A U.S. infectious disease researcher expects a “forest fire of cases” and no let up this summer. The U.K. is considering an emergency reduction in the value-added tax.

Key Developments:

• Global Tracker: Cases pass 8.8 million; deaths top 465,000
• Here’s what you need to know about phase two as NYC reopens
• Tyson, Pepsi among companies hit by fallout of Beijing outbreak
• German infection rate up with surge in meat, refugee facilities
• U.K. will set out further easing measures this week
• Trump questions the U.S. case count

Subscribe to a daily update on the virus from Bloomberg’s Prognosis team here. Click VRUS on the terminal for news and data on the coronavirus.

Dutch Police Arrest Virus Protesters (4:30 p.m. NY)

A demonstration in The Hague against actions by the Dutch government to rein in the coronavirus erupted in violence Sunday, prompting police to arrest 400 protesters, the Associated Press said.

Authorities said dozens of soccer fans arrived at the peaceful protest and began to clash with riot police near the central railway station. Police used officers on horseback and a water cannon to disperse the crowd after police were pelted with rocks and smoke bombs, AP said.

The protesters argue that a proposed law formalizing the coronavirus measures goes too far and is unconstitutional.

U.S. Cases Rise 1.2%, in Line With Average (4 p.m. NY)

Coronavirus cases in the U.S. increased by 27,476 from the same time Saturday, to 2.27 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University and Bloomberg News. The 1.2% increase matched the average daily increase of 1.2% over the past week. Fatalities rose 0.3% to 119,854.

• New York had 664 new cases, a 0.2% increase, to 387,936, with deaths climbing by 15 to 24,725, the health department said.
• New Jersey added 411 cases, a 0.2% increase, raising the total to 169,142, with 17 new deaths, for a total of 12,870.
• Illinois reported 634 new cases, up 0.5%, raising the total to 136,103, with 45 deaths, lifting the toll to 6,653.
• Arizona cases jumped by 2,592, or 5.2%, to 52,390, with one new death, raising the toll to 1,339, the health department reported. Cases rose 6.7% on Saturday.
• Ohio reported 546 new cases, a 1.2% increase, for a total of 44,808, with three additional deaths for a toll of 2,700.

China Fuels Angst Over Meat (3:30 p.m. NY)

China’s suspension of imports from a Tyson Foods Inc. plant stoked concerns over the broader implications for U.S. and global meat exports during the pandemic.

All products from the facility in Springdale, Arkansas, where Tyson is based, that are about to arrive in China or are at ports will be seized by customs. The suspension announced Sunday reversed a decision a few days ago, when officials said food was unlikely to be responsible for a fresh virus outbreak in Beijing. Tyson on Friday said 13% of its workers tested positive for the virus at plants in northwest Arkansas.

The move is a potential new threat to meat plants that have seen slaughter disruptions because of the virus. In the U.S., hundreds of workers have become ill, and dozens have died. There’s also been a recent uptick in infections at facilities in Brazil and Germany.

Americas Account for 63% of New Cases: WHO (3 p.m. NY)

The Americas region accounted for almost two-thirds of new cases reported by the World Health Organization on Sunday. The eastern Mediterranean region, including the Middle East, represented 10% and Europe had 9.8% of new infections, the WHO said.

The United Nations group reported 183,020 cases for the 24 hours through early Sunday, led by Brazil with 54,771 -- the biggest jump by any nation. The U.S. and India followed.

The Americas also accounted for almost half of the 461,715 deaths tracked by the agency. The WHO total often lags behind tallies from John Hopkins University, which showed 465,475 deaths on Sunday.

California Cases Rise 2.7% (2:20 p.m. NY)

California added 4,515 cases, a daily record, bringing the total in the state to 173,824. The number of deaths increased by 71 to 5,495, according to data released Sunday.

Hospitalizations in the state rose 2.3% to 3,574 patients.

Trump Aides Differ on Testing Remark (1:40 p.m. NY)

President Donald Trump at his Oklahoma rally said health testing for the virus is a “double-edged sword,” so he urged staff to “slow the testing down,” a comment his trade adviser called a joke while his homeland security chief described it as a sign of frustration.

“That was tongue in cheek, please,” trade adviser Peter Navarro said on CNN’s “State of the Union. “It was a light moment, OK?” Navarro also said the government is filling the stockpile for a possible outbreak later this year. “I am not saying it’s going to happen, but of course you prepare it.”

Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on CBS’s “Face the Nation” said Trump was expressing “frustration” about tests and rising infections. “We’ve tested more than any other country in this world. Instead, the press and others, all they want to focus on is an increasing case count.”

Dubai Opens to Tourists July 7 (12:40 p.m. NY)

Dubai will allow tourists into the Middle East business hub starting July 7 for the first time since the United Arab Emirates imposed travel restrictions to stem the outbreak.

“Tourists required to present recent Covid-19 negative certificate or undergo testing at Dubai airports,” the Dubai Media Office said on Sunday.

The city also will allow residents stuck abroad to begin returning on Monday. Citizens and residents can resume outbound travel from June 23, according to a tweet.

Spain Gets Foreign Visitors (12:20 p.m. NY)

Spain’s cases rose to 246,272 as the first visitors from the European Union and the U.K. entered the country as some travel restrictions were lifted.

In the past 24 hours, 141 infections were detected, the Health Ministry said on its website. A total of 29 deaths were reported in the past seven days, compared with 36 in Saturday’s seven-day tally, and the toll stands at 28,323.

Visitors from the EU, the Schengen area and the U.K. were able to enter Spain on Sunday after the government ended its state of emergency declared in March.

Italy Cases Slow (12:05 p.m. NY)

Italy registered 224 new cases compared with 262 on Saturday, based on figures released by the country’s civil protection agency. Total cases climbed to 238,499.

Lombardy reported 128 cases, or 57% of the national count; the region around Milan said last week that most new cases refer to past infections that are detected by increased testing.

Deaths rose by 24 compared with 49 Saturday, for a toll of 34,634.

U.S. Tracing Plan ‘Random’: Researcher (11:45 a.m. NY)

The U.S. lacks a clear plan for tracking the transmission of the coronavirus and to act to slow further spread, said Michael Osterholm, director for the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

“We don’t have, even at a local level necessarily, the kind of plans that say, ‘this is what we’re going to do to get shut down transmission,’” he said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “It’s almost, in some ways, seems random.”

The virus has a life of its own: “I don’t see this slowing down through the summer or end of the fall,” he said. “I don’t think we’re going to see one, two and three waves. I think we’re going to just see one very difficult forest fire of cases.”

Cuomo Faults Trump on Response (11:30 a.m. NY)

Governor Andrew Cuomo faulted the Trump administration’s response to the outbreak, which he described as a type of “schizophrenia” with many officials, including the president, minimizing the risks.

“This was a federal crisis, the federal government should step in, aggressively, and own it,” the New York governor said on CBS’s “Sunday Morning.” “In my state, I owned the situation for better or worse. It was always a schizophrenia from the federal government. They would help when pushed to help.”

Cuomo also said “it was a mistake” for Trump to decline to wear a mask, but pressed on whether it was the president’s mistake, he said: “The history books are going to have to decide.”

Florida Cases Rise 3.7% (10:40 a.m. NY)

Florida reported 97,291 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, up 3.7% from a day earlier, compared with an average increase of 3.5% in the previous seven days. Deaths among Florida residents reached 3,161, an increase of 0.5%. On Saturday, the state reported a one-day record 4,049 new cases.

Protests Haven’t Added to Spread: Hopkins (10 a.m. NY)

Initial studies suggest protests after George Floyd’s death haven’t seemed to increase the rate of spread of the coronavirus, but Tom Inglesby, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, said it was too soon to rule out the events as a source of infections.

“We know from what we’ve seen so far in the last few months that outdoors is less of a risk than indoors and that mask use has a major impact,” he said on “Fox News Sunday.”

The rally for Donald Trump in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on Saturday is concerning, he said, because people were sitting close together, few wore masks and hands were being shaken without sanitizing. “All of those things will increase the risk of spread. We have seen in the past few months around the world that indoor gatherings have been the source of most super-spreading events.”

Portugal Steps Up Lisbon Testing (8:36 a.m. NY)

Portugal reported 292 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, taking the total to 39,133, the government said. Daily new cases have ranged between 192 and 421 in June. The additional cases are mostly in the greater Lisbon region, where authorities have increased testing after new clusters were identified. The total number of hospitalized patients and cases in intensive care units both fell.

Netanyahu Warns of Second Lockdown (5:28 p.m. HK)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Israel may have to renew its lockdown. More than 20,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Israel, including 305 fatalities. The number of cases has steadily risen, from less than 17,000 a month ago, after restrictions were significantly eased and many people ignored instructions to wear masks and maintain social distancing.

“If we don’t change our behavior immediately, and began to wear masks and keep a distance from each other, the lockdowns will return,” Netanyahu said. “None of us want that.”

Recovered Patients Test Positive in Study (4:42 p.m. HK)

In Denmark, a study of 200 patients who had recovered from Covid-19 showed that about 20% of them tested positive for the coronavirus four weeks or more after they had been declared healthy, TV2 reported. Scientists from the Aarhus Universtity said the preliminary results could indicate that the virus has somehow been “re-activated,” but there’s nothing to suggest the patients might be contagious, said Martin Tolstrup, the doctor behind the study. The scientists will now conduct new tests to determine whether the virus is still active in the patients’ bodies.

Germany’s Infection Rate Rises (2:16 p.m. HK)

The reproduction factor of the virus, known as R-naught, rose to 1.79 on Saturday compared with 1.06 the day before, according to the latest daily report by German health body, the Robert Koch Institute. There were 371 new infections in the 24 hours through Sunday morning, bringing the total to 190,670, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That compares with 439 on average over the past seven days and almost 7,000 at the peak of the pandemic in late March.

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