Good news for pet owners: our favourite fluffy friends are unlikely transmitters of coronavirus, according to Dr Fauci.
Pets and animals can get infected with the virus, but “there’s no evidence that the virus is transmitted from a pet to a human,” Fauci said.
“Anything is possible,” Fauci added, but right now it seems unlikely.
Trump has claimed, once again, that the US is the “best” in the world at testing. That’s not true.
Overall, the US had administered more than 4.5m coronavirus tests, according to the Covid Tracking Project. From a very slow start, the US, with a population of 329m, had ramped up to a testing rate of one in every 80 people — a bit better than to South Korea’s rate of 1 in every 90 people. Germany has done even better, testing every 1 in 63 people.
In America, despite the recent increase in testing, backlogs are reported in labs across the country, and many people with symptoms — including health workers — are still struggling to access tests.
Trump is being asked about his planned 4th of July event on the Washington Mall.
“We’ll probably have about 25% of what we had last year,” he says. Then he compares photographs of his fourth of July celebrations last year to Dr Martin Luther King Jr’s address at the Washington Mall in 1963, during the civil rights March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
That’s this photo, of the day Dr King delivered his “I have a dream” speech.
Here’s some of our coverage of Trump’s event:
Updated
More on the immigration executive order:
- Medical and other essential workers from abroad will be exempt, as will the spouses and minor children of American children, and “certain other aliens”.
- The administration will review guest worker programs/
- “The Administration will continue to monitor the labor market to amend or extend the proclamation if needed,” per the White House.
Trump said that he is establishing a new council to help Black and Latino communities and other underserved communities access testing and care. The council will be headed by housing secretary Ben Carson.
Trump said he told Georgia Governor Brian Kemp that he disagreed strongly with Kemp’s decision to begin allowing some nonessential businesses to reopen in the coming days.
Speaking at a daily White House briefing Wednesday evening, Trump said he had spoken with Kemp over the phone.
At the same time he must do what he thinks is right, Trump said of the Republican governor.
Kemp’s plan to begin cracking open the Georgia economy faces two major hurdles: the state is struggling to increase testing for new coronavirus infections and boost tracking of those in contact with infected people, AP reports.
Without those capabilities, experts said Georgia risks a quick rebound of the Covid-19 illness as Kemp allows some businesses to reopen in coming days. The Republican governor’s decision has been questioned because the state has yet to show continuing progress in those areas, and it could be difficult to catch up.
Trump said he will be holding a July 4 celebration in Washington, DC’s national mall, like last year.
“On July 4, we will be doing what we had at the Mall. As you know, we’re gonna be doing it. Last year was a tremendous success and I would imagine we’ll do it, hopefully, I can use the term ‘forever.’ That was a great success, as you remember,” he said.