August 14 coronavirus news

Columbia University and Barnard College in New York City jointly announced the decision to have all undergraduate courses given remotely for the fall 2020 semester. There will be no residential housing for undergraduates at Barnard, and Columbia will only have limited housing available.

Just six weeks ago, Columbia had announced its plans to bring back 60% of undergraduates in Columbia College and the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. Those plans have since been significantly pulled back.

"Today we have concluded that we must drastically scale back the number of students we can accommodate in residence on campus, thereby limiting residential-style living only to Columbia College and SEAS undergraduates who must be present on campus due to personal or academic circumstances," said a letter sent Friday by University President Lee C. Bollinger.

Barnard College's announcement said the decision to move all undergraduate classes online came in part as a result of New York state's travel advisory list, which now includes 31 states and two territories.

Barnard will refund all room and board charges and is giving a 10% tuition reduction for the fall semester, according to the letter.

New York City has 18,987 confirmed coronavirus deaths and 4,628 probable coronavirus deaths as of Aug. 14, according to the most recent data on the city website.

The New York City Health Department defines probable deaths as people who did not have a positive Covid-19 laboratory test, but their death certificate lists as the cause of death "Covid-19” or an equivalent.

The total number of confirmed coronavirus deaths and probable coronavirus deaths in New York City is 23,615. 

More data: There have been 226,043 coronavirus cases in the city and 56,690 people have been hospitalized, according to the city.

The data is from the New York City Health Department and was updated on Aug.14 at 1 p.m., according to the website.

The numbers may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

More than 96% of California students will start the school year with distance learning, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a news conference.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to bear down on the west coast, schooling remains a top concern for students, teachers, and parents. 

How remote learning will work: Only 71% of districts are confident that students will have the technology needed for online learning. As such, California has partnered with many tech and office supply companies to ensure each student has a laptop or tablet and access to Wi-Fi.

There is a run on supplies nationwide, but many companies are prioritizing schools in providing the needed devices, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond said.

“These circumstances are not ideal as students return to school,” Thurmond said, “but students continue to learn, even under these conditions.”

Educators are leaning in, State School Board President Linda Darling-Hammond, said.

“We've come a long way since spring," Darling-Hammond said.

She believes that when it is time to go back to the classroom, students and teachers will return more technologically proficient.

If you have recovered from Covid-19, you may not need to quarantine or get tested again for up to three months — as long as you don't develop symptoms again, according to recently updated guidance on the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website. 

Regarding who needs to quarantine, the guidance states, "People who have tested positive for COVID-19 do not need to quarantine or get tested again for up to 3 months as long as they do not develop symptoms again. People who develop symptoms again within 3 months of their first bout of COVID-19 may need to be tested again if there is no other cause identified for their symptoms."

A CDC spokesperson confirmed to CNN on Friday that an agency webpage "was updated with that information mid-last week."

Some context: Preliminary research has suggested previously that after people are infected with the novel coronavirus, their risk of reinfection may be lower in the first three months after their initial infection  — but that natural immunity to the virus could start to decline within months as their antibodies may wane over time.

Antibodies are the proteins the body makes to fight infection.

West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice announced the implementation of a new, color-coded rating system that will revolve around a seven day, rolling cumulative positivity rate number.

"Each county in our state will receive a code, basically either a green, yellow, orange, or red code that will change daily," Justice said.

The governor stated that the goal is to get everyone in the green or yellow, and if any county goes into the red category, all schools in that county will automatically go 100% to virtual learning.

Counties that are currently in the green or yellow will be permitted to go forward with school and athletics.

The governor also mentioned that for any counties that fall into the orange category, sports competitions will not be allowed to take place in that county. 

West Virginia how has a total of 8,274 cases, 157 total deaths, and 135 currently hospitalized with 52 in the intensive care unit, according to the governor.

Note: These numbers were released by the state of West Virginia and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Illinois' health department reported 2,264 new Covid-19 positive cases today, the highest daily number reported since May 24.

The state now has a total of 202,691 positive cases with a 4.1% positivity rate being reported over the past seven days, up slightly over the past couple of days’ report. 

The department reported a total of 7,721 deaths statewide.

Region 4, which includes seven counties east of St. Louis, Missouri, and the Mississippi River, is seeing increased positivity rates, according to the latest data.

The department said the region has seen six days of increased positivity. Region 4 has also surpassed the 8% positivity rate that would require additional mitigations measures implemented by the state if it experiences three consecutive days of 8% or higher positivity. 

Note: These numbers were released by the Illinois Department of Public Health and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Argentina’s President, Alberto Fernández, announced his country’s quarantine measures will be extended with some changes until Aug. 30.

During a televised speech on Friday, Fernández admitted the number of Covid-19 cases has increased across the country. The areas where transmission has spiked will go back to phase one, the president added.

“The problem is not the AMBA region now (referring to metro area of the capital city Buenos Aires ), the problem has spread across the country,” Fernández said.

The president asked Argentinians to take individual responsibility in order to stop the spread of the virus, explaining that “the transmission of the virus occurs mostly in (social) gatherings." 

Fernández also announced that some activities will be able to resume such as individual sports. His government had announced the reopening of some economic activities between July 18 and Aug. 2 but it then had to extend quarantine measures until Aug.16.

Regions under the current quarantine measures are subject to a "mandatory, preventive and social isolation," where people can leave their homes only for essential needs such as food and medical services.

Argentina reported 7,498 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, bringing the total number to 276,072, according to the country’s health ministry. This comes a day after it announced a record number of 7,663 cases on Wednesday. 

Argentina’s health ministry announced 66 new deaths on Friday, with the death toll now reaching 5,428.

A postal workers' union has endorsed Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for president and vice president of the United States.

“Vice President Biden is – was – and will continue to be – a fierce ally and defender of the United States Postal Service (USPS), letter carriers, and our fellow postal brothers and sisters,” Fredric Rolando, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), said in a statement Thursday.

“Since coming to the Senate in 2016, Senator Kamala Harris has put letter carriers and working families first,” the statement continued.

The NALC represents 300,000 active and retired letter carriers.

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The Cherokee County School District reported 80 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 1,106 students and staff quarantined as a result of those cases, for the week.

That number is almost triple the number of students and staff that were confirmed Covid-19 positive the prior week and double the number in quarantine. 

In the first two weeks of school, the district has reported a total of 108 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among students and staff. Last week, 28 positive cases of Covid-19 were reported and 563 were in quarantine.  

On Wednesday, Woodstock High School announced it would temporarily close in-person learning after identifying 14 positive cases.

In-person classes are tentatively set to resume there on Aug. 31. In-person classes are also set to resume on Aug. 31 at Etowah High School, which also had to temporarily stop in-person learning on Tuesday.