Infections Rise in 31 U.S. States; CDC: U.S. Infection Rate May Be 10 Times Higher; U.K. City Declares major Incident Over Packed Beach; Liverpool Win First Ever English Premier League Title
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from around the world. I'm John Vause. Coming up this hour on CNN NEWSROOM, back to square when with record highs. Never before have so many people in the U.S. tested positive for the coronavirus in one day, a sign the outbreak is once again spiraling out of control. Pandemic? What pandemic? Tens of thousands head to the beach in the U.K. A chance to relax and forget about that global health crisis which has killed almost half a million people and counting. And former Formula One boss and father to be, 89-year-old Bernie Ecclestone talks to CNN about racing and racism. The United States is once again in the midst of the worst of the coronavirus pandemic. For weeks, the rate of transmission has been accelerating, and on Thursday, Johns Hopkins University reported 37,000 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the highest daily total since the pandemic began. And chances are, it's much worse than that. The Centers for Disease Control says the actual number of infections is likely 10 times the official number. That would mean 23 million people. Dr. Robert Redfield says, now that there is more testing, it is clear a large percentage of the population have either mild or no symptoms at all. Young people, 18 to 44-year-olds, are testing positive at a higher rate.</s>DR. ROBERT REDFIELD, CDC DIRECTOR: This virus causes so much asymptomatic infection. We probably recognized about 10 percent of the outbreak.</s>VAUSE: Infections are rising in 31 U.S. States. Texas and Florida are reporting new daily records. Hospitalizations in California are up 32 percent in the past two weeks. And the head of the CDC says social distancing remains, quote, "the most powerful tool we have to fight the virus." Chicago is deploying social distancing ambassadors in parks and other public areas. And in one British beach town, not so much a pandemic but rather pandemonium. Thousands of sun seekers crowded the shores of Bournemouth on Thursday with little regard for the virus. The local council declared it a major incident urging the public to stay away. Get off the beach. The surge of new cases in Texas is forcing the state to put on hold plans to reopen some businesses. And California's governor is declaring a budget emergency to free up $16 billion to fight the pandemic. We have more details now from CNN's Nick Watt.</s>NICK WATT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Partiers backed this Fort Worth bar Saturday night, but the reopening of the Lone Star state is now on hold, as case counts climb at record rates and hospitals fill up.</s>RON NIRENBERG, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, MAYOR: If this acceleration continues unabated, we will find ourselves overwhelmed.</s>WATT: Nevada, North Carolina and Louisiana also now pumping the brakes on reopening.</s>GOV. JOHN BEL EDWARDS (D-LA): I think these numbers meet crystal-clear the correctness of the decision not to move forward.</s>WATT: In California, Disneyland now won't reopen July 17 as planned.</s>GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): That is an example of the data informing decision-making.</s>WATT: California and Florida, along with Texas, are reporting record high new case counts. Our three most populous states are going in the wrong direction fast. They are home to more than a quarter of all Americans.</s>GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): We've seen most of this case growth in those under 40 category.</s>WATT: A focus now on efforts to staunch the spread, younger asymptomatic spreaders.</s>ERIN BROMAGE, UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, DARTMOUTH: We're seeing the infection rates, especially in Texas, Florida and Arizona, just skyrocketing that demographic.</s>WATT: Arizona now has the most cases per capita in the entire country.</s>DOUG DUCEY (R-AZ): There is no consideration of increasing activity. Arizona is on pause.</s>WATT: The CDC just added pregnant women to the at-risk demographics. They say just over 5 percent of women with COVID-19 require hospitalization. For pregnant women, that soars to over 30 percent. They also now say our actual infection rate might be 10 times the confirmed cases, so not around 2.4 million, but around 24 million. And they say that social distancing is now our most powerful weapon.</s>DR. WILLIAM SCHAFFNER, VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: The time to normalize wearing masks and social distancing behavior is now so that we get used to it by the time the fall arrives. And I'm very concerned that the second wave this fall will be substantially greater than what we have experienced so far.</s>WATT (on camera): The number we've really got to keep an eye on moving forward is hospitalizations. How many COVID-19 patients are in the hospital? And here in California, that's gone up by a third in just the past two weeks, a trend that the director of public health here in Los Angeles calls extraordinarily worrisome. Nick Watt, CNN, Los Angeles.</s>VAUSE: Dr. Shoshanna Ungerleider is an internal medicine physician at California Pacific Medical Center and founder of EndWorldProject.org, and she is with us from San Francisco. Doctor, thank you for being with us. We take -- we appreciate your time.</s>DR. SHOSHANNA UNGERLEIDER, INTERNAL MEDICINE PHYSICIAN, CALIFORNIA PACIFIC MEDICAL CENTER: Thank you for having me. OK. So so much for that second wave towards the end of the year. Clearly, the virus never went away. I want you to listen to the governor of Arizona with a grim statement about the weeks ahead.</s>GOV. DOUG DUCEY (R-AZ): I don't want there to be any illusion or sugarcoated expectations. We expect that our numbers will be worse next week and the week following in terms of cases and hospitalizations.</s>VAUSE: OK. So bad times ahead. The reason why we had the national lockdown, it was to buy us some time so the health system wasn't overrun, so that hospitals could keep up with the people who were infected. Essentially to get ahead of this and to prepare, I guess, for this moment which we were expecting a little later. But are we prepared to deal with this now?</s>UNGERLEIDER: Gosh, John. You know, it's -- in some places yes, in other places no. I think hitting another record in the number of new cases just today in the U.S. is extremely distressing and points to the fact that maybe we're headed in the wrong direction. Young people are now the biggest source of cases, as was pointed out, and hospital beds in places like Texas and Arizona are -- are filling up. There still isn't enough testing and contact tracing happening to find these new cases and isolate them from the general population. So there's really no question about what's needed here. We need mask wearing in public to be mandatory. We need more testing and contact tracing all over of cases, to find their recent contacts. And anyone with even a slightest COVID-19 symptom or with close contacts with a known case needs to get tested and self-isolate immediately. And most of all, we need clear, consistent messaging from all of our government officials that supports these efforts.</s>VAUSE: Yes. That is something which -- you know, we hope for that. It's just not going to happen, it seems, at least on the federal level. The CDC dropped a few headlines on Thursday, including you know, this belief that the number of real cases in the U.S. could be 10 times the official number of 2.3 million. That's 23 million people. On the one hand, it's a staggering number, considering what this 10 million cases worldwide, 23 million would be in the U.S. But isn't it in line with expectations? Isn't that a formula they do for countries which have inadequate testing?</s>UNGERLEIDER: Well, you know, John, I think from looking at the blood samples across the country for the presence of antibodies to the virus, which was what was done, so for every confirmed case of COVID- 19, as you pointed out, 10 more people had antibodies. So these are the proteins in the blood that indicate whether a person's immune system has previously come in contact with coronavirus. So, you know, estimating that around seven percent of the U.S. population or more like 23 million people are walking around either with active infection or recent infection, you know, is really significant. I think looking at these numbers, taking them very seriously, and then planning accordingly for an increased number that were playing planning to see going forward, is really what we need to be doing right now.</s>VAUSE: Yes, this time around, compared to the last time with the surge in cases, it seems to be coming with a twist. I want you to listen again to the director of CDC. Here it is.</s>REDFIELD (via phone): I think, obviously, what we're seeing right now, infections that are targeting younger individuals.</s>VAUSE: It seems young people were spared for the most part. In Europe they became vulnerable. They're vulnerable as anybody else. Here in the U.S., it seems that they're the ones who are, you know, bearing the burden of the infections. Is there a simple way to explain how that has transitioned?</s>UNGERLEIDER: You know, not really. I mean, I think that, with widespread sort of community spread, as it's happened here in the U.S., I mean, it makes sense that there are many more cases of young people that are -- that are turning up. And, you know, the best possible way for young people, for older people, for everybody to reduce the spread of infection is to stay away from other people. So this social distancing being so important. And, you know, I understand it's summertime. People, young and old, want to be outdoors, enjoy themselves, be with friends and family. People, I think, are tired of staying home. But the stakes are just so high. We need -- we need people to know that, of course, the virus is invisible. It spreads so easily from person to person via droplets from talking, or from breathing. And when people congregate, even outdoors, much like, you know, what we saw at the beaches in the U.K., and they don't wear masks, this is a recipe for disaster. I think your behavior, every moment, matters. And our actions today put the lives of the people that we love in danger. So I think --</s>VAUSE: I'm glad you mentioned -- sorry, I'm glad you mentioned beaches in the U.K. Because here's part of a report from CNN's Nic Robinson. Sorry to interrupt, but listen to this.</s>NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Here in the U.K. authorities have declared a major incident at one of Britain's seaside holiday towns. Why? Because it's not holiday time, but the beaches were absolutely crowded with thousands of people flocking out from what has been a very hot couple of days here. The concern is that they're not social distancing and the people in that town are not ready for people from other parts of the country to come on vacation.</s>VAUSE: You know what if I really incredible? Is that the number of young people I know who heard -- the initial report that came from China that young people were sort of almost immune to all of this, but they've heard nothing since.</s>UNGERLEIDER: Yes, I mean, I think seeing situations like this, we're probably, in about two weeks, as is the typical lag time between people, you know, congregating and seeing spikes of infections of somebody. You know, if people who are on those beaches, in fact, do have COVID-19, that is the perfect storm, the perfect recipe for disaster. People being close together, despite them being outdoors, but not wearing masks. Talking, laughing, spending many, many hours with one another. That is how this virus spreads. And so we need to be talking about what everybody, including young people, should be doing to prevent the spread. Our behavior absolutely matters, and we all have the power to save lives if we -- if we listen and pay attention.</s>VAUSE: Yes. As you say, just looking at the beaches, it's understandable why people want to be there, but this is not 2019 anymore. So Shoshanna Ungerleider, thank you so much for being with us. Appreciate it.</s>UNGERLEIDER: Thank you for having me.</s>VAUSE: Well, the World Health Organization is warning the coronavirus could still overload healthcare systems in parts of Europe.</s>DR. HANS KLUGE, WHO EUROPE REGIONAL DIRECTOR: In 11 of these countries, accelerated transmission has led to very significant resurgence that, if left unchecked, will push health systems to the brink once again in Europe.</s>VAUSE: Dr. Hans Kluge says the risk of a resurgence in Europe -- in Europe has now become a reality. The 11 countries he mentioned stretch from Sweden in northern Europe, down to Albania in the south, Kazakhstan to the east. WHO's European region includes central Asia. In the U.K., a southern coastal town -- we've been talking about flooded with thousands of people, throwing caution and social distancing to the winds and the waves and a good time, raising fears that a surge of COVID-19 cases in England now seems more likely than ever, especially if the lockdown is relaxed in two weeks, as planned. ITV's Julia Bremner explains.</s>JULIA BREMNER, ITV (voice-over): The plea was to stay away, but nobody seemed to be listening. Tens of thousands from across southern England and the Midlands descended on Bournemouth today. It was impossible to keep a safe distance from strangers. And there was little or no awareness of any health risks.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why did you come to Bournemouth today?</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why? I'm enjoying today. It's really nice weather. Yes.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was a really hot day. I thought I'd take advantage of it by the time the rain goes back. And all of the rules of the lockdown has just been kind of, like, eased on.</s>BREMNER: With the town overwhelmed and police apparently powerless to intervene, by early afternoon, the council declared a major incident.</s>VIKKI SLADE, LEADER, BOURNEMOUTH, CHRISTCHURCH & POOLE COUNCIL: What's very obvious is that people don't believe COVID is a problem anymore. That's very obvious from people's behavior.</s>BREMNER: The M3 was close to a standstill as sun seekers drove from as far away as Birmingham and London. The local conservative MP told me police must be given more powers to deal with the deluge.</s>TOBIAS ELLWOOD, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE MP: Dorsett can't cope with this. If we need messaging of Waterloo Station or Birmingham's National, or indeed on the M3, there's big signs on the motorway to say Bournemouth is now closed. There is a major incident in play. Please turn around or go somewhere else. If the police doesn't have the necessary powers, we should be operating very quickly in Westminster to give them those powers to deal with this enduring emergency.</s>BREMNER: To people living close to beauty spots like Durdle Door in Dorset, it feels like an invasion. One councilor trying to turn back vehicles was physically and verbally abused.</s>LAURA MILLER, DORSET COUNTY BOARD: Unfortunately, he then came back at me through his car window, and fortunately, it landed at my feet. See, the main problem is, the aggression. People traveled four or five hours in a car. And they're hot. They're grumpy.</s>BREMNER: Along the south coast, they're attempting to stop the crowds, and a second wave of COVID, but it's a battle they fear they may be losing. Julia Bremner, ITV News.</s>VAUSE: Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who's spoken out often about the threat of the pandemic, spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper, and Dr. Sanjay Gupta about this latest coronavirus outbreak, just a few hours ago. You can watch that interview and more during CNN's global town hall, "CORONAVIRUS FACTS AND FEARS," a little less than two hours from now, 7 a.m. in London, 2 p.m. Friday in Hong Kong. Only here, on CNN. Well, the coronavirus did not stop thousands of fans from celebrating in the streets of Liverpool. Well, Liverpool ended their 30-year-long wait for the lead title after winning the English Premier League for the first time ever. CNN WORLD SPORT's Alex Thomas has more now from a joyous Anfield Stadium.</s>ALEX THOMAS, WORLD SPORT (voice-over): Liverpool's footballers celebrating a moment of history: the club's first Premier League title. Social media video shows them gathered to watch together, as their closest challengers, Manchester City, lost to Chelsea. If they were happy, the fans were ecstatic. More than an hour after clinching the title, without kicking a ball, the party is in full swing here at Anfield Stadium. We've heard car horns beeping, flares and fireworks being set off. You can see how much it means to these Liverpool fans to be champions of England after an agonizing wait of 30 years.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Long, long wait. It doesn't feel real yet. I mean, obviously, it is real. It's amazing. Just to see it, given we couldn't be on the ground to see us winning it. And hopefully, we'll get to see them lifted up after the game. But it doesn't matter. We're champions, and no one's taken that away from us, now Premier League champions.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the super club (ph). Is when the young people, 2019. Now, it's just the icing on the cake, winning the Premier League is the run of the moment,</s>THOMAS: Manchester City had to beat Chelsea to take the Premier League title race into next week, but fell behind to a goal from U.S. Star Christian Pulisic. City equalized with a stunning free kick from Kevin de Bruyne, regaining the momentum. But Chelsea refused to give it in, winning a penalty, when Fernandinho was sent off for handball. Willian, scoring from the spot to seal a 2-1 victory that ended City's reign, and gave Liverpool their 19th English championship title, but their first in the Premier League era. Boss Jurgen Klopp telling Sky Sports he did it for the supporters.</s>JURGEN KLOPP, LIVERPOOL MANAGER: It's for you all there. It's for you. It's incredible. I hope you stay at home, or go in front of your house if you want, but not -- do not more, and celebrate it. It's all here, and it's all here. We've been doing it together in this moment, and it's a joy to do it for you, I can tell you.</s>THOMAS (on camera): The local authorities did warn fans to try to stay away from here because of the threat of coronavirus. But you can understand why they wanted a party after waiting so long to be champions of England once again. The team that dominated European, and English football, throughout the 1970s and 1980s are back where they, feel they belong. The best team in this country. Alex Thomas, CNN, Liverpool.</s>VAUSE: Well, Formula 1 working to improve its record on diversity. The former boss didn't help a whole lot. Listen to this.</s>BERNIE ECCLESTONE, FORMER FORMULA ONE CHIEF EXECUTIVE: In a lot of cases, black people are more racist than what white people are.</s>AMANDA DAVIS, CNN SPORT: What makes you say that?</s>VAUSE: Yes, what does make him say that? We'll find out in our interview with Bernie Ecclestone in a moment.