Coronavirus Developments: School Reopenings, Hefty Fines, And Manufacturing Deals

New York Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that schools can reopen in the fall while Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker imposed a $2,500 fine for businesses that don’t follow the state’s face mask mandate, and Pfizer and Gilead Sciences made a deal for manufacturing remdesivir.

Cuomo’s decision to reopen New York schools for in-person learning will allow local districts to determine whether they can safely hold in-person classes for students in the fall. The state has 749 school districts – all of which will need to submit a proposal on how they will keep students and staff safe from the spread of the coronavirus.

Cuomo said the decision still wages on whether or not a school district is in an area of New York that has an average rate of positivity below 5% - the same rate that has been recommended by the World Health Organization to reopen schools.

The majority of New York has a 1% positivity rate for the virus, including New York City, coming out of a surge of coronavirus cases that were seen at the height of the pandemic.

“You look at our infection rate, we probably are in the best situation in the country right now,” Cuomo told reporters on a conference call. “If anybody can open schools, we can open schools. And that’s true for every region in the state period.”

Cuomo did say that if the positivity rate increases, he will shut down schools across the state.

Pritzker has made a strict mandate for businesses that don’t follow the state’s face mask order. An up to $2,500 fine will be imposed on those businesses that violate the order and don’t enforce the mandate on people.

“It's clear there is still an even greater need to get people to wear masks - especially to protect frontline workers, whether they're at the front of a store asking you to put on your mask or whether they're responding to 911 calls to save those in distress,” Pritzker said in a statement announcing the fines.

“These rules will help ensure that the minority of people who refuse to act responsibly won't take our state backward,” he added.

Under the order, businesses, schools, and child care centers will receive a written notice that encourages them to comply with the state face mask mandate. Those that don’t comply with the notice will be ordered to remove all or some of their patrons with a further violation of the order resulting in fines from $75 to $2,500.

Illinois has over 188,000 positive coronavirus cases and over 7,500 COVID-19 deaths, with a 4.4% positivity rate.

To help reduce the coronavirus rate, Pfizer and Gilead Sciences have entered into an agreement to facilitate the manufacture of remdesivir to speed up delivery of the drug to the market in masses.

Through the partnership, Pfizer will provide contract manufacturing services at its McPherson, Kansas, plant to produce and supply the antiviral drug for Gilead.

“From the beginning it was clear that no one company or innovation would be able to bring an end to the COVID-19 crisis,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement.

“Pfizer’s agreement with Gilead is an excellent example of members of the innovation ecosystem working together to deliver medical solutions.

“Together, we are more powerful than alone. ... In that spirit, we are pleased that Gilead is using our manufacturing capacity to help facilitate supply of this medicine to patients as quickly as possible.”

Gilead is looking to supply enough remdesivir to treat more than 2 million COVID-19 patients by the end of 2020 with “several million more” doses to be made available in 2021.

In other coronavirus news:

• Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has postponed the reopening plans for the state “indefinitely.” The announcement came along with stricter limits on large gatherings to 50 people and a mandate for restaurants to only serve alcohol if the order contains food. Baker said, “bars masquerading as restaurants will be closed.”
• The Sahara Las Vegas is the first casino to be accused of violating social distancing mandates. A two-count complaint was filed by the Nevada Gaming Control Board against the Las Vegas Strip property, citing two instances where social distancing requirements were allegedly violated – a lunch event and at gaming tables. It was unclear if the casino would face penalties for the violations.
• Hawaii has reinstated its interisland travel restrictions, requiring travelers arriving at the islands of Kauai, Hawaii, Maui, and Kalawao to quarantine for 14 days starting Tuesday. The restriction comes after Gov. David Ige lifted the restriction on June 16. The reinstatement was issued after an uptick in positive coronavirus cases was seen in Oahu, Ige said.
• The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 10.2%, down 0.9%, according to a report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report was hailed by President Trump as being “great” as he cited it as a sign that the economy was improving amid the coronavirus pandemic. Labor Department reported 1.8 million jobs were created in July.
• As many as 250,000 people will descend Friday on South Dakota for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally. City officials determined that event could on safely in an 8-1 vote giving power to the mayor to halt the event if the situation becomes unsafe. More than half of the residents of the city wanted the rally canceled for the year. Sturgis is one of the biggest motorcycle rallies in the world.
• The U.S. reported over 160,000 COVID-19 deaths on Friday, a number that researchers say could reach 300,000 by December, the Washington Post reported. But if 95% of people across the country wear face masks when in public that number could be reduced by 66,000, the researchers said. Globally there are over 710,000 COVID-19 deaths and over 19 million positive cases of the coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.