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The Bahamas begins a two-week national lockdown Tuesday due to a spike in coronavirus cases. Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis announced the restriction in a national address Monday night, saying the decision was based on the advice of health experts. Minnis said, officials will evaluate the impact of the lockdown after two weeks and the decision to relax or extend the lockdown will be made in part by the cooperation of the people living on the islands. Minnis said, citizens who break their quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus will be fined. Travel for essentials such as food, water, medicines is restricted to Monday, Wednesday and Friday, from 7 am to 5 pm for the general public and essential workers have an additional day on Saturday from 7am to 1 pm. Minnis said, the onus is on the Bahamians and residents to work together and control the spread of COVID-19. The prime minister added that health care services and accommodations are being overwhelmed because of the rapid increase in coronavirus cases mostly among people 20 to 40 years old. The Bahamas confirmed the vast majority of the 679 COVID-19 cases occurred in the past month. So far, there are 14 coronavirus deaths.  
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With the coronavirus spreading widely across the United States, the White House’s pandemic task force coordinator is advising those living with vulnerable people to wear a mask at home, as well as in public places.  “If you’re in multigenerational households and there’s an outbreak in your rural area or in your city, you need to really consider wearing a mask at home,” Deborah Birx said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union.” The United States is recording more than 60,000 new cases and more than 1,000 deaths per day on average, according to the COVID Tracking Project.Birx said the pandemic was entering a “new phase” in the United States.  While outbreaks were focused in large cities in the early months, “this epidemic right now is different and it’s more widespread and it’s both rural and urban,” she said. President Donald Trump called Birx’s comments “pathetic.” He tweeted she “took the bait” after criticism from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who said Birx had previously presented too optimistic an outlook.So Crazy Nancy Pelosi said horrible things about Dr. Deborah Birx, going after her because she was too positive on the very good job we are doing on combatting the China Virus, including Vaccines & Therapeutics. In order to counter Nancy, Deborah took the bait & hit us. Pathetic!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 3, 2020 The coronavirus can spread from infected people before they show symptoms, or from people who never show symptoms. One study estimates that more than half of all cases derive from presymptomatic or asymptomatic people.The safest best, Birx said, is “assuming that you’re positive if you have individuals in your households with comorbidities” such as diabetes or heart or lung disease. Sorry, but your browser cannot support embedded video of this type, you can
A man wearing a face mask walks past a coronavirus awareness mural depicting children of various faiths praying while wearing face masks in Depok, Indonesia, Wednesday, July 8, 2020. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)Experts are increasingly convinced that the virus can hang around in the air in droplets expelled by an infected person for longer than previously suspected, especially indoors.  Epidemiologists have assumed that large droplets an infected person releases while coughing or sneezing, or even shouting or singing, fall to the ground within two meters, hence the social distancing recommendation.  “Then we find out from the aerosol particle scholars that say, ‘You know, there are larger particles than that that stay floating around a lot longer, so you shouldn’t assume they all go to the ground,'” said National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Anthony Fauci in an interview Monday with the Journal of the American Medical Association.Scientists are still debating how big a role airborne transmission plays in spreading COVID-19. But, Fauci added, “The one thing that it does tell you that’s important is that you really better wear a mask.” While breezes quickly blow away floating virus particles outdoors, “We need to pay a little bit more attention now to the recirculation of air indoors,” Fauci added, “which tells you that mask-wearing indoors … is something that is as important as wearing masks when you’re outside dealing with individuals where you don’t know where they came from.”  
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Hurricane Isaias is continuing to make landfall in southeastern North Carolina. The National Hurricane Center’s website said, radar and surface views showed the eye of Isaias first moved inland near Ocean Isle Beach, with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 km/h) just after 11pm EDT. Less than an hour later, a weather station on Johnny Mercer Pier at Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, measured sustained winds of 62 mph (100 km/h).  Heavy rain and coastal storm surge flooding is expected.   Forecasters said parts of Eastern South Carolina and Eastern North Carolina can expect rainfall amounts of 7 to 15 centimeters (3 to 6 inches).  Isaias is expected to move quickly through the mid-Atlantic and Northeast on Tuesday and Tuesday night affecting the states of Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York Pennsylvania, Washington, D.C. and New England.   Tropical storm warnings are in effect from the Virginia border north to Maine, in the upper northeast. President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in North Carolina to free up funds for federal officials to help towns and cities coordinate disaster relief efforts.  Trump made a similar declaration Saturday for Florida, which was spared the full impact of the storm.  
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Media reports say a suicide bombing attack killed at least four people, including the bomber at a Mogadishu restaurant, which is popular with security forces and government workers. Several others were injured in Monday’s attack on the Lul Yamani restaurant, in the Somali capital.  Police say the attacker detonated the explosives at the entrance to the restaurant after being stopped by a restaurant security guard. There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Islamist al-Shabaab militant group is suspected of being involved because its history of targeting security forces.  
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The deaths of a number of African American men in police custody have led to a reexamination of U.S. law enforcement and calls to defund local police. One retired police official in Los Angeles says partnerships between the police and community can be part of the solution. Mike O’Sullivan reports.Camera:  Mike O’Sullivan       Produced by:  Rob Raffaele 
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Isaias strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane hours before it is expected to make landfall along the coast of the Carolinas.  The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning from South Santee River, South Carolina, to Surf City, North Carolina. The storm’s maximum sustained winds reached 121 kph (75 mph) Monday evening and was centered about 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Workers stack sandbags around a hydro-dam as they prepare for Tropical Storm Isaias in the lower Manhattan area of New York City, Aug 3, 2020.North of the expected landfall area, tropical storm warnings were in effect as far away as Long Island, New York and the Merrimack River in New Hampshire. Forecasters said the Carolinas and other states in the region can expect rainfall amounts of 7 to 15 centimeters (3 to 6 inches). Winds along the coast of the Carolinas are expected to exceed 60 kph (37 mph) in some places. The storm is also expected to bring a storm surge of up to 1.5 meters (5 feet) in portions of North and South Carolina. The mayor of Charleston, South Carolina, John Tecklenburg, said city offices would close early Monday but said he did not think there was a need to issue a curfew.  President Donald Trump declared a state of emergency in North Carolina ahead of the storm’s arrival there to free up funds for federal officials to help towns and cities coordinate disaster relief efforts. Trump made a similar declaration Saturday for Florida. 
 
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Egypt is reopening churches for the first time in nearly four months, after a major decline in the number of recorded coronavirus cases in recent days. The number of new cases is also down in Sudan, while Libya, Tunisia and Algeria have been witnessing an increase.Worshippers gathered for the first church service in nearly four months in Egypt’s historic port city of Alexandria. Authorities reopened churches across the country on Monday.Those attending appeared to abide by strict safety rules regarding social distancing and the use of face masks.Mosques are open on weekdays but remain closed for Friday prayers and major holidays.Egypt’s Health Ministry indicated Sunday that there were just 167 new cases during the previous 24 hours and only 31 deaths. Figures for new cases have fallen dramatically in recent days, prompting the government to relax a number of restrictions.Neighboring Sudan has also witnessed a relative drop in the number of cases in recent days with under 100 new cases per day for most of the past week.Nearby Libya, however, is witnessing a rise in the number of new infections, according to Arab media.Libyan news channel 218TV reported that the Islamist militia-dominated port city of Misrata has been placed under curfew by authorities after six people died of COVID-19 over the weekend. Arab media reports say that mercenaries from outside Libya have been entering the country through Misrata. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the coronavirus.Children wear protective face masks as they look at clothes in a shop ahead of the Eid al-Adha celebrations amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, in Misrata, Libya, July 28, 2020.Paul Sullivan, who is a professor at the National Defense University in Washington, told VOA that he thinks the recent increase in the number of cases in Libya “is likely due in part to the movement of mercenaries into the country.”He added that in periods of conflict, “social distancing takes a back seat, particularly if you are a mercenary who is not part of the community.”Meanwhile, Algeria, with a population of about 44 million people, has seen a rise in the number of cases to more than 600 a day in recent days, double the number of infections from just a month ago. The European Union suspended travel from Algeria to the EU last week due to the increase.Said Sadek, well-known Egyptian political sociologist who is now in Tunisia, told VOA that he thinks there has been a rise in the number of coronavirus infections in Tunisia and other parts of north Africa, “because many people began relaxing their behavior after the number of cases dropped.” He added, “Many family members visit from France and other parts of Europe, bringing the virus back with them.”Saudi TV reported that there were “no reported cases of COVID-19” among those who participated in this year’s annual hajj, or Islamic pilgrimage. Saudi Information Minister Majed al Qasseri noted that “the extensive spread of the coronavirus and its clear danger to humanity forced Saudi Arabia to seriously limit the number of people attending this year’s pilgrimage.” 
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Fake news about the coronavirus can do real harm. Polygraph.info is spotlighting fact-checks from other reliable sources here​.Daily Debunk”Coronavirus: Iran cover-up of deaths revealed by data leak,” BBC, August 3.Social Media DisinfoFILE PHOTO: A sign marks the headquarters of Moderna Therapeutics, which is developing a vaccine against COVID-19, in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., May 18, 2020.Circulating on social media: Claim that a viral text accurately outlines how biotechnology company Moderna is linked to Dr. Anthony Fauci, Bill Gates, George Soros, and Jeffrey Epstein.Verdict: FalseRead the full story at: SnopesFactual Reads on CoronavirusWhat’s Happening in the Brain with COVID-19?
It’s unclear if SARS-CoV-2 is acting directly on the brain, but we can still investigate if the brain is being damaged when people are sick with COVID-19.
— NeuWrite San Diego, July 30
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