Northeastern University says it will rescind admission to incoming students who don’t agree to follow social distancing guidelines
From CNN’s Evan Simko-Bednarski and Laura Ly
Incoming students planning to attend Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts, this fall will need to find another school if they don’t agree to follow the university’s social gathering guidelines, according to a letter published Saturday on the school’s website.
New students who say they plan to either host or attend parties will have their offers of admission rescinded, according to the letter from Madeleine Estabrook, the university’s senior vice chancellor for student affairs.
The schools also will take action against current students who partake in social gatherings.
“Current students can expect removal from the community, including the immediate loss of university housing,” Estabrook wrote. “Disciplinary processes will be expedited so that Northeastern can move swiftly to protect the health and wellbeing of everyone.”
The letter comes after the university says it was made aware of “several students expressing on social media their intent to gather in large groups and to engage in parties.”
Estabrook wrote those students have been contacted directly by her office.
“Our own university standards are clear: social gatherings that do not follow healthy distancing rules put everyone’s health at risk and are strictly prohibited,” Estabrook wrote. “Please consider these expectations — and the consequences for violating them — carefully before fall classes commence.”
As of Saturday, Massachusetts has had 115,850 confirmed cases of Covid-19 since the start of the outbreak, according to the state’s official tally.
NOTE: These numbers were released by the state of Massachusetts, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
Pennsylvania congressman tests positive for Covid-19 and won’t vote on bill that will provide more funding for Postal Service
From CNN’s Elizabeth Joseph
Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Dan Meuser announced Saturday that he has tested positive for coronavirus, and as a result will not be voting on HR 8015, the House Democrats’ bill to provide more money to the US Postal Service.
“I have been following all CDC health and safety guidelines, and will be taking all necessary actions, including postponing upcoming public events and working from home in quarantine until I receive a negative test result,” he said in a statement. “Because of this, I will not be present or voting today on H.R. 8015. I will, however, submit for the record that I would have voted ‘NAY,'” he said.
Global coronavirus cases surpass 23 million
From CNN’s Samantha Beech
The number of people who have been infected with the novel coronavirus worldwide has reached 23.05 million on Saturday, according to the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center. JHU is reporting 801,447 people have died around the world.
The United States has the highest number of coronavirus infections and deaths in the world, followed by Brazil.
JHU reports the US has 5.6 million coronavirus cases and 176,070 deaths.
An individual linked to Covid-19 outbreak at Maine wedding reception has died, hospital says
From CNN’s Laura Ly
One of the individuals who tested positive for Covid-19 after a wedding reception in Millinocket, Maine has died, according to a statement from Robert Peterson, CEO of Millinocket Regional Hospital.
We are sorry to share that this patient passed away early (Friday) afternoon. Our thoughts and sympathies are with her family as they cope with this difficult loss,” Peterson said.
CNN has previously reported that there have been at least 32 positive cases linked to the August 7 wedding. Peterson said all patients who tested positive have been contacted, given care instructions, and have been directed to quarantine.
“The hospital continues to have adequate capacity to manage this outbreak and adequate stock levels of personal protective equipment,” Peterson said.
Georgia now has more than 5,000 Covid-19 deaths
From CNN’s Kay Jones
The Georgia Department of Public Health reported 95 new Covid-19 related deaths on Saturday, bringing the state’s total to 5,092.
The department reported 2,615 new cases for a total of 252,222 since the pandemic began.
The state’s positivity rate is 9.2% for Saturday and 10.6% overall since the pandemic began, according to the department.
Note: These numbers were released by Georgia’s public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
House Oversight Committee releases internal Postal Service documents showing service drop
From CNN’s Phil Mattingly and Sam Fossum
As the US House of Representatives debates legislation to provide additional funding for the US Postal Service and ban operational changes that have slowed mail delivery, the House Oversight Committee has released a new internal USPS slide presentation prepared for the Postmaster General that shows reduced service since July.
“To those who still claim there are ‘no delays’ and that these reports are just ‘conspiracy theories,’ I hope this new data causes them to re-think their position and support our urgent legislation today,” House Oversight chair Carolyn Maloney said in a statement. “We have all seen the headlines from every corner of our country, we have read the stories and seen pictures, we have heard directly from our constituents, and these new documents show that the delays are far worse than we were told.”
According to the documents, obtained and released by the committee, there has been an overall drop in service across all mail types including First-Class Mail, Marketing Mail and Periodicals. The slide show is dated Aug. 12, 2020.
CNN has reached out to USPS for comment on the documents.
Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has previously acknowledged a dip in service, telling Postal Service employees that changes he oversaw have had “unintended consequences,” but he continued to describe them as necessary.
Some context: During a US Senate committee hearing on Friday, DeJoy said that a “substantial portion” of the current delays stem from complications caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“A substantial portion of our delays are related to Covid. I won’t go as far as to not say that we had maybe a 4 or 5% hit on our service level or delay. All sorts of mail: marketing mail, everything because it got stuck on a dock,” he told lawmakers. “And we’re drastically bringing that down. And once that is aligned, we should have a smooth running system, at a, you know, much more high performance grade.”
DeJoy, along with USPS Board of Governors chairman Robert Duncan, will testify before the Oversight Committee Monday morning.
New Jersey reports lowest Covid-19 hospitalization rate since March 24
From CNN’s Elizabeth Joseph
New Jersey has reported its lowest number of coronavirus-related hospitalizations since March 24, Gov. Phil Murphy tweeted Saturday afternoon.
The state currently has 376 Covid-19 hospitalizations, and at its peak had 8,013 hospitalizations.
“It’s incredible what we’ve achieved by pulling together as one New Jersey family, but we’re not over the finish line yet. Keep it up,” the governor said.
Read the tweet:
Covid-19 death toll in California nears 12,000
From CNN’s Melissa Alonso and Jack Hannah
California health officials reported 6,556 new Covid-19 cases for the past two days, bringing the total number to 656,892, according to the California Department of Public Health (CDPH).
The 6,556 new cases are not a single day count since it includes “cases from prior to yesterday,” CDPH said on Saturday in a daily update.
The 7-day positivity rate in California is 5.7% and the 14-day positivity rate is 6.4%, CDPH said.
California has reported 11,988 Covid-19 deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to CDPH.
To note: These numbers were released by California’s public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.
South Carolina nears 110,000 coronavirus cases
From CNN’s Natasha Chen
South Carolina’s Health Department recorded 825 newly confirmed cases of Covid-19 Saturday, bringing the statewide total to 109,962.
The health department also reported 33 new deaths from the virus, bringing the state’s death toll to 2,372.
On Friday, the state’s percentage of positive cases was 13.7%.
South Carolina does not have a statewide mask mandate as the governor has previously said it is encouraged but must be mandated at a local level.
