US cases trend down, but Fla. deaths surging

New U.S. COVID-19 cases showed signs of trending downward Thursday while deaths in Florida rose sharply one day after the U.S. death toll surpassed 150,000.

Based on a seven-day rolling average, daily cases in the U.S. have fallen to 65,266, down about 3% from a week ago, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Researchers prefer to see two weeks of trending data, but University of Florida biostatistician Ira Longini said he thinks “the direction is real.”

More good news: The percentage of positive tests nationwide dropped from an average of 8.5% to 7.8% over the past week. Still, Dr. Ali Khan, dean of the University of Nebraska College of Public Health, warns that yet a another boom in cases is possible. “This disease will continue to hopscotch around until it finds tinder – susceptible individuals – like any good fire,” Khan said.

In Florida, for the third consecutive day the state reported a new daily record for deaths Thursday. The 253 fatalities represented a jump of almost 20% from the record the previous day. The total death toll among Florida residents now stands at 6,586, almost half of them in July.

The state’s largest school district announced that it will begin the year virtually Aug. 31, despite a push by Gov. Ron DeSantis for in-classroom options. All of Florida’s state-supported testing sites were to temporarily close due to the threat of Tropical Storm Isaias, and reopen after the threat is gone, by Aug. 5 at the latest, authorities said.

The U.S. has recorded more than 4.4 million cases, with more than 17 million globally.

Other states set new records for deaths

A USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins data through late Wednesday shows seven states set records for new cases while eight states had a record number of deaths. New case records were set in Arkansas, Hawaii, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico and West Virginia. Record numbers of deaths were reported in Arkansas, California, Florida, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee and Texas.

Woman who trashed Target mask display cites mental illness

Melissa Rein Lively’s spiral in an Arizona Target was caught on video when she recorded herself destroying a mask display in early July. She says she regrets her explosion and is in treatment for mental illness. Lively, the CEO and founder of a public relations firm, said she lost all of her clients and her husband filed for divorce after the videos of her expletive-filled rants went viral. “I think mental illness has been really something that has not been addressed as a result of this pandemic,” she told USA TODAY. “Because what happened to me was scary and it changed my life forever. I felt I had absolutely no control over my actions.”

Calif. withholds money from defiant cities

Gov. Gavin Newsom is withholding federal coronavirus relief funds from two Central Valley cities defying his public health orders by allowing all businesses to reopen. The governor blocked nearly $65,000 from Atwater in Merced County and more than $35,000 from Coalinga in Fresno County.

The cities were notified last week by the state’s Office of Emergency Services of the possibility of losing funds if they continued to defy state orders. But local officials chose to stand firm with their decisions.

Attorney General Barr tests negative

A day after his brief interaction with Rep. Louie Gohmert, who has contracted the coronavirus, Attorney General Bill Barr tested negative, the Justice Department reported. Barr took the test after being notified of Gohmert’s positive result.

Gohmert joins a growing number of lawmakers to contract the virus. The Texas Republican has previously refused to wear a mask while speaking on the House floor, and reporters on Capitol Hill have frequently spotted him without one.

Gohmert said he has worn a mask more “in the last week or two” and suggested he may have contracted the virus by moving it around on his face. “I can’t help but think if I hadn’t been wearing a mask so much in the last 10 days or so, I really wonder if I wouldn’t have gotten it,” he said.

EU extends ban on American travelers

For the second time this month, the European Union extended its travel ban on Americans.

The EU first started lifting its travel restrictions outside the bloc on July 1, welcoming visitors from 14 countries, including Canada, South Korea and Australia. The U.S. was left off that list, and the EU extended its ban on Americans visiting the bloc July 16.

The announcement, by the European Council, came after EU officials conducted their biweekly review of travel restrictions, examining coronavirus trends and containment measures in each country to determine whether to add or narrow the list of permitted travelers.

The key measurement: The outbreak in a country needs to be equally contained – or better – than in the EU.

Contributing: John Bacon, Jorge L. Ortiz, Jason Lalljee, Kevin Johnson, David Jackson, Ginny Beagan, Kelly Tyko, Mike Stucca, Cheryl McCloud, Curtis Tate, Deirdre Shesgreen