Coronavirus US: Miami to close beaches as cases rise in more than 30 states – live

A small city on the outskirts of Houston has instituted a curfew starting Saturday night due to surging cases of the novel coronavirus, the latest move by officials in a dramatic retreat in the aggressive reopening of America’s second-biggest state.

The mayor of Galena Park, a community of 10,000 people east of Houston, said she was heeding a warning from Harris County judge Lina Hidalgo, who on Friday raised the public threat level to its most severe, a sign people should shelter at home.

“It is crucial to continue to practice good hygiene, stay home as much as possible, avoid unnecessary trips, gatherings, and wear a face-covering at all times when you leave your home,” mayor Esmeralda Moya said in a statement late on Friday.

Galena Park’s curfew will run from 10pm to 5am daily.

The US recorded more than 45,000 new cases of Covid-19 on Friday, the largest single-day increase of the pandemic, bringing the total number of Americans who have tested positive to at least 2.46m. Hospitalizations in Texas, reported by state health officials, have now skyrocketed more than threefold over the past month.

“The harsh truth is that our current infection rate is on pace to overwhelm our hospitals in the very near future,” Hidalgo said at a press conference on Friday. “We opened too quickly.”

Donald Trump’s motorcade has just arrived at Trump National Golf Club in Loudoun County, according to the White House press pool.

According to CNN senior congressional correspondent Manu Raju, this marks the 271st day he’s spent at one of his golf clubs in the 1,254 days since taking office.

The pool reporter notes a group of protesters were there to greet the president outside the club, holding signs that included ‘Trump makes me sick’ and ‘Dump Trump’, while “a woman walking a small white dog nearby gave the motorcade a middle-finger salute”.

The brother of a 20-year-old student who was shot and seriously injured by police at a protest in Austin, Texas, says officers’ use of less lethal munitions, such as beanbags, should be reviewed. The AP reports:

When a participant at a rally in Austin to protest police brutality threw a rock at a line of officers in the Texas capital, officers responded by firing beanbag rounds ammunition that law enforcement deems “less lethal” than bullets.

A beanbag cracked 20-year-old Justin Howell’s skull and, according to his family, damaged his brain. Adding to the pain, police admit the Texas State University student wasn’t the intended target.

Protesters took to the streets in Austin and across the nation following the May 25 police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In some instances, police reacted with force so extreme that while their intent may not be to kill, the effects were devastating.

Pressure has mounted for a change in police tactics since Howell was injured. He was not accused of any crime. He was hospitalized in critical condition on May 31 and was discharged Wednesday to a long-term rehabilitation facility for intensive neurological, physical and occupational therapy. His brother has questioned why no one is talking about police use of less lethal but still dangerous munitions.

“If we only talk about policing in terms of policies and processes or the weapons that police use when someone dies or when they are ‘properly lethal’ and not less lethal, we’re missing a big portion of the conversation,” said Josh Howell, a computer science graduate student at Texas A&M University.

The Austin Police Department said in a news release that, before June 1, its officers used Def-Tec 12-gauge beanbag munitions on protesters. According to the manufacturer’s website, they have a velocity of 184 mph. Howell said any ammunition fired at that kind of speed has the potential to be deadly.

“Anything shot at 90 miles per hour is lethal,” Howell said.

My colleagues Dominic Rushe and Amanda Holpuch have reported on the impact coronavirus could have on people’s health insurance.

Millions of Americans who have survived Covid-19 or face future infections could lose their insurance or be barred from getting coverage should the Trump administration successfully repeal Obamacare.

The Trump administration asked the supreme court late Thursday to overturn the Affordable Care Act – a move that, if successful, would bring a permanent end to the health insurance reform law popularly known as Obamacare.

Under the ACA, insurance companies cannot deny coverage for pre-existing conditions. Its abolition would mean millions of Americans who have had or have cancer, multiple sclerosis or other diseases would struggle to find insurance.