The Johns Hopkins COVID-19 Dashboard for Wednesday morning, July 15, at 7:34 a.m.:

Worldwide cases: 13,391,024      Worldwide deaths: 580,388

U.S. cases:  3,459,053   U.S. deaths: 136,900   

According to the Dashboard, the reported worldwide cases increased by 216,283 in the last 24 hours, and 5,773 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported.

According to the Johns Hopkins Dashboard, the United States has added 72,000  cases in the last 24 hours, and deaths attributed to COVID-19 have increased by 916.    The United States has just over one quarter of all the cases in the world.

The Trump Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) sent out a notification last Friday that hospitals must now report COVID-19-related data not to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN), part of the Centers for Disease Control, as has been the practice, but directly to HHS.   The NHSN has been used to report all kinds of information relative to infections, vaccinations, disease spread, hospital capacity, amount of Personal Protective Equipment on hand, and more.   According to the CDC, “CDC’s National Healthcare Safety Network is the nation’s most widely used healthcare-associated infection tracking system.”  The education blog EOSCU says more than 17,000 hospitals and healthcare facilities report data to the NHSN.  According to the Washington Post, hospital administrators are concerned that this change may lead to inaccurate information being released to the public.

The increase in cases on the mainland continues to be alarming. The southern part of the U.S. mainland  In California, Governor Gavin Newsom has ordered bars, indoor dining, movie theaters, and wineries statewide, and in around 30 counties, closures of gyms, churches, and nonessential offices.   The Tournament of Roses just announced that the Rose Bowl Parade, scheduled for January 1, 2021, will not be held.

In Oklahoma, one of many states where cases are increasing, Governor Kevin Stitt announced he has tested positive for COVID-19.