www.zerohedge.com 
Summary:
- US deaths top 160k
- Florida reports another 187 deaths, cases climb
- NY cases top 700
- Hong Kong cases top 4,000
- Germany “R” rate hits highest in 10 days
- Denmark says may asks citizens to wear masks more frequently
* * *
It’s official: The US has passed 160,000 confirmed deaths, according to figures reported by state health authorities and catalogued by Bloomberg, Johns Hopkins and other data providers. According to BBG & JHU, the US added 59,202 new cases (+1.2% ), on par with the average daily over the previous seven days. Some 1,256 deaths were reported yesterday, the fourth consecutive day with more than 1,000, but fewer than the 1,842 reported the previous day. America has now confirmed 4,941,635 cases (plus thousands more logged as ‘probable’ ones, and potentially millions of “asymptomatic” cases that will never be documented) and 161,347 deaths (plus thousands that have probably gone uncounted).
Of course, every time US deaths pass a big, round number, progressives come out with the pitchforks and conveniently try to “remind” indoctrinate the public to believe these deaths are Trump’s fault, and his alone.
Country club members booed because a reporter asked Pres Trump why they were not wearing masks as they watched Trump’s press conference.
Trump said the club members were engaged in a “peaceful protest.” Crowd cheered.
Note: More than 160K Americans have died from COVID.
One day after Gov Andrew Cuomo bucked the national Democratic trend and declared that schools in New York would be allowed to reopen, New York reported 703 new cases, a 0.2% rise, which is in line with the average increase from the prior weeks (and months). NY’s state of spread has more or less plateaued at between 500 and 750 cases per day, with few exceptions. Additionally, the state reported five more deaths, the same number as the day before. Total hospitalizations in the state that had been the center of the U.S. outbreak remained low, at 573.
Today's update on the numbers:
Of the 74,857 tests reported yesterday, 703 were positive (0.93% of total).
Total hospitalizations are at 573.
Sadly, there were 5 COVID fatalities yesterday. pic.twitter.com/UrtIRGhfb6
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) August 8, 2020
In Florida, health officials reported 187 COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, along with the highest single-day total of new cases in a week with 8,502 cases, though the 7-day average for cases continued to move lower.
Now, 8,238 people have died and 526,577 people have been infected with the virus. The state’s positivity rate declined slightly, but was mostly steady at 9.9.
It’s been three consecutive days of increases in both COVID-19 cases and deaths as both seem to bounce back after the hurricane (though we sincerely doubt the hurricane’s tour stopped people from succumbing to the virus).
Florida reported a record 257 deaths on July 31, when the state’s outbreak appeared to peak.
As we await case and death data from the rest of the US, here’s what else is happening in COVID-19 news world-wide.
Vietnam’s health ministry reported 21 new cases Saturday, of which 20 cases were linked to the coastal city of Danang, and one case was imported. After a lengthy stretch of no infections and deaths, the country has confirmed 353 infections tied to the Danang July 25 outbreak. Vietnam has a total of 810 cases with 10 deaths.
Amid a non-stop flurry of vaccine news out of the US, Europe, China and Russia, Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics, one of the most closely-watched (in the west, and China) Chinese vaccine projects. The company said Saturday it may test its coronavirus vaccine on pregnant women to study its ability to protect groups most vulnerable to virus. The Chinese company, which was the first in the world to start human testing of vaccines against the virus in March, “may include pregnant women and look at the shot’s ability to protect” young people during future clinical trials, said CanSino founder Yu Xuefeng during a webinar hosted by Hillhouse Capital on Saturday.
More signs of slowdown in Iran after deaths and cases surged in the country’s latest wave: single-day deaths fell to the lowest in six weeks with 132, with the number of new cases at a month-low of 2,125. Iran now has 18,264 confirmed deaths and 324,692 infections, with many, many more of both suspected.
Belgium, which has emerged as a hotspot in Europe’s nascent “second wave”, said on Saturday that 768 more infections have been detected, after 858 the day before. Five more deaths were reported, bringing the total number of fatalities to 9,866.
Hong Kong reported 69 new cases Saturday, pushing its total north of 4,000. Indonesia posted 2,277 new infections, lifting its tally above 123,500.
Meanwhile, in Denmark, where the country’s committee of experts leading its response have disagreed on the efficacy of masks, said the country likely won’t reopen nightclubs – as it had planned – due to an increase in cases. Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Danes may also have to get used to wearing face masks in public (at the moment, they are not mandatory, though Danes are asked to wear them on public transit).
Starting Saturday, Germany will test all returning travelers as the country’s “R” value climbs to 1.16 on Friday, its highest level in a week-and-a-half.
Here’s how the worst outbreaks in the world are progressing, per JHU:
