Immune To COVID? New Study Suggests Why

More than 1,000 West Point seniors wearing face masks marched onto the U.S. Military Academy's main parade field, known as the Plain, Saturday morning, after two weeks of isolation and other coronavirus restrictions ahead of their commencement ceremony.

President Donald Trump was in attendance as the keynote speaker. The graduates took off their masks as they sat down in chairs several feet apart on the parade field. Spectators, including family members, weren't allowed to attend.

The former cadets, now newly minted military officers, were sent home in March due to the coronavirus pandemic. They returned to campus after it was announced that Trump would speak at the ceremony. The students spent two weeks back on campus divided into isolated groups of about 250 that ate and lived together, according to The New York Times.

They took their meals in shifts and exercised on marked, socially distanced running paths. Fifteen of them tested positive for coronavirus and were quarantined separately, but have since rejoined the rest of the class.

More than 7.7 million people are known to have been infected with COVID-19 worldwide, and at least 427,670 have died, according to data tracked by Johns Hopkins University. The U.S. has recorded more than 2 million cases and 115,059 deaths.

Latest Updates

United States:

-Bars in New Orleans were allowed to reopen Saturday, with limited capacity and other restrictions in place, including no live music.

-Students at New Hampshire's Kennett High School graduated by riding a chairlift to the top of Cranmore Mountain ski resort, picking up their diplomas, and riding back down. The students, dressed in caps and gowns, were each allowed to be joined on the lift by four guests.

-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a daily news briefing Saturday that 32 New Yorkers died of COVID-19 on Friday, the lowest since the coronavirus pandemic took hold in the city around the middle of March. Cuomo said the state also saw its lower number of hospitalizations since March 20. Nearly 31,000 people in New York have died of COVID-19 in the past 90 days, and more than 386,000 are known to have been infected.

-Florida reported a record number of new cases for the third day in a row. The state now has more than 73,500 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the eighth-highest number in the U.S., and nearly 3,000 deaths.

-Students in Baltimore schools will most likely wear masks when school resumes again, Sonja Santelises, chief executive officer of Baltimore City Public Schools, said at a CNN/Sesame Street Town Hall on Saturday. Santelises said a number of safeguards are under consideration, including staggered schedules and desks spread apart, and that "the chances are that you will have to wear a mask when you come back to school."

-Drones will drop off library books to kids in Christiansburg, Virginia, this summer, thanks to a local middle school librarian who worked out a deal with Wing, a drone delivery service. “I think kids are going to be just thrilled to learn that they are going to be the first in the world to receive a library book by drone,” Kelly Passek, the librarian, told The Associated Press.

-The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new guidelines that include tips on venturing out or hosting guests in your home. Advice includes wearing a cloth face covering in public, choosing outdoor activities over indoor ones and continuing to stay 6 feet apart from others. "In general, the more closely you interact with others and the longer that interaction, the higher the risk of COVID-19 spread," the CDC says.

Worldwide:

-Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands have formed an alliance and made a deal with pharmacy company AstraZeneca to take delivery of 400 million doses of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine by the end of the year, the AP reported. The vaccine is currently being tested by University of Oxford.

-Some 20 million face masks manufactured by French textile and clothing companies are languishing in warehouses, unused after many consumers opted for cheaper imported disposable masks. The manufacturers, who went into high gear to ramp up production of the masks at the government's request, are asking for help promoting and finding buyers.

-The largest meat and vegetable market in Beijing was shut down after a cluster of coronavirus cases, according to the Washington Post. The incident raised concerns about a second wave of infections in China, where the pandemic originated.

For the latest coronavirus information in your county and a full list of important resources to help you make the smartest decisions regarding the disease, check out our dedicated COVID-19 page.

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