Immune To COVID? New Study Suggests Why

The new coronavirus has claimed more than half a million lives.

COVID-19 has killed 502,719 people as of Monday morning, according to figures compiled by Johns Hopkins University. More than 10.2 million infections have been confirmed worldwide.

In the United States, the death toll is nearing 126,000, and more than 2.6 million cases have been reported.

The troubling toll comes as the number of new cases continues to rise in many areas, including in 31 states, CNN.com reported. Only four states — Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire and Rhode Island — are seeing a decline in cases.

Latest Developments

United States:

-Gilead Sciences, the maker of the antiviral drug remdesivir, announced it will charge governments $390 per vial of one of the few medications that appears to help severely ill COVID-19 patients. A course of treatment would cost about $2,340. Private insurers will pay $520 per vial, or $3,120 for a six-dose treatment.

-Broadway theaters will remain closed for at least the rest of this year, the New York Times reported. The Broadway League said theater owners and producers are ready to refund or exchange tickets previously purchased for shows through Jan. 3. The League did not specify a date when shows will reopen.

-Florida, one of the states where COVID-19 infections are spiking, reported 5,266 more cases, bringing the state total to 146,341, according to data released by the state's Health Department.

-Palm Beach County joined Miami-Dade and Broward counties in announcing beaches will be closed over the July 4 holiday weekend.

-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said President Donald Trump should sign an executive order directing everyone to wear a face covering and he should wear a mask himself. "Let the president lead by example and let the president put a mask on it," Cuomo said, according to CNN. Cuomo said reopening the economy so fast was not good for the country. "When that virus spikes, the market goes down, not up," he said. “This was not a smart policy to rush reopening. It did not help the economy. It’s the exact opposite."

-At a briefing Sunday in Texas, Vice President Mike Pence and Gov. Greg Abbott did wear masks until the briefing began. "If your local officials, in consultation with the state, are directing you to wear a mask, we encourage everyone to wear a mask in the affected areas," Pence said. "And where you can’t maintain social distancing, wearing a mask is just a good idea. And it will, we know, from experience, slow the spread of the coronavirus."

Worldwide:

-News and information about the coronavirus from media outlets backed by the governments of China, Iran, Russia and Turkey often had higher social engagement than information from mainstream media, a study from the University of Oxford found. The study looked at information targeting speakers of French, German and Spanish. "Many of these state-backed outlets blend reputable, fact-based reporting about the coronavirus with misleading or false information, which can lead to greater uncertainty among public audiences trying to make sense of the COVID-19 pandemic," Katarina Rebello, a research assistant at the Oxford Internet Institute, said in a news release.

-India reported nearly 20,000 new coronavirus infections, a new record for the country, the Associated Press reported. Several states reimposed partial or full lockdowns to stem the spread of the virus.

-South Korea reported 42 new cases, and infections continue to climb in and around the capital, Seoul. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the country has seen 12,757 cases, including 282 deaths. Twenty-four of the new cases were reported from Seoul and nearby metropolitan areas, which have been at the center of a virus resurgence since late May.

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.