US coronavirus: Some local leaders say they won’t enforce mask mandates as country tops 4 million cases

“If a disturbance or other issue were to develop, deputies would respond as always; however, we will not respond solely for allegations of a violation of the executive order,” said Johnson County Sheriff Duane Burgess, according to the affiliate.

“I can tell you this — I am not the mask police. I am not going to enforce any mask-wearing. That is not my responsibility. That is not my job. People should be able to make those choices themselves,” said Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones.

But public health experts have highlighted that if Americans wore face masks and practiced consistent social distancing the effects could be drastic: Cases could begin to slow in a matter of weeks and the impact of both precautions could be nearly as effective as another round of lockdowns.

12 states report more than 100,000 cases

With a continuing upward trend, California is leading the country with the highest number of total infections — more than 452,280 — followed by Florida, New York and Texas.

At least 36 counties are on California’s watch list and have been ordered to close many of their indoor operations. More than 8,100 deaths across the state have so far been linked to the virus and at least 6,912 people are hospitalized with 1,993 people in ICUs. Health officials said that the state’s positivity rate, a key indicator in how fast the virus is spreading within a community, is on the rise.

That positivity rate — the number of people testing positive compared to how many are getting tested — is at about 7.5%, according to state data. For comparison, New York has brought its rate down to about 1%, a statistic the governor touted as “really great, great news.” Miami-Dade County’s positivity rate is at about 18%, according to county data.

In Texas, the death toll surpassed 5,000 Sunday, after the state reported 153 fatalities in a day. Across the state, at least 10,075 people are in hospitals.

Communities will have to decide school openings

With just several days left in July, educators across the country are working to determine what happens when it’s time for students to return to class.

There won’t be a uniform threshold for when schools should reopen, Health and Human Service Secretary Alex Azar told CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday.

“Each community is going to have to make the determination about the circumstances for reopening, and what steps they take for reopening,” Azar said. “But the presumption should be that we get out kids back to school and figure out how to make that happen.”

Echoing that claim Sunday, Adm. Brett Giroir, a member of the White House’s Coronavirus task force told CNN that while the presumption is that children need to be in school, some communities may have to tamper with their reopening strategies if virus transmission is too high.

“There is no one size that fits all,” he said.

While the Trump administration has remained steady in its message in recent weeks that it wants schools to reopen, educators have protested a return to school next month, arguing that even if children don’t experience the virus in the same ways, the decision to return could be deadly for teachers and staff.

Phase 3 of vaccine trial starts this week

The vaccine is being developed at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in partnership with the biotechnology company Moderna. Phase 3 of the trial is expected to involve 30,000 volunteers and will test whether the vaccine protects people against the coronavirus.

Early results from the Phase 1 study showed that the vaccine, given at three different doses, triggered an immune response in the people who received it (the higher the dose, the higher the immune response). More than half of the participants experienced side effects including fatigue, chills, headache, muscle pain and pain at the injection site.

Former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden highlighted the importance of public trust in the vaccine process.

“There are no secrets here, it’s very important that we maintain, gain, increase trust in this whole process or people are going to be confused, concerned and they’re not going to take the vaccine,” he said on Sunday.

His comment comes about a week after former US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy said that about half of Americans would likely not get the coronavirus vaccine if it was available because of a lack of trust.