CASES of coronavirus infections in the U.S. have now topped 3 million (Shutterstock/Mongkolchan).

A record count of 60,021 new coronavirus cases were reported Tuesday in the United States, bringing the total number of COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began to 3.04 million people.

The tally is provided by the Johns Hopkins University, which compiles data from around the world. As of this positing Wednesday afternoon, the total worldwide count of cases is now at 11,982,883. The U.S. remains the leader at 3,040,957, followed by Brazil with 1,713,160 and India with 742,417.

Global deaths are put at 547,772, with the U.S showing 132,095, followed by Brazil with 67,964 and the United Kingdom/Great Britain with 44,602.

The case-fatality rate is the worst worldwide in Mexico, Spain, southeastern Europe and Japan, according to Johns Hopkins.

Trump wants schools re-opened in autumn

BACK TO SCHOOL? (Shutterstock photo).

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he would withhold federal money from local public school systems that don’t resume in-person classes in the fall.Vice President Mike Pence said guidelines would be issued soon that would provide safety while allowing the resumption of traditional instruction.

According to the Associated Press, some places such as New York City are planning on a hybrid schedule in which pupils would only be on campuses two or three days a week and would be educated online the other days. “Most schools will not be able to have all their kids in school at the same time,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.

Also in the news  … Court rules on birth control access

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 on Wednesday that religious employers – such as Catholic schools – cannot be legally required to provide free birth control for employees if they have a religious objection •  a mass walkout of members of labor unions and racial and social justice organizations is planned for Monday, July 20 to protest racism and police violence. The work stoppage is called “Strike For Black Lives” and could reach as many as 25 cities.

This time, Wall Street grabs a rebound

THE BULLS had a good day on Wall Street (Shutterstock)

After a dreadful day on Tuesday, Wall Street bounced back fairly well on Wednesday. All three major indexes showed gains.

• Dow Jones: up 177.10 to 26,067.28, an increase of 0.68 percent.
• S&P 500: up 24.62 to 3,169.94 (up 0.78 percent).
• Nasdaq: up 148.61 to 10,942.50 (up 1.44 percent).

The best gainers were Kohl’s,  Twitter and Fortinet; those dropping most were Mosaic Co., CF Industries and Mohawk Industries.

Weather blows a warmer wind our way

If you like a little breeze with your sunshine, you’ll be happy with the forecast for Thursday and Friday. According to the National Weather Service, tomorrow will see clouds through the mid-morning in the West Orange County area, with a gradual clearing and a high of 82. Winds will gust as high as 20 miles an hour. On Friday, a similar forecast, but just a bit warmer at 84 degrees.  Things will again warm up toward the weekend, with the high hitting 92 on Saturday and dropping only slightly to 90 on Sunday. As always, temps are five to seven degrees lower at the beach.

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