- The U.S. added almost 50,000 new COVID cases on Wednesday, marking the fifth single-day case record in eight days. As the New York Times writes, "If June was the month when the coronavirus pandemic spiraled from America’s grasp, July seemed destined to be month when the country will learn just how bad it will get." [New York Times]
- A group pushing to stop hate incidents against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders recorded 832 incidents of hate across California since the pandemic began. Those include 81 incidents of physical assault. [Mercury News]
- More than 40 Bay Area school principals are in quarantine after being exposed to COVID-19 at an in-person meeting with the Santa Clara County Unified School District. One of the attendees at the June 19 school reopening planning meeting turned out to be pre-symptomatic. [Chronicle]
- Another Death Row inmate at San Quentin was found dead in his cell, possibly of COVID-19. Condemned Costra County killer Joseph S. Cordova, who was convicted via DNA evidence in the 1979 murder of an 8-year-old girl in San Pablo, was found lifeless at age 75, and he has not been tested for the virus. [CBS SF]
- State lawmakers at a Senate oversight hearing pressed prison officials to take responsibility for the exploding COVID-19 outbreak at San Quentin. [KQED]
- The free COVID testing site in Hayward has been having to close early because it is running out of testing kits amid increased demand. [KRON4]
- California is shutting down most state beach parking lots ahead of the holiday weekend. [KRON4]
- West Hollywood just became the first California city to impose fines on those disobeying mask-wearing orders. [KRON4]
- Alleged Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell was taken into federal custody this morning in New Hampshire. [ABC 7]
Photo by Denys Nevozhai on Unsplash
