Covid-19 Live Updates: The Virus Has Now Killed 250,000 People in the U.S.

Covid-19 Live Updates: The Virus Has Now Killed 250,000 People in the U.S. New York City public schools are shutting their doors again. And the C.D.C. has deleted a disputed document it posted this summer to support President Trump’s push to reopen classrooms. nytimes

The United States passed a grim milestone on Wednesday, hitting 250,000 coronavirus-related deaths, with the number expected to keep climbing steeply as infections surge nationwide.

Experts predict that the country that could soon be reporting 2,000 deaths a day or more, matching or exceeding the spring peak, and that 100,000 to 200,000 more Americans could die in the coming months.

Just how bad it gets will depend on a variety of factors, including how well preventive measures are followed and when a vaccine is introduced. ...ack in March, when the virus was still relatively new and limited mainly to a few significant pockets like New York, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, the top infectious disease expert in the country, predicted that it might kill up to 240,000 Americans.

It has now passed that mark, with no end in sight.

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New York City’s public school system will shutter on Thursday, the schools chancellor, Richard A. Carranza, wrote in an email to principals, in a worrisome signal that a second wave of the coronavirus has arrived. Schools have been open for in-person instruction for just under eight weeks.

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has deleted a disputed document it posted this summer to support President Trump’s hard push to reopen school buildings this fall.

The agency withdrew two school reopening documents last month with no notice or calls for public comment, after acknowledging that some statements it made in July were outdated, according to a congressional subcommittee that launched an investigation into the agency’s summer guidance.

One document in particular, titled “The Importance of Reopening America’s Schools this Fall,” proved particularly contentious because it struck many as reading more like a political speech than a scientific report.

The document contained statements that echoed Mr. Trump’s emphasis on the benefits of returning to in-person learning while downplaying the potential risks the virus carried for children and teachers. It was issued two weeks after Mr. Trump railed against the agency’s school guidance as “very tough and expensive” and threatened to withhold funding from schools that did not offer in-person classes. ...