US passes 150,000 coronavirus deaths amid surge in cases – as it happened

• More than 150,000 people in the US have died of Covid-19. The American coronavirus death toll is the highest in the world, and more than 4.3 million cases have been recorded in the country.
• Donald Trump spent his day in Texas, to attend a fundraiser and visit an oil rig. During an official, taxpayer-funded event, the president railed against his 2020 opponent Joe Biden, touted his rollback of environmental regulations and signed permits to boost the ailing fossil fuel industry.
• Trump also attempted to stoke racial fears among rich, white voters, tweeting that Americans “living their Suburban Lifestyle Dream” would no longer be “bothered” by low-income housing, after he rescinded Obama-era protections against racial housing discrimination.
  
• A jobless aid program is set to expire amid a stalemate at the Capitol. Democrats want to extend a $600 benefit for unemployed Americans, as well as a moratorium on evictions – whereas Republicans and the administration have continued to insist that the program will disincentivize workers.
• House speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a requirement that representatives and staff wear masks on the House floor, after Texas congressman Louie Gohmert, one of several Republicans who have resisted masks, tested positive for coronavirus today.
• A federal judge in New York blocked the administration from implementing its “public charge” rule amid the coronavirus pandemic. The rule stipulates that immigrants who use public benefits can be denied a green card.
• Florida will close state-run Covid-19 testing sites for several days, starting tomorrow, due to a looming tropical storm, according to officials. The state is among the worst hit by the coronavirus pandemic.
• During a landmark congressional antitrust hearing with tech executives, lawmakers questioned the heads of Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google parent company Alphabet. “Our founders would not bow before a king,” said the judiciary antitrust subcommittee chairman, David Cicilline. “Nor should we bow before the emperors of the online economy.”
  
• Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the oldest supreme court justice, underwent a non-surgical procedure today and is expected to be released from the hospital this week.

In a statement, the supreme court said that Ginsburg has undergone a “minimally invasive non-surgical procedure” today and is “resting comfortably”.

This is the justice’s second hospital visit this month. Ginsburg, 87, recently revealed that her cancer had returned and she will remain on the court while undergoing chemotherapy.

30 Jul 202019.28 EDT

Helen Sullivan

For updates on how the coronavirus pandemic is playing out around the world, follow the Guardian’s live global coverage:

• Brazil confirmed nearly 70,000 coronavirus cases in new daily record. The country recorded 69,074 new confirmed cases and 1,595 related deaths, as the world’s second-worst outbreak accelerates toward the milestone of 100,000 lives cut short.
• Guatemala is burying dozens of unidentified Covid-19 dead. Hospitals say they have had to bury dozens of Covid-19 victims who have never been identified, with one hospital creating archives in hopes that once the pandemic passes relatives will come looking for them.
• France saw its highest daily increase in cases in more than a month. The number of new coronavirus infections in France rose by 1,392 on Wednesday, a figure likely to fuel fears of a second wave despite officials downplaying such a scenario.
• The Catalan government eased lockdown in city of Lleida. 160,000 people had been ordered to stay home following a spike in infections.
  
• Lebanon reported its highest single-day infection tally. The country reporter 182 new coronavirus cases, ahead of fresh lockdown measures that go into effect at midnight.

Barack Obama is expected to eulogize John Lewis, the civil rights icon and Georgia congressman, at the funeral in Atlanta tomorrow, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Obama awarded Lewis the presidential medal of freedom in 2011. The former US president first met the venerated civil rights leader when Obama was in law school. “When I was elected President of the United States, I hugged him on the inauguration stand before I was sworn in and told him I was only there because of the sacrifices he made,” Obama said when Lewis died. “And through all those years, he never stopped providing wisdom and encouragement to me and Michelle and our family. We will miss him dearly.”

More than five hours after they commenced, the historic Congressional hearing of the biggest tech companies in the world over antitrust concerns have come to an end. Here are some highlights from the long day.

• Apple, Google, Facebook, and Amazon were represented by their CEOs at the hearing with the House antitrust subcommittee.
• Lawmakers cited “millions” of pages of evidence from years of antitrust investigations into these companies. Throughout the hearing, they brought up information gleaned from internal documents and conversations with anonymous sources in side the tech companies.
• Democratic lawmakers remained largely focused on antitrust issues, including market share and anti-competitive business practices while Republican lawmakers often zeroed in on perceived biases against conservatives on big tech platforms.
• Facebook faced most intensive criticism over its acquisition of Instagram.
• Apple faced most intensive criticism over its App store and whether it blocks competitors from using it.
• Google faced most intensive criticism over its advertising policies and its treatment of competitors.
• Amazon faced most intensive criticism over how it treats third-party brands on its site and whether it collects information from them and uses it to develop competing products (a practice that was reported on in April by the Wall Street Journal).
• Representative David Cicilline, a Democrat of Rhode Island, closed the hearing with a dramatic statement that seemed to suggest legislative action would be coming for the companies who participated today. “These companies as they exist today have monopoly power,” he said. “Some need to be broken up, all need to be properly regulated and held accountable.”

A federal judge in New York has stopped the Trump administration from implmenting its “public charge” rule, which stipulates that immigrants who use public benefits could be denied green cards.

Judge George Daniels said the police discourages immigrants from seeking coronavirus testing and could threaten efforts to contain and suppress the pandemic. He blocked the administration from implementing the policy during the health crisis.

“Any policy that deters residents from seeking testing and treatment for COVID-19 increases the risk of infection for such residents and the public. Adverse government action that targets immigrants, however, is particularly dangerous during a pandemic,” Daniels wrote in his ruling.

The case could now go to the Supreme Cout, which previously denied requests from states to block the policy while legal challenges played out in lower courts.

Several months ago, I reported that the rule has had a “chilling effect” - discouraging immigrants from seeking healthcare and other essential benefits out of fear that it will affect their ability to remain in the US:

California state lawmakers are considering a plan to continue a $600 weekly unemployment benefit for state residents if Congress does not extend the emergency funding this month.

“We have millions of Californians that are on a financial cliff,” said Phil Ting, a Democratic state lawmaker from San Francisco. “They really need that money to pay rent, to buy food, to pay for everyday living expenses.”

Cuts in federal emergency assistance would probably put more California residents in danger of losing their housing, and could make California’s homelessness crisis even worse, Ting said.

“The number one way you prevent the spread of Covid is you keep people in their homes,” he said.

Nancy Pelosi has announced that Congressmembers and their staff will be required to wear face masks while on House floor.

The requirement comes after Louie Gohmert of Texas, one of several Republican lawmakers who resisted wearing masks in recent weeks, tested positive for Covid-19.

All the state-run testing sites will close on Thursday evening and won’t reopen until at least Tuesday, according to officials. The National Hurricane Center is predicting that a looming tropical weather system will develop into a storm, and the state’s emergency management division is closing sites as a precaution, officials said in an email sent to testing site managers, per local station WCTV.

Florida is currently a major coronavirus hotspot, with more than 451,000 cases.

The administration and Republicans have yet to reach a deal with Congressional Democrats for an economic relief package. “We are still very far apart on a lot of issues,” treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin told reporters at the capitol. “We’re far from an agreement.”

The administration floated a short-term extension for a $600-a-week unemployment benefit for tens of millions of Americans, which is set to expire on Friday. Democrats want to extend that $600 per week benefit, which Congress first approved in March as part of the CARES Act, and a provision halting eviction through the end of the year. Republicans have opposed the aid, which they say disincentivizes workers.