The U.S. now has more than 4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19. The grim milestone is a reminder of how much more rapidly the virus is spreading this summer, having gone from 3 million cases to 4 million in just 15 days.

Washington state is reacting to its own recent uptick in infections by imposing expanded mask requirements and stricter limitations on bars, restaurants, gyms and other places people congregate. Plus, more schools are announcing theyll teach mostly or completely online this fall.

Throughout Friday, on this page, well be posting updates on the pandemic and its effects on the Seattle area, the Pacific Northwest and the world. Updates from Thursday can be foundhere, and all our coronavirus coverage can be foundhere.

Jack Forst and Don Garcy have been close friends longer than most elderly couples have been married.

For years they were neighbors in Longwood, Fla., where Forst was a marketing and sales executive for a beverage company and Garcy ran an insurance office. For the last decade theyve lived near one another in The Villages, a sprawling retirement community not far from their old homes.

But when they met at a Starbucks on a recent weekday morning, their greeting was infused with the fear thathas gripped many across this state.

My wifes in quarantine, Forst called across the lobby.

Garcy, 84, nodded but didnt speak, as if a bemusedcharacter in a John Updike novel. He had recently finished two months in quarantine himself, and has become so accustomed to the blue cotton face mask he wears that he sometimes tries to eat with it on.

Word of a new COVID-19 case isn't so much news as it is a conversation starter in the Villages, a master-planned community that has over 132,000 residents, three ZIP codes and 55 golf courses. News of rising infections arrive with unnerving frequency.

Forst and Garcy didnt expect their lives to spool out this way, worrying about a pandemic in a nation on edge. But this America they had endured Vietnam, civil rights marches, Kennedy assassinations, recessions, terrorist attacks and the scandal of Watergate is somehow different, less certain when it takes stock of itself in an age of fresh graves and hoped-for vaccines.

COVID-19 has ravaged Florida, with more than 237,000 people testing positive and 2,013 dying from the virus in July alone. A record 173 Floridians died from the virus Thursday, an average of more than one every eight minutes. And that has taken a heavy toll on residents older than 65, who account for just 13% of the states coronavirus cases but 82% of the fatalities.

Read the story here.

Los Angeles Times

The coronavirus transformed Floridas nursing homes into closely guarded fortresses beginning in March, with the state banning family visits, isolating infected residents in separate wings and now requiring staff be tested every two weeks. But the explosion of cases statewide is proving that is not enough.

The numbers are already showing the grim reality, underscoring how mask compliance and restrictions in the outside world impact the states most vulnerable. In the past three weeks, cases have gone from about 2,000 to some 4,800 at Florida nursing homes. Roughly 2,550 long-term care residents and staff have died overall, accounting for about 45% of all virus deaths in Florida.

Where you see COVID hot spots, our anxiety level in our centers automatically goes up. Our vigilance goes through the roof, said Luke Neumann, a vice president at Palm Garden, which has 14 facilities across Florida.

Thats how societies are judged in part by how you care for the weak and aged, Neumann said.

Florida recorded 173 new coronavirus deaths Thursday, a daily high that pushed its toll from the pandemic to more than 5,500. Deaths inside nursing homes have also been on the rise, averaging about 40 per day in the last week after those numbers had dropped in mid-June to lower than 20 deaths per day.

Read the story here.

The Associated Press

The top U.S. public health agency issued a full-throated call to reopen schools in a package of new resources posted on its website Thursday night that opened with a statement listing numerous benefits for children of being in school, while downplaying the potential health risks.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the new guidance two weeks after President Donald Trump criticized its earlier recommendations on school reopenings as very tough and expensive, ramping up an anguished national debate over the question of how soon children should return to classrooms. As the president was criticizing the initial CDC recommendations, a document from the agency surfaced that detailed the risks of reopening and the steps that districts were taking to minimize those risks.

Reopening schools creates opportunity to invest in the education, well-being and future of one of Americas greatest assets our children while taking every precaution to protect students, teachers, staff and all their families, the new opening statement said.

The package of materials began with the opening statement, titled The Importance of Reopening Americas Schools This Fall, anddescribed children as being at low risk for being infected by or transmitting the coronavirus, even though the science on both aspects is far from settled.

The best available evidence indicates if children become infected, they are far less likely to suffer severe symptoms, the statement said. At the same time, the harms attributed to closed schools on the social, emotional, and behavioral health, economic well-being, and academic achievement of children, in both the short- and long-term, are well-known and significant.

Read the story here.

The New York Times

New rules on wearing masks in England went into effect Friday, with people entering shops, banks and supermarkets now required to wear face coverings, while Romania reported a record for daily infections and new cases nearly doubled in France.

People in England can be fined as much as 100 pounds ($127) by police if they refuse. The British government had given mixed signals for weeks before deciding on the policy. Places like restaurants, pubs, gyms and hairdressers are exempt.

John Apter, the national chairman of the Police Federation of England and Wales, said officers would be available as a last resort but added that he hopes the public will continue to do the right thing to protect other citizens.

In Belgium, health authorities said a 3-year-old girl has died after testing positive for COVID-19 as new infections surged 89% from the previous week.

Belgian authorities have bolstered up restrictions to slow the spread of coronavirus, including making masks mandatory in crowded outdoor public spaces. Belgium has been hard hit by the pandemic, with 64,847 cases and 9,812 deaths registered so far.

Overall, Europe has seen over 201,000 deaths in the pandemic, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. Experts say the true toll from the coronavirus worldwide is much higher, due to limited testing and other issues.

Read the story here.

The Associated Press

Nearly half of Americans whose families experienced a layoff during the coronavirus pandemic believe those jobs are lost forever, a new poll shows, a sign of increasing pessimism that would translate into about 10 million workers needing to find a new employer, if not a new occupation.

Its a sharp change after initial optimism the jobs would return, as temporary cutbacks give way to shuttered businesses, bankruptcies and lasting payroll cuts. In April, 78% of those in households with a job loss thought theyd be temporary. Now, 47% think that lost job is definitely or probably not coming back, according to the latest poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.

The poll is the latest sign the solid hiring of May and June, as some states lifted stay-at-home orders and the economy began to recover, may wane as the year goes on. Adding to the challenge: Many students will begin the school year online, making it harder for parents to take jobs outside their homes.

Honestly, at this point, theres not going to be a job to go back to, said Tonica Daley, 35, who lives in Riverside, California, and has four children ranging from 3 to 18 years old. The kids are going to do virtual school, and there is no day care.

Read the story here.

The Associated Press

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night nor COVID-19 stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.

Except for the pandemic mention, these words have long been the unofficial motto of U.S. Postal Service letter carriers. They were chiseled in granite on the monumental 1912 New York General Post Office. They are lived daily by hundreds of thousands of postal workers.

For their fellow citizens, the mail has assumed new importance, with millions shut in by the pandemic.

The Postal Service,the most popular of federal agencies, is essential, affordable and goes everywhere. As in the 1918 influenza pandemic, the agency has continued its logistical feat during COVID-19. Meanwhile, at least 12,000 of its workers have been infected and 67 have died.

Columnist Jon Talton writes that unfortunately, President Donald Trump has long been an enemy of the Postal Service, repeatingthe false assertionthat it loses money by delivering for Amazon, calling the agency a joke and threatening to strangle its funding.

Now, his new postmaster general, Louis DeJoy, isimposing draconian cutbacks, including eliminating overtime.

Inan internal memoobtained by The Washington Post, DeJoy states that USPS must make immediate, lasting and impactful changes in our operations and in our culture.

Read Talton's column here.

Jon Talton

Kris Higginson

No matter how you feel about it, the humble mask is now the worlds most ubiquitous accessory, both a practical safeguard and a political symbol for many.

Fashion designer Luly Yang and other Seattleites are on the cutting edge, "so excited" about a chance to make things better with their creations which are quickly becoming a lifeline for the industry.

Not since humans invented shoes and undies has a single item of dress caught on so quickly, spanning borders, cultures and generations.

Chris Talbott / Special to The Seattle Times

A series of jaw-dropping new numberssuggests America isbadly losing the fightagainst the coronavirus.

Gov. Jay Inslee has announced sweeping new restrictions on bars, restaurants, fitness centers and more as coronavirus cases rise, and a stricter mask order takes effect tomorrow. Here's what you need to know, and where that leaves us on the activities you can (and can't) do in each Washington county.

A Renton doctor knew she had COVID-19 and kept working at a nursing home, telling nobody that she was infected while she spread the virus, a lawsuit alleges.

The virus killed one Floridian every eight minutes yesterday, on average, leaving residents of one retirement community fearing who will be next. And how did things get so dire in California, where coronavirus cases have rocketed past 400,000? "We got impatient," an epidemiologist explains. This is a health expert's "worst nightmare," and we might not even be halfway through it, Dr. Anthony Fauci said yesterday.

An Eastside tech executive took $5.5 million in fraudulent virus relief funds, federal officials say.

President Donald Trump has scrapped plans for a four-night Republican National Convention celebration in the pandemic hot spot of Florida.

The school year will begin remotely, the Lake Washington and Tacoma districts have announced, joining other major public-school systems around the region. WSU and Seattle U will teach almost all classes remotely this fall as well, and UW is working on sharply limiting its in-person classes. Meanwhile, as Trump calls for schools to fully reopen, his son's school will not.

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Seattle Times staff & news services

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Coronavirus daily news updates, July 24: What to know today about COVID-19 in the Seattle area, Washington state and the world - Seattle Times