 Welcome to the coronavirus weekly brief where your hosts, I'm David Sturman, and I'm Melissa Sallock-Virk with New America. Here are the headlines you need to know. The United States has now had more than 1.9 million confirmed coronavirus cases, and 110,514 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. More than 506,367 people have recovered in the United States. On Sunday, global deaths from COVID-19 rose to over 400,000, a number that in just five months has surpassed the total number of people who die annually from malaria, one of the world's most deadly infectious diseases. While the United States can account for about one-quarter of all fatalities, cases and deaths continue to rise across South America and in India. Confirmed cases around the world passed 7 million over the weekend, with more than 3.1 million people having recovered. Androgens may be the key to understanding why men are more likely to develop COVID-19. COVID-19 statistics have shown that more men are dying from the disease than women. In April, the New York Times reported that doctors in New York and California started treating COVID-19 patients with female hormones, estrogen on Long Island and progesterone in Los Angeles. Estrogen and progesterone are two hormones that help with the immune system and may be indicators as to why women are less likely to die from COVID-19 compared to men. Since then, even further research has been done on how hormones intersect with the virus's ability to progress patients to COVID-19, quote, androgens, male hormones such as testosterone, appear to boost the virus's ability to get inside cells, unquote, reports Science Magazine. Researchers are now testing drugs that, quote, unquote, block androgen effects to see if they may stop the virus's infection long enough for a person's immune system to effectively battle the virus. Prostate cancer researchers who work very closely with androgens have been focusing on, quote, a membrane-bound enzyme called TMPRSS2, unquote. This enzyme works directly with the coronavirus's spike protein to attack and enter the cell. The TMPRSS2 enzyme is so well known to prostate cancer researchers because it is in about half of all prostate cancers. Universita Della Svitzera Italiana head of molecular oncology, Andrea Alamanti and his colleagues more closely researched patient data of over 42,000 prostate cancer patients in Veneto, Italy. What he and his team found was that of those patients who were taking, quote, androgen deprivation therapy, ADT drugs, that slash levels of testosterone, unquote, only one fourth likely developed COVID-19 than those men with prostate cancer who did not take ADTs. With this new information available, different treatments are being reviewed that include ADTs. And some studies also include women because previous studies have shown that estrogen and progesterone may be factors in why women are less likely to die from COVID-19. Brazil removed months of data on the number of coronavirus cases from its government website on Saturday as President Jair Bolsonaro defended changes in the official record keeping of what is now the world's second largest coronavirus outbreak. The health ministry also said that they will only be reporting deaths from the past 24 hours and will not be including a total death count figure, quote, the cumulative data does not reflect the moment the country is in Bolsonaro claimed on Twitter, citing a note from the health ministry. Other actions are underway to improve the reporting of cases and confirmation of diagnoses he continued. Neither is the president nor the health ministry provided a reason for erasing most of the data on the website, and the decision has been widely criticized by public health officials, health experts, and the press. On Saturday, the ministry reported 27,075 new cases and 904 deaths since Friday update. Meanwhile, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Arden said on Monday that New Zealand has successfully eliminated transmission of coronavirus domestically and it will lift all lockdown measures aside from border controls. Public and private events can resume and the retail and hospitality industries can reopen without limitations, including any social distancing measures that are in place in most of the rest of the world. While the job is not done, there is no denying this is a milestone, thank you New Zealand, Arden told reporters, adding we are confident we have eliminated transmission of the virus in New Zealand for now, but elimination is not appointed in time, it is a sustained effort. Arden put a strict lockdown in place as soon as the virus was detected and most businesses were closed and people were told to stay home for 75 days. Border controls however remain in place and everyone entering the country will be tested. New research published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on June 5th shows that Americans incorrectly used bleach and other household cleaning products to try and clean various surfaces and use products in their homes to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. According to the CDC analysis, 39% of respondents reported engaging in quote, non-recommended high-risk practices with the intent of preventing SARS-CoV-2 transmission, such as washing food products with bleach, applying household cleaning or disinfectant products to bare skin and intentionally inhaling or ingesting these products, unquote. The results were based on a survey of 502 adults this past May. The CDC also identified several knowledge gaps such as, quote, safe preparation of cleaning and disinfectant solutions, use of recommended personal protective equipment when using cleaners and disinfectants, and safe storage of hand sanitizers, cleaners and disinfectants, unquote. For example, only 35% of respondents answered that, quote, bleach should not be mixed with vinegar, unquote, and 58% of respondents answered that, quote, bleach should not be mixed with ammonia, unquote. The CDC notes that mixing of bleach solutions with vinegar or ammonia, as well as the application of heat, can generate chlorine and chloramine gases that might result in severe lung tissue damage when inhaled. And then according to reports by CNN, the CDC recommends that people always read the instructions on cleaning products and that when cleaning, they should wear gloves or other protective gear and says, don't mix cleaning chemicals. A NBC Wall Street Journal poll reports that eight out of 10 American voters say the country is out of control, voicing worries about both coronavirus and the issues surrounding and motivating ongoing protests over police brutality. The poll reveals the partisan split ends assessment with 92% of Democrats saying the country is out of control compared to 66% of Republicans. On the protest, 59% of voters polled said they were more concerned about police actions surrounding the death of George Floyd while 27% said they were more concerned about the protests themselves. With regards to the coronavirus, 63% said they were concerned about themselves or an immediate family member getting the virus, although that represents the 10-point drop from April's poll. However, the poll found that 35% of those polled thought it would take until next year for the economy to recover and 17% said it would take longer than a year, representing a 9- and 6-percentage point increase in views, respectively. And a new study published in the European Heart Journal has found that coronavirus patients with high blood pressure are twice as likely to die from COVID-19. Medical records of 2,866 patients in Wuhan found that nearly 30% of them had high blood pressure. According to Xi Jinping hospital researcher Ling Tao, quote, soon after we started to treat COVID-19 patients in early February in Wuhan, we noticed that nearly half of the patients who died had high blood pressure, which is a much higher percentage compared to those with only mild COVID-19 symptoms, unquote. The study also found that 4% of patients with high blood pressure died compared to 1.1% of those with normal blood pressure. And after some adjustments for differences among the patients, that worked out to be a doubled risk of dying for the patients with high blood pressure and 7.9% of patients who had stopped taking their blood pressure medications died. The researchers also stated that patients should not discontinue or change their usual antihypertensive treatment unless instructed by a physician, reported CNN. To see our daily brief, go to the address in our show notes and follow us on Twitter at New America ISP. And tune in next Monday for our next episode.