November 7 coronavirus news

Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a committee hearing in Washington, D.C, on Wednesday, September 23.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States government’s top infectious disease expert, said lingering Covid-19 symptoms last much longer than those from other viral syndromes like influenza.

Between 25% and 35% of Covid-19 patients have lingering symptoms such as fatigue, shortness of breath, muscle aches, sleep disturbances and “brain fog.”

It’s unclear exactly how long symptoms can last, as the virus was discovered less than a year ago, but Fauci said symptoms have been observed for months after an initial infection.

“A proud moment for the medical profession:” Fauci also said medical professionals should be proud of the work they’ve done in the past several months, as they have been “really putting their lives and their safety at risk” by continually taking care of people who have a disease that is highly transmissible and has the potential to kill.

Why the death rate is going down: Fauci said the United States’ Covid-19 death rate has been declining in recent months because due to three factors: “age, experience and better drugs.”

There are also now treatments that can help people, like dexamethasone and remdesivir, Fauci said.

The fact that younger people are now getting infected – but not dying – is also a factor bringing the death rate down, he said. However, Fauci noted that college kids are going back to school, getting infected and then “infecting people in the community”

“They’re the ones that are sort of driving the infection,” he said.

A view of a crowded Bourke Street mall in Victoria where it has recorded no new coronavirus cases or deaths for an eighth consecutive day on November 7.

The Australian state of Victoria will lift even more Covid-19 restrictions as the virus there appears to be under control.

Starting at 11:59 p.m. Sunday:

Australia’s former epicenter: In early August, Victoria was recording hundreds of cases per day, leading state authorities to implement the type of strict anti-epidemic measures that governments in Western Europe and the United States have been hesitant to enact out of fear of damaging the economy. This included placing Melbourne residents under a strict seven-week lockdown and barring nearly all trips outdoors.

Though the decision to lockdown Melbourne was unpopular with some people, by late September, cases had declined to low double-digits, allowing the government to begin lifting restrictions.

Members of the Wisconsin National Guard operate a mobile COVID-19 test center at Miller Park on October 29, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Authorities in Wisconsin reported another 7,065 confirmed Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the state’s Department of Health said.

Another 45 deaths were recorded.

Since the pandemic began, at least 263,130 people in Wisconsin have been diagnosed with the virus. At least 2,301 people have died.

Washington state Secretary of Health John Wiesman speaks during a press conference on January 21, in Shoreline, Washington.

Washington state reported another 1,777 new Covid-19 cases on Saturday, the highest identified in a single day in the state since the pandemic began.

The previous record was set on Friday, when the Washington Department of Health identified 1,691 cases of the virus.

Washington state was the site of the first major Covid-19 outbreak in the United States.

A medical staff member performs a Covid-19 test in Fargo, North Dakota, on Thursday, October 15, 2020.

Authorities in North Dakota reported 511 new cases of Covid-19 and 15 virus-related deaths on Saturday – the third day in a row the state has recorded more than 500 new infections.

North Dakota has a total of 53,204 cases and 628 deaths, according to the North Dakota Department of Health.

A medical worker wearing a protective protective equipment speaks with a patient at the SNCF "MobilTest" COVID-19 test center at the Gare de Lyon station on November 5, in Paris, France.

France’s overall coronavirus death toll surpassed 40,000 on Saturday.

The country’s total death toll now stands at 40,169 after 306 new deaths were registered in a 24-hour period, according to the French Public Health Agency. France has the world’s seventh highest coronavirus fatality count, according to official data from Johns Hopkins University, but that is still only a fraction of the death toll seen in the worst-hit countries: the United States and Brazil. 

This grim milestone comes after France had two consecutive days of record new daily coronavirus cases, with more than 60,000 new coronavirus cases announced on Friday alone. The French Public Health Agency has not yet specified the daily case count for Saturday to reflect the previous 24 hours.

As Europe experiences its second wave of coronavirus cases with winter approaching, French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that his country needs to live with the virus in the longterm.

“When I listen to the scientists, and the Scientific Council, we foresee [living with the virus] at best until next summer,” Macron said, speaking during a visit to a health center.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker at a press conference at the James R. Thompson Center on September 22.

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and his staff tested negative for Covid-19, after being exposed to someone who tested positive in a meeting on Monday, according to a statement released by the governor’s office on Saturday.

The statement says, per the CDC, that the group will not be required to quarantine for 14 days, since they are not considered “close contacts because they met with the individual prior to 48 hours before symptom onset.”

This was the second time the group tested negative, after undergoing a test on Wednesday.

The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) reported 12,438 new confirmed and probable cases of coronavirus and 76 deaths on Saturday, making this third consecutive day of record high coronavirus case numbers and the second day that Illinois has reported over 10,000 daily coronavirus cases.

Illinois underwent “resurgence mitigations” earlier this week, after test positivity rates soared in all regions of the state. All indoor restaurant and bar service has been banned, and all meetings, gatherings or social events are limited to 25% capacity or a total of 25 guests, whichever is fewer.

These numbers were released by the Illinois public health agency, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project

CNN is tracking cases of Covid-19 across the US here:

A poll worker holds a stylus for voters so they don't have to touch the voting machines at Park Tavern on November 3 in Atlanta, Georgia.

Election workers risked their health this year to staff polling and ballot counting centers amid the coronavirus pandemic. Now, more than two dozen are self-quarantining after being potentially exposed to other workers who recently tested positive for the virus.

The reported cases underscore lingering concerns about the impact of in-person voting amid a troubling spike in the severity of the pandemic. The fall surge has seen some of the highest days of newly reported Covid-19 cases in the US. On Election Day alone, the US reported about 85,200 cases.

Democrats and public health officials advocated for mail-in ballots in the run-up to the election, urging voters to avoid polling centers to reduce risk of spreading the virus.

Read more:

Voters wait in line at the Surprise Court House polling location on November 03, 2020 in Surprise, Arizona. After a record-breaking early voting turnout, Americans head to the polls on the last day to cast their vote for incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump or Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

Related article Election workers risked their health during pandemic. Now dozens are self-quarantining.

There are at least 9,796,902 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 236,360 people have died from the disease, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

As of 1:30p.m. ET Saturday, 36,086 new cases have been reported across the country.

JHU’s totals include cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.  

CNN is tracking cases of Covid-19 across the US here:

An attendant talks to a person waiting in their car at a coronavirus testing site at Ascarate Park on October 31 in El Paso, Texas.

Joe Biden plans to announce a 12-person coronavirus task force on Monday, two sources with knowledge told CNN.

The task force will be headed by three co-chairs: Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler and Yale University’s Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith.

The announcement, which will come just days after Biden was declared the winner in the presidential election, signals how seriously he plans to focus on the pandemic from the outset of his transition.

Biden is not expected to announce cabinet nominations for weeks and may wait until control of the Senate is clear, the sources said. Biden has potential people in mind for most every top position, but the announcement of the task force underscores the priority he intends to place on that challenge.

Joe Biden delivers remarks at the Chase Center in Wilmington, Delaware, on November 6.

America has chosen Democrat Joe Biden as its 46th president, CNN projected on Saturday afternoon, following an election that the former vice president sought to turn into a referendum on President Trump’s mismanagement of the pandemic.

Three advisers to the President said Trump’s handling of the coronavirus was a massive factor in his election loss. A senior adviser said Trump’s dismissive attitude and misinformation about the virus alienated senior voters who rejected the President’s performance on Covid-19.  

The adviser said Trump could never understand elderly voters were the most at-risk for contracting and succumbing to the virus, making them fearful of how the President was responding to the pandemic. 

A separate adviser said Trump chose to reopen the economy rather than get the virus under control and suffered the consequences on November 3.  

Biden’s victory comes a day after the US racked up more than 126,000 new daily coronavirus cases – the highest one-day tally yet, Johns Hopkins data show. As of Saturday morning, more than 9.7 million cases have been recorded in the US.

America also reported more than 1,140 coronavirus deaths Friday, the fourth straight day that count has risen above 1,000. The last time that happened was in August.

On the same day, at least 17 states reported record high cases counts for a single day, per the Johns Hopkins data. Sixteen states reported record-high Covid-19 hospitalizations, according to the COVID Tracking Project. More than 54,000 coronavirus patients are now hospitalized across the country – not far from the country’s pandemic peak of 59,940 in mid-April.

A billboard with UK Government signage asks people to stay home in the Westfield Shopping Centre in Stratford, London, as the four week national lockdown for England to combat the spread of Covid-19 continues.

24,957 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours in the UK, the government said Saturday, and 413 died of the virus, a toll which continues to rise.

10,274 patients have been admitted to hospital in the last 7 days, and 2,333 have died.

England entered a second national lockdown on Thursday, and passed the grim milestone of one million coronavirus cases on October 31.

The strict lockdown has shut pubs, restaurants and non-essential businesses, including hair salons and gyms. Schools, universities and playgrounds will stay open.

Earlier today, the UK banned travellers arriving from Denmark because after the country reported a widespread outbreak of a new variant of the virus which causes Covid-19 in mink farms.

Yellow colored coronavirus Covid-19 positive samples are seen, as Viennese research institutes and the Agency for Health and Food Security present a new coronavirus Covid-19 test method called "LAMP" during a media event on October 21, in Vienna.

Austria reported a new daily record of 8,241 new coronavirus infections on Saturday, according to data on the country’s interior ministry website.

In total, 147,220 coronavirus cases have been confirmed in Austria since the start of the pandemic, and 1,377 people have died.

Austria entered its second national lockdown this week, with new measures including a curfew between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. and the closure of leisure and culture facilities.

Lockdowns are multiplying throughout Europe as Covid-19 cases rise exponentially, threatening to push health services across the continent to breaking point.

Fearing all of its intensive care beds could be full by mid-November, France implemented nationwide restrictions at the end of October – as did Belgium and Ireland. Germany’s softer, so-called “lockdown light” restrictions began on Monday, and Austria followed suit on Tuesday.

Iranians walk next to a sign advising people to wear masks on their way to shop in Tajrish square in the capital Tehran on November 1.

Iran continued breaking its daily coronavirus record after 9,450 infections were reported on Saturday.

The country also recorded 423 new coronavirus-related deaths on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 37,832, health ministry spokesperson Sima Sadat Lari said on Iranian state TV.

Last Monday, 440 deaths were recorded, the country’s highest number since the outbreak began in February. 

Lari added that 27 provinces across Iran are categorized as “red zones,” and out of the 9,450 new cases, 5,506 of those are patients in intensive care units in critical condition. An additional 3,070 are hospitalized. 

The capital Tehran has made it mandatory to wear masks in public for the past few weeks, as Iran is the worst-hit country in the Middle East with a total number of 673,250 cases.

Iran was also one of the worst-hit countries during the first wave of the coronavirus in March.

A Salt Lake County Health Department public health nurse performs a coronavirus test outside the department in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, November 3.

This week, as voters cast ballots and waited to see who would clinch the White House, the Covid-19 largely fell out of view.

But the coronavirus continued to spread, in some places at a higher rate than ever before.

The US broke one record after another.

On Wednesday, the US recorded more than 100,000 new cases in a single day for the first time, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The country shattered that record a day later, recording 121,888 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday.

On Friday, the US broke the record yet again, reporting more than 126,000 new cases.

The records set this week are a stark reminder of the fall surge going on throughout the country, which experts warn will be the worst yet.

On each of four days in a row this week – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – more than 1,000 people died nationwide. Among them was a Missouri election judge supervisor who worked at a polling site on Election Day after testing positive, and ignored instructions to quarantine for 14 days.

Here’s what happened this week in America’s fight against Covid-19.

Bosnian premier Zoran Tegeltija has tested positive for Covid-19 and is self-isolating at home, according to statement from the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Saturday.

Tegeltija’s condition “is stable and he has mild symptoms of coronavirus,” per the statement.

Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Ministry of Civil Affairs reported on Friday that 59,427 people have been infected by the coronavirus in the country since the start of the pandemic, with 1,457 deaths.

Real Madrid soccer superstars Eden Hazard and Carlos Casemiro have tested positive for Covid-19.

The two players tested positive on Friday morning, the team said in a statement on Saturday. According to Real Madrid, all other players and staff who work directly with the pair were subsequently tested.

Both the PCR test and the antibody test came back negative for all, except Hazard and Casemiro. The two players were expected to miss Real Madrid’s next match against Valencia on Saturday.

It follows positive tests for other high profile players like Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo and Liverpool’s Thiago Alcantara.

Santa Claus meets with families at his office near Rovaniemi, Finnish Lapland, on December 2, 2019.

“Christmas is definitely not canceled,” says Sanna Kärkkäinen, CEO of Visit Rovaniemi, the official home of Santa Claus, high above the Arctic Circle in Finnish Lapland.

Santa will be sitting safely behind an acrylic glass divider and elves will maintain a safe social distance while wearing surgical masks.

It’s a very 2020 take on festive cheer, but with a holiday season like no other fast approaching, Lapland’s tourism operators believe it’s the best way to save Christmas and save themselves after a brutal year which has seen visitor numbers plummet from record highs in 2019.

They’ve been helped by Finland’s new quarantine rules, due to come into force November 23, which will, despite a Europe-wide second wave of coronavirus cases that is prompting new lockdowns, allow 72-hour visits in the country without the need to quarantine.

Tourists from EU and Europe’s 26-country Schengen visa area will be permitted to arrive provided they take a Covid test 72 hours before departure and have proof that it’s negative. Longer stays will require self-isolation and a second test. The rules are subject to change, however, with the Finnish government redrafting plans at the time of writing.

Read more here

The first day of Liverpool’s mass testing pilot ran “very smoothly,” for the most part, said Matt Ashton, director of public health for Liverpool city council.

“It was good, it wasn’t perfect, but we’ll improve it,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Saturday.

The city in the north of England is aiming to test up to 50,000 people a day once fully operational.

There were some hiccups with the operation however, as some people claimed they were made to line up for tests alongside people they didn’t know had symptoms of the virus.

The UK government hopes to test the entire population of the city – nearly 500,000 people – in 10 days. 

Liverpool has some of the highest infection rates in Britain. Weekly cases currently stand at 410.4 per 100,000, as of October 25, according to government data.

Liverpool soccer star Trent Alexander-Arnold sent a message to the people of his native city on Friday.

“Let’s start the fightback against Covid, let’s get tested,” he said in a video posted on the club’s official Twitter account.

Minks are seen at a farm in Gjol, northern Denmark on October 9.

The UK government has implemented a travel ban with Denmark from 4am (local time) on Saturday after a mutated strain of the coronavirus – connected to the country’s mink farms – was detected.

Visitors arriving into the UK from Denmark will not be permitted entry into the UK, except for freight and hauliers, said the Department for Transport.

“The decision to act quickly follows the release of further information from health authorities in Denmark reporting widespread outbreaks of coronavirus (COVID-19) in mink farms, with a variant strain of the virus spreading to some local communities,” the department said in a statement on Saturday.

The Danish government announced new restrictions in seven municipalities on Thursday.

According to the Danish government, the mutated form of the virus has been passed back to humans.

Statens Serum Institut, the Danish authority based in Copenhagen which deals with infectious diseases, found five cases of the virus in mink farms and 12 examples in humans that showed reduced sensitivity to antibodies.

The travel ban and expanded self-isolation requirements will be reviewed after one week.