February 5 coronavirus news

CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky speaks during a news conference at the Queen Theater December 8, 2020, in Wilmington, Delaware.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will release guidance on school reopenings in the coming week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House briefing on Friday.

During the briefing, CNN’s Sara Murray asked Walensky about her previous comments about teachers and why it would be safe for teachers to return to the classroom if they have not been vaccinated — and whether that is considered the CDC’s official guidance at this point.

“Among the things that we need to do to make sure that schools are safe is to make sure that the community spread of the disease is down,” Walensky said. “We are actively working on the guidance, the official guidance, which will be released in the week ahead.”

President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris hold a meeting in the Oval Office about the economy and Covid-19 relief on February 5.

President Biden stressed the need for his $1.9 trillion Covid relief package on the heels of the January jobs report that shows slow US economic recovery and a lot of economic pain across the country.

“I appreciate you all coming over because — the urgency with which you’re moving — this is about people’s lives. This is not just about numbers,” Biden told House Democrats hours after the Senate voted to begin the reconciliation process, adding that many Americans are “really hurting” and Congress has the opportunity “to do something consequential here.”

Citing lessons learned from his time working on the Recovery Act during the Obama administration, Biden reiterated, “We can’t do too much here, but we can do too little.”

Those comments come after former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers warned of issues in the plan that could impact financial stability and the value of the dollar, saying that implementing the stimulus could lead to unprecedented inflationary pressure and that the proposed stimulus is three times as large as what Summers says is the projected shortfall.

Biden added, “It’s not just the macroeconomic impact on our economy and our ability to compete internationally. It’s people’s lives. Real, live people are hurting and we can fix it.”

Biden also added that he “can hardly wait” to sit down with Rep. Peter DeFazio, who was in attendance, to work on an infrastructure package.

The UK plans to vaccinate all adults age 50 and older “by May,” a Downing Street spokesperson told journalists at PA Media

It was the first firm indication of a date for the next phase of the coronavirus vaccine rollout and would mean that local elections in Wales and England could proceed on May 6 as planned.

According to PA Media, there was much “confusion” around the Friday morning statement from the Cabinet Office statement, which was then withdrawn by Downing Street three hours later before once again being confirmed as accurate.

The spokesperson told journalists that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson would set out “a precise timeline” on Feb. 15 when his government is expected to announce a roadmap for exiting lockdown, PA Media reported.

The Biden administration is expected to announce Friday it is sending about 1,000 US troops to help around the country with Covid-19 vaccinations. The announcement is expected from the White House as early as this morning, according to two defense officials.           

The plan calls for the troops to form into five teams to travel to designated sites. Orders are expected to call for troops to be ready to deploy within 96 hours of receiving their orders. 

This effort is the first part of the FEMA request to DOD to provide military assistance for vaccinations to meet President Biden’s goal of increasing the number of Americans who get doses during his first 100 days in office.

The Defense Department and FEMA have been discussing sending up to 10,000 troops. Each team will have personnel who can administer vaccines as well as support troops. The goal is for the military to eventually ramp up to administering approximately 450,000 vaccines a day.

The US Northern Command in Colorado Springs is now expected to work out exactly what troops will go and a potential mix of active duty and National Guard.

There is already a significant, but separate military effort. 

“There are over 20,000 national guardsmen deployed providing COVID support including at over 216 vaccine sites in 36 states and territories,” said Max Rose, Covid senior adviser to the secretary of defense.

The Pentagon has also kept hundreds of personnel on notice to be prepared to deploy mainly for helping overwhelmed health care facilities and hospitals around the country. 

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi walks through the US Capitol on February 4.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi sent a letter to Democrats on the budget resolution passed early this morning, saying that they will work toward the final passage of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan before the end of February. 

Biden is meeting with Democratic leaders and chairs of the committees this morning at the White House.

The key procedural step passed today sets up the ability for Democrats to pass the relief package without the threat of a filibuster from Republicans who oppose it.

“Next week, we will be writing the legislation to create a path to final passage for the Biden American Rescue Plan, so that we can finish our work before the end of February,” Pelosi continued in the letter.

Cathay Pacific pilots exit the arrival hall at Hong Kong International Airport on November 6, 2020.

Hong Kong is tightening its restrictions for air and sea crew members, who were previously exempt from quarantine measures, according to a government news release Friday.

Local crew members returning from travel must self-isolate at a quarantine hotel for 14 days, the government said. After quarantine, crew members will undergo seven days of medical surveillance.

All air crew members must undergo testing and wait for the result at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) or a designated location, the government added.

Hong Kong airline Cathay Pacific posted a notice following the announcement saying, “We are actively managing our crew resources to plan for our flight services from 20 February onwards. More updates will be posted in our website by next week. Your patience and understanding are appreciated.”

The UK is confident that the epidemic is shrinking as the Covid-19 reproduction number (R) is now between 0.7 and 1.0, the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said Friday.

The R is the number of people that one infected person will pass the virus on to.

The growth rate in the UK is estimated to between -5% and -2% and the R number is estimated to be below 1, meaning that the number of “new infections is shrinking by between 2% to 5% every day”. 

DHSC added that “it remains important that everyone continues to stay at home in order to keep the R value down, protect the NHS and help save lives”.

Mass vaccinations are rolling out across the US. CNN’s Athena Jones will answer your questions from a vaccine site at Yankees Stadium in New York.

What questions do you have about vaccines and the roll out process?

From left, Vice President Kamala Harris, President Joe Biden and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer meet with Democratic senators in the Oval Office to discuss Biden's Covid-19 relief package on February 3.

The Senate passed a budget resolution early Friday morning — a key procedural step that sets up the ability for Democrats to pass President Biden’s sweeping Covid-19 relief package without the threat of a filibuster from Republicans who oppose it.

The measure passed 51-50 on a party line vote, but only after Vice President Kamala Harris showed up at the Capitol to break the tie.

Passage followed hours of voting on amendments in an exhausting ritual known as a “vote-a-rama,” when senators can theoretically offer as many amendments to the budget resolution as they desire. 

Those amendments largely serve as a way for each party to force the other side on the record about controversial issues, and most of the GOP amendments were defeated.

Biden is expected to meet with Democratic leaders of the committees at the White House.

What comes next: The budget resolution that passed is not the Covid relief bill. It simply sets the stage for Democrats to be able to use a process known as “budget reconciliation” to pass the relief bill on a party-line vote, possibly in late February or March, after the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is complete in the Senate.

Embedded in the budget resolution are reconciliation instructions for multiple congressional committees to formally draft and approve legislation on things like funds for vaccine production and distribution, unemployment insurance, stimulus checks and more.

The House already passed the budget measure earlier in the week. But because it was amended in the Senate it will need to go back to the House for a final vote, possibly Friday.

Biden has said he is willing to go forward without the support of Republicans, but he’s also stressed that he’s willing to make certain concessions if it will earn bipartisan support.

A Biden aide told CNN Friday the Senate’s passage of the resolution is a “positive step forward” and that the White House is “looking forward to continued progress to getting assistance to the American people.”

Congressional Democrats have also made clear that they think time is of the essence on the proposal, and a deep divergence remains between Biden’s $1.9 trillion and the $618 billion GOP proposal.

Violators of the federal transportation face mask requirement face a $250 fine that increases for subsequent violations, the Transportation Security Administration said Friday.  

The fine can grow up to $1,500 for repeated violations. 

The penalties may be in addition to those imposed by operators. US airlines have taken the initiative to ban passengers who do not follow the rules, and the Federal Aviation Administration has said it will crack down on any passengers who disrupt flights of assault crew members over instructions to wear a mask. 

The order that took effect earlier this week requires masks in transportation hubs like train stations and airports, and on many commercial and public transportation networks, like trains, buses and airplanes.  

An NHS member prepares a dose of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine at Stithians Showground near Truro, England, on January 26.

The Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine “has similar efficacy against the B.1.1.7 ‘Kent’ coronavirus strain currently circulating in the UK to previously circulating variants,” a statement from University of Oxford published Friday read.

The university said a preprint of ongoing work to assess effectiveness of its coronavirus vaccine also described recent analysis “showing that the vaccination results in a reduction in the duration of shedding and viral load, which may translate into a reduced transmission of the disease.” 

Andrew Pollard, professor of paediatric infection and Immunity and chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, said: “Data from our trials of the ChAdOx1 vaccine in the United Kingdom indicate that the vaccine not only protects against the original pandemic virus, but also protects against the novel variant, B.1.1.7, which caused the surge in disease from the end of 2020 across the UK.”

Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology and chief investigator on the Oxford vaccine trial, said the university was working with AstraZeneca to “optimise the pipeline required for a strain change should one become necessary.”

“This is the same issue that is faced by all of the vaccine developers, and we will continue to monitor the emergence of new variants that arise in readiness for a future strain change,” she added. 

America’s unemployment rate fell to 6.3% in January, beating economists’ expectations but still signaling a sluggish recovery. 

The US economy added 49,000 jobs last month, according to the government jobs report released Friday morning. 

People wait in an observation area after receiving the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in San Francisco, California, on Wednesday, February 3.

In the past week, more than 9 million Covid-19 vaccines doses were administered in the United States, according to data reported by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That’s nearly ten times more than the 958,965 new cases reported in the same seven-day period, data from Johns Hopkins University shows.

New cases were down 15% from last week, JHU data shows. Meanwhile, the pace of vaccinations increased about 5% from last week, CDC data shows.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at the US State Department in Washington, DC, on Thursday, February 4.

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken congratulated Russia on the effectiveness of the Gamaleya Insitute’s Sputnik V vaccine. 

“We agreed to promote contacts between our scientists and laboratories to find opportunities for cooperation in this area with our European colleagues,” the Russian minister said. 

“We have intensive contacts on this matter. Many countries are interested in buying and manufacturing this vaccine on their territories. Chancellor Merkel, in her telephone conversation with President Putin, also mentioned opportunities of developing cooperation between Germany and Russia,” he added. 

Lavrov told reporters that Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Centre for Epidemiology and Microbiology, which developed the vaccine, also contacted Oxford/AstraZeneca manufacturers, “to produce a combined variant of vaccine that would comprise [the] positive effects of both vaccines.” 

Some context: After criticism last year for an early rollout, Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has shown to be 91.6% effective against symptomatic Covid-19 and 100% effective against severe and moderate disease, according to an interim analysis of the vaccine’s Phase 3 trial results published in The Lancet this week.

Pharmacy technician Sara Berech prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for a clinical trial at Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado, on December 15, 2020.

CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta says he doesn’t predict certain vaccines being administered to different demographic groups right now.

Responding to a viewer question about the possibility of administering the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to those between the ages of 20-49 when they are eligible, Gupta said this on CNN’s “New Day”:

About the vaccine: Johnson & Johnson officially asked the US Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine. The vaccine is delivered in a single shot, whereas Pfizer and Moderna’s require two doses. It was shown to be 66% effective in preventing moderate and severe disease in a global Phase 3 trial, according to the company, and its efficacy against moderate and severe disease was 72% in the US.

“The Johnson & Johnson vaccine, when it was trialed, that happened at a different time. It was later in this pandemic, and it happened in different places: South Africa, Brazil, places where we know these variants have been spreading,” Gupta explained. 

“They’re all really good vaccines. I think you’ve got to inoculate people who are the greatest risk of dying, of getting sick, of being hospitalized,” which will lead to death rates going down, he added. 

It’s called COVAX – and it may be the best hope in vaccinating the world.

The relative obscurity of this vaccine program belies its critical role in the global battle against Covid-19. Indeed, COVAX may well be the most important acronym of 2021. As vaccine nationalism rears its ugly head, it’s the best – perhaps the only – bet on getting billions of doses to lower- and middle-income countries.

COVAX is an entity run by a coalition that includes the Vaccine Alliance known as Gavi and the World Health Organization (WHO), and is funded by donations from governments, multilateral institutions and foundations. Its mission is to buy coronavirus vaccines in bulk and send them to poorer nations that can’t compete with wealthy countries in securing contracts with the major drug companies.But raising the necessary funds will be a tall order, and the logistics are daunting.

It has secured almost 2.3 billion doses for distribution this year. Of that total 1.8 billion should be made available to 92 of the world’s poorest countries – the majority of which (1.3 billion) will be at no cost.

Gavi has plenty of experience in getting vaccines to populations in need – it has helped vaccinate half the world’s children against other diseases, such as polio, meningitis and typhoid. But the Covid-19 campaign dwarfs those programs.

Read the full report here:

FILE - In this image taken from video on Tuesday Oct. 13, 2020, people work inside the UNICEF warehouse, the world's largest humanitarian aid warehouse, in Copenhagen, Denmark where the groundwork is being laid for the Covax initiative, led by the World Health Organization and the Gavi vaccine alliance. An IBM threat intelligence team said Thursday, Dec. 3 it detected a cyberespionage effort that used targeted phishing emails to try to collect sensitive information from organizations involved in the U.N. initiative for distributing COVID-19 vaccine to developing countries. (AP Photo)

Related article Why COVAX could become the most important acronym of 2021

Christine Ehrenproft and Martina Neuhold prepare Covid-19 vaccines at the DRK nursing and care center in Sangerhausen, Germany, on January 13.

Nearly 80% of Germany’s care home residents have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and 800,000 have also received the second shot, German Health Minister Jens Spahn said at a press conference Friday.

Spahn said that Germany received the first batch of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine on Friday with 1.7 million doses due to be delivered to German states over the weekend. Another three million doses are expected to arrive in the country in late February, he added

The European Union is finalizing negotiations with Novovax, a new Covid-19 vaccine that was found to be 89.3% effective during clinical trials conducted in the UK. Spahn indicated Germany was in talks to purchase more vaccines as he said they will “sign further contracts with vaccine developers to get more doses for potential booster shots.”

For the first time in three months, the number of new infections per 100,000 residents has fallen to under 80 – the lowest level since 24 October.

He added that Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of Germany’s federal states will convene next week to discuss if steps to ease coronavirus restrictions –such as the re-opening of schools and kindergartens – can be considered at this stage. 

The head of Germany’s main public health authority – Lothar Wieler from the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) – warned on Friday that the more contagious coronavirus variant from the UK currently accounts for just under 6% of infections.

Wieler warned that ”we expect that the B.1.1.7 variant will spread further – and we must slow it down.” 

On Friday Germany recorded 12,908 new coronavirus infections – a drop of 1,114 cases compared to the same day last week, according to RKI. The country’s death toll remains high, with 855 deaths registered in the last 24 hours. 

Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki has announced the easing of coronavirus restrictions on leisure from mid-February by allowing hotels, cinemas and theatres to re-open alongside all outdoor sports activity.

In a press conference on epidemic safety on Friday, Morawiecki said that cinemas, theaters, opera houses and philharmonics can operate at up to 50% capacity from February 12. Hotels and businesses offering accommodation will also reopen under the same reduced capacity.

Some background: Poland started to relax its coronavirus restrictions on Monday, when the government permitted stores in shopping malls to reopen. Gyms, fitness centers remain closed and restaurants can only serve take-out or deliveries. 

According to the latest data from John Hopkins University, Poland has had 1,539,564 confirmed cases of coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, with 38,712 deaths.

With the Super Bowl this weekend and Valentine’s Day coming up, you may be planning a special meal but health experts say with the pandemic still raging in the US and with variants popping up, the safest choice is takeout.

Despite the high number of cases, more American states and cities are letting restaurants open their doors to diners, albeit with limitations.

Last Friday Los Angeles said its restaurants could reopen with restrictions and 50% capacity. Chicago reopened with rules that encourage physical distancing and masks. New York announced restaurants could reopen at 25% capacity just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Dr. Anthony Fauci said Tuesday that eating inside during a pandemic can be done, but only if it’s “done carefully.” 

Read the full story here:

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 20: People walk by a closed restaurant in Rockefeller Center on the last Sunday before Christmas on December 20, 2020 in New York City. Rockefeller Center, where the annual Christmas tree is displayed among other holiday attractions, has far less crowds this year and numerous restrictions due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. New York City has seen a slow uptick in COVID hospitalizations over the last few weeks but is still far below the numbers witnessed in the spring. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Related article It's still safest to avoid indoor dining, even if more states are allowing it

Sweden is working on launching a digital coronavirus vaccine certificate by the summer, its government announced on Thursday.

The Swedish government has commissioned the Swedish Agency for Digital Administration (Digg) to project manage work on the digital infrastructure for “vaccine passports.”

The country will also participate in the European Union and the World Health Organization’s work concerning digital vaccination certificates for Covid-19, the government said.

Minister for Digital Development Anders Ygeman said in the press release that with a digital vaccination certificate, it will be quick and easy to present completed vaccination.

Denmark announced Wednesday it is hoping to introduce “vaccine passports.” Initially for business travelers, authorities hope the scheme could help reopen society and ease travel.

Workers handle a shipment of Covid-19 vaccines in Johannesburg on February 1.

African nations are being left behind in the global vaccine rollout as richer countries stockpile and prioritize their own populations – despite a surge in cases and a new variant affecting the continent.

On Monday, South Africa received its first million doses of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine, with another 500,000 expected later this month – making it one of the first nations on the continent to receive large doses of a Covid-19 vaccine.

South Africa is the country worst affected by the pandemic on the continent, recording nearly 1.5 million cases to date and more than 45,000 deaths. The country plans on inoculating health workers in February, its health ministry told CNN.

Few cheap vaccine options are available to African countries because of continued global demand, leaving the continent trailing behind, say government officials and health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO).

Less than 20% of the 270 million doses first ordered by the African Union (AU) will be available before June, according to a press release from the African Vaccine Acquisition Task Team.

COVAX – the initiative for equitable global access led by the WHO and Gavi, the vaccine alliance – forecasts that it will have supplied 640 million doses by June, about 30% of which are for AU countries. In contrast, the European Union expects member states to vaccinate 70% of their adult populations by the summer.

Read more the full report:

One of the first South African Oxford vaccine trialists looks on as a medical worker injects him in Soweto on June 24

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People dine out at a restaurant in Perth, Australia, on February 5.

The state of Western Australia is ending a five-day lockdown for Perth, Peel and the South West Friday after no new locally-transmitted Covid-19 cases for the period were reported.

State Premier Mark McGowan announced a hard lockdown for the areas Sunday after a single new local Covid-19 case was identified. Nearly 50,000 tests were conducted from Sunday to Thursday, McGowan said, but no new cases were found.

“I am very pleased to confirm that Western Australia has again detected no new local cases overnight, with another incredible tally of tests conducted yesterday,” McGowan tweeted Friday. “Provided that no cases are detected in the next few hours, Perth, Peel and the South West will exit lockdown at 6 p.m.”

The drastic lockdown measures come after a man in his twenties who worked as a security guard at the Sheraton Four Points, a hotel quarantine facility, tested positive for the coronavirus.

“I know this week has been tough. But we live in the best country in the world – and the best State in the country. And we will get through this,” McGowan added.

From left, Josep Borell and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov hold a joint press conference in Moscow on February 5.

The EU’s top diplomat Josep Borrell congratulated Russia on the success of its Sputnik-V vaccine and said he hoped the European Medicines Agency would certify its use in the bloc to help ease the vaccine supply shortage.

The success of Sputnik-V is “good news for the whole of mankind because it means that we are going to have more tools to face the pandemic,” Borrell said in Moscow.

Borrell also said it was “impossible” to predict when the EU bloc would open its external border but member states were working together to reopen when safe to do so.

The US Senate passed a budget resolution unlocking the Democrats’ ability to write a Covid-19 relief bill and pass it with just a simple majority.

This is the first step in that two-step process.

The measure passed 51-50 along party lines, but only after Vice President Kamala Harris arrived at the Capitol to break the tie.

The vote on the budget resolution came after 15 straight hours of amendment votes.

A Seattle hospital has canceled 1,300 Covid-19 vaccine appointments out of concern over equal access to sign up.

“Shortly after releasing appointments, we decided we needed broader communication to the greater public of available vaccine appointments as we want to achieve the widest reach possible,” Seattle Children’s Hospital said Thursday in a statement sent to CNN.

People hoping to be vaccinated signed up Tuesday through an online portal for existing patients. But some health care providers in Washington state have come under criticism in recent weeks for first notifying vaccine availability to people who have prior history with the facility.

Demand for vaccines has exceeded the supply in most states, and officials say the already limited distribution is not making its way proportionally to Black and Latino communities. As calls for increased production and administration grow, some organizations are also working to make sure doses are made more equally available.

Read the full story here:

Screen grab from file footage of Seattle Children's Hospital in 2019.

Related article Seattle hospital cancels Covid-19 vaccine appointments after concerns about equity

English Premier league champions Liverpool will not be allowed to head to Germany for the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie against RB Leipzig due to take place on February 16.

Germany has introduced strict rules prohibiting international travel from countries that are deemed high risk due to coronavirus variants, including the UK.

The country’s international travel restrictions are in place until February 17. The second leg is due to played in Liverpool on March 10.

Neither Liverpool nor UEFA were immediately available for comment when contacted by CNN.

How is UEFA handling games right now? On Tuesday European football’s governing body announced updated regulations for the knockout stages of both the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The regulations stipulate that if restrictions imposed by a national or local authority could result in a match not taking place, “the home club must propose a suitable alternative venue, which may be in a neutral country.”

If the home club fails to do so and it’s not possible to play the game either at another European venue or on an alternative date, UEFA says it will deem the game forfeited with the home side losing 3-0.

An airplane flies over a Travelodge Hotel as it comes in to land at Heathrow Airport on January 28, in London, England.

Travelers to the UK from a so-called “red list” of countries will be required quarantine for 10 days at a hotel from February 15, the Department of Health announced in a press release late on Thursday.

The UK is tightening border controls as it tries to stop the spread of new Covid-19 variants from countries first identified in Brazil and South Africa. The “red list” of countries are mostly those where these variants are believed to be spreading, or places they have strong travel links with.

The new policy of enforced hotel quarantine for travelers from the banned countries was first announced on January 27. The UK had already banned entry to foreign nationals without permanent UK residence from those countries and had previously ordered British and Irish citizens and those with permanent UK residency status to self-quarantine at home. But those travelers, who cannot be refused entry to the UK, will be required to undergo the hotel quarantine.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock held discussions with his Australian counterpart on Thursday, and officials will speak with New Zealand officials to share expertise on their policies for quarantining travelers, the press release added.

More details will be set out next week on how travelers will be able to book into the designated accommodation facilities.

Ron Klain speaks during a House Homeland Security Subcommittee hearing in Washington, DC, on March 10, 2020.

The Biden administration is hoping to resurrect a proposal from the Trump administration to mail face masks to every American in an attempt to stop the spread of Covid-19, White House chief of staff Ron Klain said Thursday.

The US Postal Service had planned to distribute 650 million face coverings for the Trump administration last April, according to internal documents reviewed by CNN in September.

Why the masks weren’t sent: A senior administration official told The Washington Post at the time that the plan was scrapped by the White House as some advisers were worried that it could create “concern or panic.”

But some have voiced skepticism on whether sending Americans masks would convince those who did not already wear them to do so.

When asked last week if it made sense for the federal government to mail out masks, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that “it’s not entirely clear to me that the reason people aren’t wearing masks is because they don’t have access to them.”

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WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 5: Ron Klain (R), former White House Ebola Response Coordinator, arrives for a House Committee on Foreign Affairs Asia and Pacific subcommittee hearing concerning the coronavirus outbreak, in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill, February 5, 2020 in Washington, DC. The number of cases of the deadly coronavirus rose to more than 20,000 in mainland China on Wednesday, days after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak a global public health emergency. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Related article Chief of staff: White House hopes to revive Trump plan to mail masks to Americans

Dr. Alfonso Velandia is seen at the Covid-19 ward at the Cardiovascular Hospital in Soacha, Colombia.

Dr. Alfonso Velandia starts each hospital shift by counting his troops in the battle against coronavirus.

The 46-year-old emergency specialist manages intensive care units (ICUs) at the Cardiovascular Hospital in Soacha, a working-class suburb of Colombia’s capital Bogotá. Since the pandemic began, he says he has seen the number of healthcare workers under his watch dwindle, even as the hospital expands its ICU to confront a relentless second wave of cases.

Velandia looks with frustration at statistics on vaccine distribution in Europe and North America, where hundreds of thousands of frontline healthcare workers have already been vaccinated against the deadly virus. “I recently had a meeting, and my team was like ‘We can’t hold anymore’… we need the vaccine now!” he told CNN.

But like many countries in the developing world, Colombia is yet to receive a single dose of a vaccine.

World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has criticized wealthier countries for stockpiling excessive amounts, warning that unequal distribution between rich and poor countries could prolong the pandemic.

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colombia coronavirus vaccine hospital Pozzebon pkg intl ldn vpx_00000117.png

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President of Mexico, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, speaks during the inauguration of the National Guard new headquarters in Sabinas Nuevo León, Mexico, on January 22.

Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said late Thursday he has now tested negative for Covid-19, after contracting the virus a week and a half ago.

In a video posted on his official Twitter account, Lopez Obrador explained he was administered an antigen test and is now negative for coronavirus.

Rapid antigen tests for Covid-19 are less accurate than RT-PCR tests for Covid-19, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

It is unclear when Lopez Obrador will resume in-person activities.

He first tested positive on January 24.

Saudi Arabia announced tightened restrictions to contain the spread of a second Covid-19 outbreak, according to the state-run Saudi Press Agency (SPA). 

All events, including weddings and corporate meetings, have been suspended from being held at venues for the next 30 days, SPA reported.

Over the next 10 days, social gatherings are restricted to no more than 20 people, and all entertainment activities and events are suspended. Cinemas, shopping malls and gyms will be closed, and indoor dining is suspended. Restaurants or cafes found violating the lockdown measures face temporary closure. 

Saudi Arabia also implemented a temporary partial ban on travel from 20 countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, South Africa, Germany, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India and Pakistan.

According to the Saudi Ministry of Health, the country has recorded 367,086 confirmed coronavirus cases and 6,389 related deaths since the pandemic began.

CEO Craig Tiley of Tennis Australia talks during a news conference in Melbourne, on February 4.

Measures to combat Covid-19 will be a feature of the 2022 and likely the 2023 Australian Open tennis tournaments, according to the organizer of the grand slam.

Tennis Australia CEO Craig Tiley told CNN that this year’s measures for players – including quarantine, social distancing and contact tracing – are here to stay.

In January, more than 1,000 people from 100 different countries arrived in Australia on 17 charter flights to take part in the Open, in what Tiley described as a “Herculean effort”. 

All participants were placed under 14 days quarantine on arrival, with 72 players forced into stricter arrangements after they were deemed close contacts of 10 positive cases.

Tiley said that no sporting competition would be possible in the near future without a strict quarantine scheme, including the Tokyo Olympics planned for July.

While the Olympics is a “whole different deal and scale,” Tiley added the Tokyo 2020 Games organizers could take note of Tennis Australia’s success in preparing for the Open, which begins on Monday.

The United States reported 119,931 new Covid-19 infections and 4,941 additional virus-related fatalities on Thursday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Thursday’s figures include more than 1,500 backlogged deaths reported by the Indiana State Department of Health.

That raises the national tally to at least 26,676,957 coronavirus cases and 455,738 deaths.

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

Vaccines: At least 57,489,675 vaccine doses have been distributed and at least 35,203,710 shots administered, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

See CNN’s live tracker here.

Australia will increase incoming passenger quotas in the states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia from February 15, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday.

Caps on quarantine space in the country were limited in early January due to concerns over new variants. The increased capacity will allow for 6,362 people to return to Australia each week.

Speaking at a news conference, Morrison said the priority remains to facilitate a return home for Australian residents. The government is looking to increase capacity at government-run quarantine facilities in the Northern Territory, Canberra and Tasmania, which do not fall under the current cap, he said.

No local cases were reported in the country in the past 24 hours, health authorities announced Friday. There were six imported cases from incoming travelers who are currently in hotel quarantine.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks with reporters at the White House in Washington, DC, on January 21.

The coronavirus variant B.1.1.7, first identified in the UK, is already spreading in the United States – and “might become dominant” in the country, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

The only way to prevent the variants from becoming dominant is to stop them from spreading by following public health measures and getting as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible, Fauci said.

“We have a possibility, and the capability, of trying to stop them from becoming dominant,” he added.

About the variant: The B.1.1.7 strain had been circulating in Kent, England, since at least September. It spreads 30-70% more easily than the original strand of the virus, according to Britain’s chief scientific adviser Patrick Vallance.

UK scientists have also found a mutation in some samples of the variant, that could allow Covid-19 to escape antibody protection.

The variant has now been spotted in at least 70 countries, and most US states. 

An international vaccine watchdog is urging drugmakers to share their science to meet the global demand for coronavirus vaccines, instead of pursuing profits at the expense of poorer countries.

The People’s Vaccine Alliance, which includes members of Amnesty International and Oxfam, said in a statement that if vaccine production and distribution continues as it is now, only one in 10 people will be vaccinated in many developing countries by the end of the year. 

At the time of their analysis, about 108 million people worldwide have been vaccinated against Covid-19 – but only 4% of those doses were administered in developing countries, according to Our World Data. Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna have sold almost all their doses to rich nations, the group said.

“Business as usual is not enough in a global pandemic,” said Heidi Chow of Global Justice Now in the group’s statement. 

I woke to the sound of my fiancée muttering “f*@!” under her breath on Christmas Eve.

While we were sleeping, the Hong Kong government had announced that all residents of the city returning from abroad must now spend three weeks in hotel quarantine instead of two, at their own expense – effective Christmas Day.

We were supposed to return to Hong Kong from the United States in fewer than 48 hours. We had booked a hotel for two weeks to comply with the government’s regulation – which required travelers like us to purchase a hotel room even if they owned or rented a home in Hong Kong – but this new hiccup could prevent us from getting back.

What if our hotel couldn’t extend our reservation before our flight? Were exceptions being made for people who were about to hop on a plane? And, could we even afford to spend 21 days in a hotel room – financially, physically and mentally?

We needed answers: The Hong Kong government’s coronavirus website had basic information, but not advice and guidance from people who had already started dealing with this new reality.

So we turned to the HK Quarantine support group on Facebook, boasting nearly 30,000 members. The group has become an invaluable resource – what started as a simple idea to connect people in quarantine with volunteers who could get them groceries has grown into a massive, crowdsourced platform with resources on almost every aspect of the arduous journey, 

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Jessica Chong passed time in quarantine by creating masks with the paper bags meals her meals were delivered in.

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Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks during a White House briefing in Washington, DC, on January 21.

It’s too soon for people to think they might be able to pick and choose among coronavirus vaccines, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Even with Johnson & Johnson asking the Food and Drug Administration for emergency use authorization of its vaccine, there’s just not enough vaccine available, Fauci told CNN on Thursday.

“I don’t think right in the beginning they will, because right now, the demand is far excess of the supply. So, people will, I think, gladly take whatever is available to them,” Fauci said. 

If the Johnson & Johnson vaccine wins an EUA, that would make three vaccine brands on the US market: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson.

The Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are very similar and require two doses. Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine uses a different approach and only needs one shot to work.

Play resumes at Melbourne Park in Australia, on February 5.

Warm-up matches for the Australian Open tennis tournament resumed on Friday, after all of Thursday’s fixtures were canceled to make way for coronavirus testing. 

The Australian state of Victoria recorded no local cases of Covid-19 after conducting 14,612 tests on Thursday, according to its health department on Friday.

Andrews added that wastewater tests in Melbourne have also not shown signs of Covid-19.

The testing blitz comes after one person connected to the Australian Open tested positive this week, canceling games and forcing 507 tennis players, staff and officials to isolate and get tested on Thursday.

The case broke a run of 28 days with no community transmission in the state of Victoria. 

The Australian Open is scheduled to begin Monday.

An aerial view of San Quentin State Prison is seen in California, on July 8, 2020.

California’s San Quentin State Prison, where a deadly coronavirus outbreak was reported last summer, has been fined more than $400,000 for workplace safety violations.

The state’s Department of Industrial Relations’ division of occupational safety and health (Cal-OHSA) issued nearly 15 violations, culminating in a $421,880 fine – one of the highest penalties issued by the state for Covid-19 violations.  

The prison failed to report infections or deaths of employees, according to the violation. From June to July, there were five instances of employees hospitalized with Covid-19.

Inspectors also found that there were no “suitable cleansing agents” in the employee restroom. The eyewash station was also inaccessible.  

The citations come just days after the state’s inspector general released a report saying the prison’s “deeply flawed” detainee transfers contributed to the outbreak. 

San Quentin State Prison, located about 20 miles north of San Francisco, has confirmed 2,151 cases and 28 related deaths – the highest number of fatalities among the state’s prison system.

More than 40% of inmates there have tested positive for Covid-19 in the past two weeks, according to the CDCR. 

The US Food and Drug Administration has scheduled a meeting of vaccine advisors to discuss Johnson & Johnson’s request for emergency use authorization (EUA) for its coronavirus vaccine.

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee (VRBPAC) will meet on February 26.

Johnson & Johnson said earlier Thursday it had applied for the EUA on behalf of its Janssen Biotech vaccine-making subsidiary. The timing means the FDA would not decide on authorization before the end of the month. 

The FDA added that it cannot predict how long it would take to made a decision, but that the agency would review the request “as expeditiously as possible … while still doing so in a thorough and science-based manner.”

The meeting will be livestreamed on the agency’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitter channels, and from the FDA website.  

An estimated 631,000 Americans will have died from Covid-19 by June 1, according to the latest forecast from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. 

The team behind the influential forecast model said a lot depends on the vaccine rollout and the spread of variants. A worst-case scenario could see the death toll go as high as 703,000.

As of Thursday night, the US had reported more than 455,000 Covid-19 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The IHME cited a poll showing an increase in the number of Americans willing to get vaccinated, from 54% to 66%. 

“Daily deaths have peaked and are declining. By June 1, 2021, we project that 123,600 lives will be saved by the projected vaccine rollout,” the IHME said.

How to save more lives: If 95% of Americans wore masks, 44,000 more lives would be saved, the IHME said. Currently, mask use is at about 77%. 

And people need to stay put even if they have been vaccinated, the IHME said. If vaccinated people start moving and traveling as normal, 17 states could see rising daily deaths again by April and May.

“The best strategies to manage this period of the pandemic are rapid scale-up of vaccination, continued and expanded mask-wearing, and concerted efforts to avoid rebound mobility in the vaccinated. Some states are lifting mandates rapidly, which poses a real risk of increased transmission as new variants spread and vaccination rates remain comparatively low,” the IHME warned.

The United States has reported at least 618 cases of coronavirus variants across 33 states, according to data posted Thursday by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The vast majority (611) of these cases are the more contagious variant known as B.1.1.7, which was originally detected in the United Kingdom. Florida has the highest count, with 187 cases, and California follows with 145. The rest are scattered across a few dozen states.

In addition, there are five cases of the variant called B.1.351, which was initially seen in South Africa. Two cases are in South Carolina, and three in Maryland.

Lastly, Minnesota has identified two cases of the P.1 strain, first linked to Brazil.

The CDC says this does not represent the total number of such cases circulating in the US, but just those that have been found by analyzing positive samples.

Johnson & Johnson officially asked the US Food and Drug Administration for an emergency use authorization of its Covid-19 vaccine Thursday.

As the FDA looks at the results, it will schedule a public meeting of its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, an independent group of experts who will also look at the data and make a recommendation that the agency takes into consideration when it makes a decision.

If the FDA decides to authorize the vaccine, next the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices meets to discuss whether the vaccine should be given to Americans and if so, who should get it first.

This same regulatory process for Pfizer took a little over three weeks. For Moderna it was a little more than two.

One dose: The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is a little different than the other Covid-19 vaccines. The vaccine, made through a collaboration of J&J’s vaccine division, Janssen Pharmaceutical, and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, is delivered in a single shot. Pfizer and Moderna’s require two. It’s considered versatile since it is considered stable for up to three months kept in regular refrigerated temperatures and doesn’t need the deep freeze like Pfizer’s.

Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine was shown to be 66% effective in preventing moderate and severe disease in a global Phase 3 trial, according to the company. The vaccine is 85% effective overall at preventing hospitalization and death in all regions where it was tested.

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AURORA, CO - DECEMBER 15: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center investigational pharmacy technician Sara Berech prepares a dose of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine for a clinical trial on December 15, 2020 in Aurora, Colorado. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine could be submitted for emergency use by late January and is the only vaccine among leading candidates given as a single dose. (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

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Could you imagine if several of the Kansas City Chiefs – including quarterback Patrick Mahomes – had not been able to practice or play in Super Bowl LV against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers because of a haircut?

The Chiefs got a Covid-19 scare a week before the Super Bowl when it was learned that a barber giving members of the organization haircuts had tested positive for Covid-19, according to multiple reports.

Twenty members of the Chiefs, including Mahomes, other players and staff members, were in line to get haircuts on Sunday when the barber’s test results came back, according to ESPN.

ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reports that Chiefs backup center Daniel Kilgore was in the chair getting a haircut when the positive test result for the barber was learned. Both he and the barber were wearing masks, according to the report.

Kilgore on Wednesday posted a picture on Twitter with the hashtag #NewProfilePic, showing him with what looked like half of a cut. However, according to ESPN, Kilgore did indeed finish his haircut since he was in close contact.

Kilgore and wide receiver Demarcus Robinson were added to the Chiefs’ reserve/Covid-19 list on Monday. They could still play Sunday if they register five consecutive negative tests.

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ORCHARD PARK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 19: Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs comes out onto the field prior to the game against the Buffalo Bills at Bills Stadium on October 19, 2020 in Orchard Park, New York. (Photo by Bryan M. Bennett/Getty Images)

Related article A barber's positive Covid-19 test causes scare for the Kansas City Chiefs, reports say

There is some encouraging news in the fight against Covid-19 as more vaccines are being distributed and several states announced they will ease certain coronavirus restrictions amid decreasing case levels and hospitalizations, but despite the promising developments experts insist Americans need to remain cautious, especially with the arrival of differing variants in the United States.

On Thursday, Stefan Pryor, Rhode Island’s Secretary of Commerce, said that starting Friday indoor dining will be allowed at 50% capacity. Catered events, he added, will allow up to 30 people indoors and 50 people outdoors with testing.

In Massachusetts, Gov. Charlie Baker said that starting Monday all businesses limited to operating within 25% capacity can raise that threshold to 40%, including restaurants.

The two states joined New Jersey, which on Wednesday announced it will ease indoor gathering limits and lift the 10 p.m. curfew for restaurants, citing decreasing Covid-19 spreading rates and hospitalization rates. Starting Friday, indoor gathering capacity limits, including for indoor dining, will be raised to 35% from 25%.

And last week, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that if the coronavirus positivity rate continued to decline – as of Jan. 29 the rate was at 4.6%, the lowest since Nov. 28 – the state could resume indoor dining at 25% capacity beginning February 14.

Despite the hopeful news, experts insist Americans need to remain cautious: The emergence of these virus mutations – first detected in the United Kingdom (B.1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351) and Brazil (P.1), respectively – could mean another surge in cases, according to Dr. Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

It will take much more than a vaccine to “keep this variant at bay and not have potentially a major surge in just the weeks ahead,” Osterholm said, referring to the UK variant.

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NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 19, 2021 -- A memorial service for people who lost lives to COVID-19 is held in New Orleans, Louisiana, the United States, Jan. 19, 2021. (Photo by Lan Wei/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Lan Wei via Getty Images)

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