October 17 coronavirus news

A worker places signs informing customers and employees to wear masks and socially distance outside a store in downtown Fargo, North Dakota on October 14.

The US surpassed 8 million coronavirus cases this week, as experts say a dangerous fall surge of coronavirus infections is well underway.

Here’s a look at the latest updates on the pandemic in the US:

Democratic vice presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris was tested for Covid-19 Saturday, and the virus was not detected, per a Harris aide.

Earlier today, the Biden campaign announced that Kamala Harris would travel to Florida Monday, marking her first in-person event since the campaign halted her travel after a positive coronavirus case on her staff.

On Thursday, the campaign said Harris was canceling all her events through the weekend “out of an abundance of caution” after her communications director and a flight crew member from her plane tested positive for coronavirus. 

President Donald Trump makes his way to board Air Force One before departing from Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland on October 17. Trump will be heading on a three-day campaign trip which will take him to Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and Arizona.

President Trump is on his way to Michigan for a 5 p.m. ET rally in Muskegon. He’ll have a second rally in Janesville, Wisconsin, later this evening.

He did not speak to reporters as he boarded Air Force One moments ago.

Some context: Both Michigan and Wisconsin are reporting a rise in coronavirus cases.

Michigan’s Friday Covid-19 case count of 2,015 was the state’s highest number of positive test results reported in one day, according to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Lynn Sutfin.

Wisconsin reported 3,861 coronavirus cases on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University data. Its previous high was 3,747 on Thursday.

US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams addressed a surge of new cases and hospitalizations in Wisconsin and said the state’s test-positivity rates are “going in the wrong direction.”

“It is critical that we actually understand where this virus is circulating so that we could get cases under control and reverse positivity,” he said Friday in Neenah, Wisconsin, while announcing a new testing location there.

Many states across the US are reporting rising coronavirus cases.

The upticks have prompted state leaders to push new measures, like mask enforcements and gathering limits, in hopes of curbing the spread.

Meanwhile, US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams addressed a surge of new cases and hospitalizations in Wisconsin and said the state’s test-positivity rates are “going in the wrong direction.”

“It is critical that we actually understand where this virus is circulating so that we could get cases under control and reverse positivity,” he said Friday in Neenah, Wisconsin, while announcing a new testing location there.

Michigan’s Friday Covid-19 case count of 2,015 was the state’s highest number of positive test results reported in one day, according to Michigan Department of Health and Human Services spokesperson Lynn Sutfin.

News of the record comes just hours before President Trump is set to hold a rally in the state.

Sutfin told CNN they are closely tracking the data and the onset dates of illness for these cases for more precise insight into the spread of Covid-19 in Michigan.

President Trump is set to hold a rally in Muskegon, Michigan at 5 p.m. ET today. He’ll have a second rally in Wisconsin later this evening.

President Trump is set to hold a campaign rally in Janesville, Wisconsin, later today — but a doctor is telling residents to not hold any gatherings as coronavirus cases surge in the state. 

Wisconsin set a new record of 3,861 coronavirus cases on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University. The COVID Tracking Project reports Wisconsin’s positivity rate is at 23.91% as of Saturday morning.

“It’s spreading at large gatherings like weddings. It’s spreading at small family gatherings. … Rates are so high in the community right now that even things that were perhaps once considered more safe, like a small interaction, someone coming over to your house to drop off some groceries and they come inside for a little bit, even that now we’re seeing cases from those kinds of small interactions,” Landrum said in an interview on CNN. 

Watch:

University of Alabama head football coach Nick Saban was cleared to be on the sideline for tonight’s pivotal game against the University of Georgia after he tested negative for coronavirus for the third straight day according to the university.

“Those three negative tests satisfied the SEC protocol for a false positive,” the team’s physician, Dr. Jimmy Robinson said in a statement.

Here’s the statement from Robinson:

According to Johns Hopkins University’s tally, there have been at least 8,069,856 cases of coronavirus in the US since the pandemic began. At least 218,812 people have died in the US from coronavirus.   

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

As of 1:15 p.m. ET today, 20,991 new cases and 237 new deaths have been reported in the US since midnight.  

North Carolina health officials reported 2,102 Covid-19 cases on Saturday, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. 

This marks the third consecutive day the state reports more than 2,000 new cases, CNN’s tally shows.  

The state department reported 2,684 new cases on Friday, the state’s current record, and 2,532 cases on Thursday, CNN has reported.  

North Carolina’s total cases now stands at 243,725, according to the health department’s dashboard. 

Meanwhile, South Carolina Health officials reported 810 new Covid-19 cases and 22 deaths on Saturday, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. 

This brings the total number of cases in South Carolina to 156,655 while confirmed deaths stand at 3,427, DHEC data shows.  

DHEC reported the state’s percent positive yesterday was 11.4%, not including antibody tests. 

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

A medical worker takes a nasal swab sample from a student to test for Covid-19 at a pop up testing site in New York on October 8.

New York state will employ a “micro-cluster” strategy to combat Covid-19 during the fall months, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced at a press conference Saturday.

Cuomo acknowledged that the state will likely see an increase in the transmission rate in the coming months due to schools reopening and cooler weather driving people indoors. Additionally, increased rates throughout the country will continue to affect New York, because many people have continued to travel to New York, Cuomo said. 

The “micro-cluster” strategy will use enhanced data that the state has been able to collect through increased testing and will enable state authorities to fight Covid-19 on a “block by block” level, rather than on a larger state, region, or county level. 

Cuomo said the state has now been able to collect testing data that is so specific that they are not permitted to show it because it would violate privacy laws. However, the data will allow the state to target Covid-19 clusters to the block(s) where it is originating, and therefore allow for targeted mitigation and enforcement efforts, he said. 

By fighting “micro-clusters” at the block level, rather than at a larger state or county level, mitigation efforts will cause less disruption to other areas with low transmission rates, Cuomo said.

When a “micro-cluster” is identified, the state will ramp up testing, mitigation, and social distancing enforcement in those specific areas, Cuomo said, adding that this approach would continue even after a vaccine becomes available.

Covid-19 cases are surging across Europe, and some areas are implementing new restrictions to fight the second wave of the pandemic.

Here’s a look at some of the latest coronavirus figures across the continent:

New York movie theaters outside of New York City and not in “red zones” with high Covid-19 rates may reopen on Friday at 25% capacity, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at an ongoing press conference on Saturday.

Theaters will be allowed to have a maximum of 50 people per screen, Cuomo said.

Cuomo added that only counties outside of New York City that are below a 2% positivity rate over 14 days and have no cluster-zones will be able to reopen their movie theaters.

Masks will be required at all times, except when seated and eating or drinking. All seats must be assigned, social distancing guidelines must be adhered to, additional staffing is required to control occupancy and seating compliance and and all theaters will be required to meet enhanced air filitration, ventiliation, and purification standards, Cuomo said.

The Biden campaign has announced that Sen. Kamala Harris will travel to Florida Monday. 

This will be her first in person campaign event since the campaign announced Thursday that Harris was canceling all her events through the weekend “out of an abundance of caution” after her communications director and a flight crew member from her plane tested positive for coronavirus. 

Harris underwent PCR testing for Covid-19 Friday. The virus was not detected.

The US has surpassed 8 million Covid-19 cases this week, and on Friday, at least ten states reported their highest coronavirus case totals since the pandemic began.

If you’re just reading in now, here’s what you need to know about the coronavirus pandemic across the country:

And here’s a look at where cases are rising across the US:

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden addressed the coronavirus outbreak in Wisconsin in a statement released the same day President Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in the state.

“Wisconsin is in the grips of one of the worst coronavirus outbreaks in the country. Jill and I are praying for the health of those who’ve contracted the virus, and for the families who are mourning the loss of a loved one. We have lost far too many lives to this pandemic — and the sad fact is, it didn’t have to be this way,” Biden said in the Saturday statement.

He went on to slam President Trump’s handling of the pandemic.

Wisconsin reported its highest daily count of coronavirus cases yesterday with 3,861 new cases. Its previous high was 3,747 on Thursday.

President Trump is scheduled to hold a rally in Janesville, Wisconsin at 7 p.m. ET.

On Friday, at least ten states reported their highest coronavirus case totals since the pandemic began, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Here’s a look at the states’ cases, according to Johns Hopkins University: 

There were 3,861 new cases of coronavirus reported in Wisconsin on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University, charting a new record high number of cases for the state. 

Wisconsin’s previous high was 3,743 cases, which was set on Thursday. 

On Friday, United States Surgeon General Jerome Adams warned that Wisconsin is a Covid-19 red state, with a rising positivity rate. 

“It is critical that we actually understand where this virus is circulating so that we could get cases under control and reverse positivity,” he added. 

Adams spoke at a news conference announcing a new Covid-19 surge testing location in Neenah, Wisconsin. 

The COVID Tracking project reports Wisconsin’s positivity rate at 23.91% as of Saturday morning. 

President Trump is set to hold a rally in Janesville, Wisconsin on Saturday evening.

Angela Merkel attends an EU summit in Brussels earlier this week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has appealed to citizens to do more to fight rising numbers of coronavirus infections across the country, urging Germans in a video message to abide by the regulations set out by the government.   

“We must do everything to ensure that the virus does not spread in an uncontrolled way. Every day now counts,” Merkel said as daily infections have hit record highs this past week.  

“How the winter will be, how our Christmas will be, that will be decided in the coming days and weeks,” Merkel added.  

Germany’s strategy against the pandemic has so far centered around effective contact tracing of infected individuals in order to isolate them before they can infect others.  

“Health authorities are doing amazing work in this regard … but where the number of infections become too high, they simply cannot keep up,” the German Chancellor said.  

In an effort to stem the continued spread of the virus, Merkel also urged citizens to “meet with a lot fewer people” both outside and inside their homes, adding that people should try to avoid traveling or attending large gatherings unless absolutely necessary.  

“If each us drastically reduces the amount of contacts outside if their own family, then it is possible to stop and even reverse this trend,” she added.

A waitress takes an order at a Berlin restaurant, as cases rise across Germany.

Germany recorded another daily record in new coronavirus infections, the country’s center for disease control reported on Saturday. 

The Robert Koch Institute said 7,830 new infections have been confirmed in a span of 24 hours, an increase about around 500 cases on the day before. 

A total of 33 patients died in that same period, bringing the total number of dead in Germany to 9,767. 

German politicians are trying to bring the situation under control, but the powerful governor of Bavaria, Markus Soeder, told German pubic media outlet ARD that authorities “are in danger of losing control in some areas of Germany.”

Commuters in Prague wear masks in a metro station on Tuesday, after new restrictions in the Czech Republic came into force.

The Czech Republic registered 11,105 new coronavirus cases on Friday, new data from the Ministry of Health revealed, marking a new record high in the daily number of new infections across the country.  

The tally is an increase of 1,384 on Thursday’s confirmed total of new infections.

According to the latest government data, the total number of active coronavirus cases now stands at 92,736, while the total number of coronavirus-related deaths has reached 1,283.

The country, which was initially heralded for suppressing the virus in the early days of the pandemic, introduced a new range of restrictions to bring the spread under control on Monday.

All sporting, social and religious events are now limited to groups of 10 people indoors and 20 people outdoors, unless all participants come from the same household. University students are barred from in-person learning, except for practical medical training.

A total of 3,120 coronavirus patients currently remain hospitalized, the Ministry of Health said on Saturday.