Many states are enforcing drastic restrictions as a surge of coronavirus infections and hospitalizations see the pressure mount.
There have now been at least 10,713,452 cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least 244,207 people have died
So far today, Johns Hopkins has reported 160,631 new cases and 1,306 reported deaths.
Illinois
The Illinois Department of Public Health Friday reported a staggering 15,415 new cases of Covid-19, shattering previous daily case counts. There are also 5,362 people in the hospital, the highest number on record, according to an IDPH news release, with 27 new deaths.
There have been over half a million cases of Covid-19 in the state and more than 10,000 people have died so far, according to the statement. Illinois is currently running a 14.5% seven-day positivity rate.
Vermont
Vermont Governor Phil Scott announced Friday that starting Saturday at 10 p.m., gatherings of households are banned due to “alarming case growth.”
He said that bars and clubs must close by 10 p.m., and restaurants can only do takeout after 10 p.m. All youth recreational sports will be banned for the time being.
Scott said while there will be no enforcement of the ban on multi-household gatherings, he hopes that residents will abide by an honor system. He said that many outbreaks are being traced back to gatherings like parties or Halloween celebrations. The gathering ban will not apply to religious services, he said.
The restrictions come as the governor announced an additional 84 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, which compares to an average of 25 cases per day last week.
Arkansas
Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson announced on Friday the creation of a Winter Covid-19 Task Force as the state recorded a record 2,312 cases in 24 hours.
Hutchinson said at a news conference that this was because the winter months are expected to pose particular challenges for the state.
He said the state is also seeing a record surge of hospitalizations, at 826.
Nebraska
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts said rising numbers of hospitalizations have triggered new statewide restrictions.
The Governor said 905 people were currently hospitalized with Covid-19, which is over 20% of the state’s hospital capacity. ICU capacity is at 27% and ventilator capacity is at 70%. “This is a very serious situation for our hospitals,” said Ricketts.
The new restrictions including limiting elective surgeries, six feet of separation in gyms, bars and restaurants and a mask requirement for close contact businesses. Ricketts said he chose not to mandate masks because, “I am in favor of educating people.”
Louisiana
Louisiana topped 200,000 cases, reporting 3,492 new Covid-19 cases Friday for a total of 201,981 cases in the state, according to a tweet from the Department of Health.
The new cases show an increase in all regions of the state as well as all age groups, another tweet said.
The largest increase of cases are in those ages 18 to 29, a 25% increase, and those living in the Acadiana region, a 21% increase, the tweet said.
New York
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced during a news conference that he and six other northeast governors will have an emergency summit this weekend to discuss potential new Covid-19 restrictions.
“We believe we are going to have to take additional steps and the extent we can share information and align action, we will do that,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo used the rules for flying into New York state and the requirement to show a negative test as an example of what could be discussed at the meeting.
“If you don’t like the policy in New York, you can fly into Connecticut.” Cuomo said.
Track the spread of the virus in the US:
Any eventual coronavirus vaccine will be distributed across US states and territories based on population, a top Operation Warp Speed official said Friday.
“Vaccines will be allocated pro rata by population,” General Gustave Perna said at a news conference led by US President Donald Trump in the White House Rose Garden.
Pfizer is expected to apply for emergency use authorization (EUA) from the US Food and Drug Administration before the end of the month.
State health officials have said they have not heard many details from the federal government about how the vaccine distribution will be organized, and they have not received the funding they need to get infrastructure in place.
“We are working closely, along with the CDC, the 64 jurisdictions and states, to ensure the vaccine can safely and quickly get to those who need it first. And then we have plans to ensure that it spreads exponentially across our country and that no place is left without a vaccine.”
No one at the news conference addressed January’s transition could affect distribution.
Pfizer and Moderna will likely seek EUA from the US Food and Drug Administration for their vaccines within the next few weeks and vaccinations could begin in December, Moncef Slaoui, chief adviser to Operation Warp Speed, said at the briefing.
Pfizer says its vaccine is more than 90% effective, based on early data. Moderna announced this week it had enough coronavirus cases among trial participants to complete its first interim analysis, and Slaoui said that “probably next week we may hear what I hope to be another very good information regarding an efficacious vaccine.”
Slaoui added that if other vaccines are approved, the number of vaccinations per month could increase.
New York’s Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo responded to President Trump’s threat to delay delivery of a potential vaccine to the Empire State, flatly calling the President’s remarks today “untrue.”
“Luckily he won’t be here,” when the vaccine arrives, said Cuomo of Trump.
Speaking at the White House today, Trump slammed Cuomo for planning a state review process of any vaccine, telling reporters Cuomo “will have to let us know when he’s ready for it because otherwise, we can’t be delivering it to a state that won’t be giving it to its people immediately.”
Speaking with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer today, Trump defended the statewide approval process saying the goal was to raise trust in the medicine among New Yorkers.
“We are in a situation now where half the people in the country are saying ‘I don’t know if I should trust the vaccine,’” said Cuomo. “…If we have a vaccine that people don’t trust it won’t accomplish anything anyway.”
New York’s review would be conducted simultaneous to the federal government’s approval process, according to Cuomo. There would only be a delay if the approval team, which will be lead by a Nobel Prize laureate found the medicine lacking.
The British Medical Journal’s executive editor says Covid-19 has unleashed state corruption and that was harming public health.
“The pandemic has revealed how the medical-political complex can be manipulated in an emergency – a time when it is even more important to safeguard science,” he wrote.
Abbasi said the UK pandemic response had included:
He called for transparency on competing interests and accountability for decisions.
“Science is a public good. It doesn’t need to be followed blindly, but it does need to be fairly considered,” Abbasi wrote.
He said that suppressing science “by delaying publication, cherry picking favourable research, or gagging scientists” caused deaths by exposing people to unsafe or ineffective interventions and preventing them from benefiting from better ones.
Covid-19 hospital and intensive care unit admissions in France decreased sharply on Friday, according to the country’s health agency.
The French Health Agency reported that the number of patients in hospital for coronavirus only increased by 22 between Thursday and Friday. There was an increase of 736 hospital patients the day before.
The Ministry reported that only three additional ICU beds were taken up by coronavirus patients on Friday. The increase was 95 on Thursday, and has been averaging around 100 per day for several weeks.
France entered its second lockdown two weeks ago on Thursday.
The NBA’s Golden State Warriors have been developing a plan that would allow the team to reopen Chase Center in San Francisco to 50% capacity for the 2020-21 season.
The team confirmed to CNN Friday that the plan would involve what is considered the most accurate rapid Covid-19 testing for all fans, staff and players, along with strict protocols.
The plan was recently submitted to San Francisco and California officials for review.
ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne was the first to report the news.
Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who has a master’s degree in public health, told ESPN he believes his team’s plan, which he says will cost some $30 million, can be a model for all sports franchises and entertainment venues to bring fans back safely.
California announced in October plans to allow some fans at outdoor sporting events in counties with low infection rates. But San Francisco has been tightening restrictions on indoor activities amid the recent rise in cases.
“Many venues in other sports have implemented strict protocols to welcome fans back on a partial basis, but adding a testing component – along with strict protocols – to our reopening strategy would help us achieve our number-one priority, which is the health and safety of our fans, staff and players,” the Warriors said in a statement.
Sport under pressure: Other sports are also being battered by the virus. A sixth top-25 game was taken off of Saturday’s college football schedule. No. 15 Coastal Carolina’s game against Troy was postponed due to a combination of positive Covid-19 tests and injuries in the Troy football program.
The other five games affected include top-ranked Alabama at LSU, No. 5 Texas A&M at Tennessee, No. 12 Georgia at Missouri, No. 24 Auburn at Mississippi State with No. 3 Ohio State at Maryland being the lone game canceled.
Saturday’s Arizona State home football game against Cal was also canceled due to multiple coronavirus cases at Arizona State, including Sun Devils head coach Herm Edwards.
Hospitalization rates are significantly higher among Black, Latino, and Alaska Native or Native American population in the United States compared with Asian and White people, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly Covid-19 surveillance report shows.
The data show that, between March 1 and November 7, the hospitalization rate among the Hispanic or Latino population was 444.6 per 100,000 people. The hospitalization rate among Alaska Natives or Native Americans was 430.9 per 100,000. Among the Black population, it was 412.2 per 100,000.
The hospitalization rates among Asian or Pacific Islanders and Whites were 132.5 and 106.2 per 100,000, respectively, according to the data, which were updated on Friday.
Rates for American Indian or Alaska Native people were approximately 4.1 times and Black people 3.9 times the rate among White people.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker said Covid-19 spread is occurring mostly in casual settings among people who know each other.
Tracing an outbreak: “Most people at work are doing all the right things” and schools have proven to be “relatively safe,” said Baker. But he said one cluster of cases, traced back to a youth hockey tournament, was caused by more than 12 hours of socializing among kids and parents, adding that it “wasn’t so much the actual act of playing youth hockey that created the very significant cluster across New England.”
“People need to change their behavior and get serious,” he added.
##Hotspots#
Retail drug chain Walgreens says it is “rapidly expanding” its ultra-cold storage capabilities to accommodate a potential Pfizer coronavirus vaccine that needs to be stored at around minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 75 degrees Celsius).
Walgreens spokesperson Kelli Teno told CNN the company felt “confident we can support the successful administration of these vaccines once available.”
The US Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday it is partnering with large chain pharmacies and networks that represent independent pharmacies to help distribute vaccines once one gets authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Dry ice is in short supply in some areas of the country. When asked whether the federal government was helping retailers get dry ice, Teno said she did not think so, adding that Wagreens had relationships with manufacturers and distributors that can provide this.
Paul Ostrowski, Operation Warp Speed’s director of supply, production, and distribution, told CNN Thursday that rural areas and any parts of the country not equipped to receive the vaccine would not receive it.
A field hospital is to reopen in an area of Massachusetts that has Covid-19 cases “trending in the wrong direction,” Governor Charlie Baker said at a briefing Friday.
The 240-bed hospital will be reestablished at DCU Center, an indoor arena and convention center complex in downtown Worcester, he announced. He said the hospital is expected to be available for patients by the first week of December.
Massachusetts hospitals are currently operating at about 73% of capacity and overall ICU capacity is it about 50%, he added.
The United States has hit a new daily record with at least 154,576 coronavirus cases reported Friday, per Johns Hopkins University data.
This is the highest single-day reporting since the pandemic began. The second highest number of cases reported to date was yesterday at 153,496 daily new cases.
This is not today’s final count, but an ongoing tally. Today’s final numbers will not be available until tonight.
CNN is tracking the spread of the virus in the US here:
Wall Street rallied into the close on Friday, finishing the day sharply higher as investors shrugged off worries over the economic recovery and the resurgence in Covid-19 cases.
A turbulent week: Stocks rallied after Joe Biden was projected to win the election and drugmaker Pfizer announced trial data that showed its vaccine is 90% effective. Worries about a rising number in cases weakening the economic recovery weighed on the optimism midweek, but on Friday, these worries were shaken off again.
The Dow and the S&P logged gains for the week, while the Nasdaq recorded a loss.
As stocks settle after the trading day, levels might still change slightly.
President Donald Trump vowed that his administration will not enforce a lockdown to curb the increasing cases of coronavirus in the US.
“This administration will not be going to a lockdown,” Trump said speaking from the Rose Garden at the White House today.
Instead, he said his administration will remain “very vigilant and very careful.”
Some background: The US has added more than half a million new Covid-19 cases since hitting 10 million on Monday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
At this rate, the number should pass 11 million in the next four days, making for the country’s fastest addition of another million cases yet, John Hopkins University data show.
November has been crippling for American communities battling Covid-19 spikes in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Experts warn it will likely get worse before it gets better.
For the 10th day in a row, the US reported more than 100,000 infections, and the total since Monday hit 556,961. On Thursday, with its highest daily number yet at more than 153,000 new infections, the country inched closer to what one expert predicted could soon become a devastating reality – 200,000 cases a day.
Trump also said the federal government won’t deliver a possible vaccine to New York state until the governor, Andrew Cuomo, lets the administration “know when he is ready for it.”
Cuomo said that New York health officials would review any US-approved coronavirus vaccine, and that he would recommend New Yorkers not be vaccinated until the state-run process is complete.
What this is about: Last month, Cuomo called the White House Covid-19 Task Force’s vaccination plan “deeply flawed.” Cuomo said he understood that the federal vaccination plan would use pharmacies like CVS and Walgreens as the main distribution point and that was “a very limited distribution mechanism.” He later said the plan would disproportionately limit distribution in communities of color.
Cuomo that he would recommend New Yorkers not be vaccinated until a state-run review is complete.
Today, Trump said the US government “can’t be delivering it to a state that won’t be giving it to its people immediately.”
Canada’s Thanksgiving blowback continued with tragic consequences Friday as several provinces shattered daily records for new coronavirus cases.
Canada celebrated its Thanksgiving holiday about a month ago, and it has fueled a widespread surge in coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths. Public health officials warned the healthcare system cannot handle a repeat at Christmas.
Ontario’s scientific experts warned case numbers and hospitalizations could reach or exceed crisis levels currently plaguing Europe.
People choosing to travel for the holidays should be flexible and think critically about the risk involved, Johns Hopkins University (JHU) experts said during a briefing on Thursday.
Those considering travel, especially by air, need to take into account the risk of the people they are visiting, said Dr. Amesh Adalja with Hopkins’ Center for Health Security. Adalja suggested treating college students returning home for the winter as “high-risk” due to the lack of at-will testing and contact tracing on some campuses.
Experts also said that plans should be made for distancing and masking during a get-together, and for how contact-tracing will be conducted if someone tests positive afterward.
The governors of California, Oregon and Washington have issued a joint advisory urging travelers to avoid non-essential visits. It recommended a 14-day quarantine for travelers and limiting interactions to their immediate household. Residents of the three states are being pressed to stay local as the holiday season looms.
California Governor Gavin Newsom noted that the state had just become the second after Texas to reach one million Covid-19 cases – “with no signs of the virus slowing down.”
Frontline workers in El Paso, Texas told reporters Friday that a court decision to stop a city shutdown order was “a disaster for our health system, which is in near collapse.”
Texas 8th Court of Appeals ruled Thursday to issue a preliminary injunction on El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego’s shutdown order, effectively allowing non-essential businesses to re-open, according to previous CNN reporting.
“This order is especially a disaster for our health system, which is in near collapse here in El Paso, from the calamity just ripping through our facilities every day,” Juan Anchondo, a nurse at Las Palmas Medical Center, said on a Zoom call.
The call, which was hosted by National Nurses United, included three nurses and an El Paso City Representative.
Ariana Lucio, an RN at Del Sol Medical Center who works on the Covid-19 unit, said she was “disappointed” and “concerned” Samaniego’s order was struck down as the surge in El Paso has already “taken a very emotional and physical toll on the nurses and doctors.”
Idali Cooper, also an RN in El Paso, expressed disappointment, especially given how disproportionally Covid-19 negatively affects people of color.
Cooper said she felt the court’s preliminary injunction would “have dire consequences for my community or for communities of color.”
Anchondo spoke of an increasing problem of ventilator shortages where nurses were put in the “unthinkable situation of needing to urge a family to approve withdrawal of care” because a ventilator was needed for another patient who had a better chance of survival.
“This worst case scenario is our current reality here in El Paso Country,” Anchondo said.
A county commissioner told CNN Friday that the court’s ruling was a preliminary injunction of the order and it is expected to rule Friday whether or not to invalidate the order completely or send it back to a lower court to undergo a trial. According to this official, the county will weigh their legal options once the decision is handed down.
El Paso passed the grim milestone of 70,000 cases Friday, with 70,575 total infections and a seven-day positivity rate of 20.50%, according to the city’s Covid-19 dashboard. Texas on Wednesday became the first state to report more than 1 million cases.
In a sobering news conference on Friday, the St. Louis Metropolitan Pandemic Task Force said if the Covid-19 hospitalization trajectory continues the path it is on right now, the region will run out of ICU capacity in the first week of December.
Dr. Alex Garza said there were “no safe harbors anymore” and hospitals were “just running out of capacity.”
Garza said healthcare workers are “a finite resource, of incredible skilled people.”
Fighting back tears Garza said, “Our healthcare heroes have fought valiantly day after day.”
“But, we have no reserves. We have no backup, that we can suddenly muster to come in and save the day,” he said. “If we stay on the path that we’re on even just two more weeks, we will not have the staff we need to care for patients. It’s now just a numbers game.”
He said the number of people with Covid-19 was “skyrocketing in our region” and the number needing hospitalization “is nearly three times what we described as a sustainable level.”
Garza said the Task Force is calling for stricter policies including a statewide mask mandate “to save lives across the city.”
Italian authorities have reported more than 40,000 new Covid-19 infections in the past 24 hours, the largest daily increase since the pandemic started.
There were 40,902 new cases on Friday, data from the Italian Health Ministry showed. The total number of infections in Italy is now at 1,107,303.
Authorities also reported 550 additional deaths from the coronavirus, with the total death toll from the virus rising to 44,139.
The record in daily infections comes despite the infection rate having decreased slightly, according to the head of the prevention department at the Italian Health ministry, Gianni Rezza. It is the “first sign of the decrease in transmission that could be attributed to the (containment) measures that have been taken,” he said.
Hospital admissions rise: Rezza said the rising number of people being admitted to hospitals justified “further restrictive measures that need to be taken in those regions that have a higher risk.” An additional 60 patients were admitted to intensive care units across the country, prompting the government to add several regions to its “red zone” list, including Campania and Tuscany. The two regions will see increased anti-coronavirus restrictions come into effect on Sunday.
In Campania, the Mayor of Naples Luigi Deagistris pre-empted the government announcement and called for help.
The regions of Emilia-Romagna, Friuli Venezia Giulia and Marche, were also moved up in the risk category, going from yellow into orange. Italy now has six regions classified as red zones, nine as orange and five as yellow zones.
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards announced on Friday that he will be releasing some of the highest coronavirus positive numbers the state has seen in quite some time.
Edwards blamed the recent surge in cases in large part on the lack of mitigation efforts during the Halloween holiday.
The Louisiana Department of Health is expected to release the most up to date numbers this afternoon.
Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin says Ireland may take a staged approach to exiting its Covid-19 lockdown after December 1.
In an interview with Ireland’s RTE Radio 1 on Friday, Martin added that the exit plan is still being worked on by the government.
No definitive decision has yet been made on the hospitality sector operating over the Christmas period and the government plans to give an update on that before the end of November.
He said that the government would issue advice on international travel during the holiday period towards the end of the month.
As bars, gyms, and restaurants prepare for the first night with a 10pm state-mandated curfew, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the closure of these establishments needs to be “reassessed.”
“The question is really how we balance the bigger factor,” said the mayor. “I don’t want people to think that [closing] indoor dining and gyms are the magical solution to all of our problems because, in fact, our test-and-trace operation is not showing, you know, the kind of impact from those locales that you have seen in other places around the country; we have something much more generalized here.”
Instead, the mayor suggested that holiday travel will be much more impactful in determining the future of governmental response to the coronavirus. “We talk about restaurants or gyms, but much more decisive will be if we can successfully limit travel and limit indoor gatherings” during the upcoming holiday season.”
