December 6 coronavirus news

Florida health officials are reporting 8,436 additional coronavirus cases on Sunday, according to the Florida Department of Health (DOH).      

This follows three consecutive days of more than 10,000 cases reported in the state, CNN’s tally shows. 

To date, Florida has recorded a total of 1,058,074 Covid-19 cases statewide, DOH data shows.

There are currently 4,401 people in Florida hospitalized with Covid-19, according to the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration. As of 4 p.m., on Saturday, 25.69% of ICU beds in the state are available, Florida’s AHCA data shows.    

There were 96 new Covid-19 related deaths reported on Sunday, bringing the total in the state to 19,423, DOH data shows.  

To note: These numbers released by Florida’s public health agency may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Rudy Giuliani arrives for a news conference at Republican National Committee headquarters on Nov. 19.

President Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for the coronavirus, Trump announced on Twitter. 

“Get better soon Rudy, we will carry on!!!” Trump wrote Sunday.

While Trump has announced on Twitter that Giuliani has tested positive for coronavirus – Giuliani himself has not publicly commented on it.

CNN has reached out to Giuliani.

Read the tweet:

New York state reported 9,702 new cases of Covid-19, according to a tweet from New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

The total test positivity rate is 4.71% and as of Dec. 5, 4,442 people are currently hospitalized for the virus.

“Sadly, there were 56 Covid-19 fatalities yesterday,” the tweet said.

To note: These numbers released by the New York Department of Health may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

A healthcare worker administers a nasal swab at a Covid-19 testing site in San Francisco, California, on December 1.

More than 30,000 new Covid-19 cases were reported in California Sunday, the highest number of new daily cases ever recorded in the state. 

The 30,075 new cases reported Sunday bring the statewide total to 1,341,700 cases since the pandemic began, according to the California Public Health Department Covid-19 dashboard.

The state also reported 85 new deaths Sunday for a total of 19,876 deaths. 

Hospitalizations are also at an all time high, with 10,624 Covid-19 patients, which is an increase of 338 patients since yesterday, the website showed.

There are 1,567 intensive care unit beds that remain available, according to the website. 

Several regions have reported low ICU bed availability, with the San Joaquin Valley region only having 6.6% of beds available and the Southern California region having 10.3% available, the state’s stay at home order website said.

North Carolina health officials reported a record 6,438 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, according to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS).   

This marks the most Covid-19 cases reported in a single day and surpasses the record set Saturday when 6,018 cases were reported, NCDHHS data showed.   

NCDDHS also reported 27 additional Covid-19 deaths on Sunday.  

There are now a total of 394,880 coronavirus cases and 5,543 deaths in North Carolina, NCDHHS reported.   

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

Medical staff members close the zipper of a body bag containing a deceased Covid-19 patient in the intensive care unit of United Memorial Medical Center on November 25 in Houston, Texas.

There are at least 14,634,911 cases of coronavirus in the US and at least 281,513 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

As of Sunday afternoon, 53,574 new cases and 327 new deaths have been reported in the US since midnight. The total includes cases from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and other US territories, as well as repatriated cases.

More than one million cases were reported in the US within the first five days of December and the last four out of five days saw more than 200,000 new daily Covid-19 cases. 

The last five days also saw the highest hospitalization numbers nationwide since the pandemic began.

South Carolina health officials reported 2,587 new probable and confirmed Covid-19 cases on Sunday, according to the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC).   

This marks the fourth consecutive day the state reports more than 2,000 cases, CNN’s tally showed.  

On Saturday, DHEC reported a record 2,807 additional probable and confirmed Covid-19 cases, CNN reported.  

The total number of probable and confirmed cases in South Carolina stands at 232,099, DHEC data showed.  

The state’s current percent positive rate stands at 21.2%, not including antibody tests, DHEC reported. 

Health care personnel transport a deceased patient in an intensive care unit on November 18 in Palermo, Italy.

Italy has recorded a total of 60,078 Covid-19 deaths, after the country registered an additional 564 deaths on Sunday, according to data from the Ministry of Health.

Italy now has the sixth highest number of coronavirus deaths in the world, according to John Hopkins University.

The country also recorded 18,887 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Sunday, bringing the total number of cases to 1,728,878.

Healthcare workers administer Covid-19 tests at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey on December 3.

New Jersey reported 6,046 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, marking a new record for the highest new daily case count for the state since the pandemic began, according to Gov. Phil Murphy.

The previous all-time high was recorded on Friday. To date, New Jersey has reported 368,016 total cases of Covid-19, state data showed.

The deaths of 16 more New Jersey residents due to Covid-19 was announced on Sunday, bringing the state’s death toll to 15,485.

There are currently 3,214 hospitalizations with 622 patients in intensive care, according to the state’s Covid-19 data dashboard.

To note: These numbers were released by the state of New Jersey, and may not line up exactly in real time with CNN’s database drawn from Johns Hopkins University and the Covid Tracking Project.

Sen. Mark Warner speaks alongside a bipartisan group of Democrat and Republican members of Congress on Capitol Hill on December 1 in Washington, DC.

Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, told CNN there could be an agreement on a stimulus bill as early as Monday. 

Warner, who is part of a bipartisan group of eight senators hashing out a compromise on a stimulus bill, said they are close to an agreement.  

The Democratic Senator from Virginia says it will be a four-month emergency relief package with a $908 billion price tag.  

The agreement “will give targeted relief for the unemployed; for people in food insecurity; rental assistance; small businesses that have run out of their PP funds and additional funds to those minority businesses that have been extraordinarily hit hard,” Warner said.

“We put additional assistance in finally for broadband, which we all know is an academic necessity and additional dollars around the vaccine distribution; assistance for hospitals,” he added.

Warner predicts, despite the fact that neither Republicans nor Democrats are getting everything they would like in the bill, there will be enough votes to support passage of the measure. 

“I have pretty high assurance that it would get way beyond 60 votes,” he said.

Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific advisor for Operation Warp Speed, speaks with CNN on Sunday, December 6.

Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific advisor for Operation Warp Speed, told CNN on Sunday that he is hopeful that by the end of January, there should be a “quite significant” decrease in morbidity and mortality associate with the elderly population.  

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and its advisory committee, ACIP, have recommended that the vaccine be used in health care workers and those in long term care facilities, Slaoui said, adding that, unfortunately, about 40 to 50% of deaths are happening in the elderly population in care homes. 

The vaccine efficacy as it has been seen, he said, “actually starts reasonably quickly” after the first dose and is then maintained further with the second dose. 

“Therefore I’m hopeful that by the end of the month of January, we should already see quite a significant decrease in the mortality and severe morbidity associated in the elderly population” said Slaoui. 

He added that there are many other people who have comorbidities that live outside these facilities and that it will take more time to immunize them. 

“By the month, the middle of the month of March, we should have really covered most of the highly susceptible population, about 100 million people,” Slaoui said.

Moncef Slaoui, chief scientific advisor for Operation Warp Speed, told CNN that he thinks President-elect Joe Biden’s plan to ask all Americans to wear masks for his first 100 days in office is a good idea. 

Slaoui said that everyone needs to take precautions, wear masks, wash their hands, keep their distance and “remain aware that this virus is a killer.”  

“We have a vaccine, there is light at the end of the tunnel but we will not all have the vaccine in our arms before May or June so we need to be very cautious and vigilant,” he added.

More background: Biden told CNN on Thursday that he will ask Americans to wear masks for the first 100 days after he takes office, in a sign of how Biden’s approach to the virus will be dramatically different from President Trump’s response.

“Just 100 days to mask, not forever. One hundred days. And I think we’ll see a significant reduction,” Biden said Thursday.

Specialist Covid-19 vaccine freezers in a secure location, awaiting distribution of the vaccines to the NHS.

Health officials in the United Kingdom expect to have up to 4 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine available by the end of December.

The UK became the first Western country to authorize a Covid-19 vaccine on Wednesday, marking a pivotal moment in the global fight against coronavirus.

Vaccinations to begin next week: The health official said 50 hospital hubs across the UK have already received their allocation of the vaccine, and that the distribution of the vaccine is “really well underway now.” Covid-19 vaccinations are set to begin on Tuesday in England, Wales and Scotland.

The UK has ordered 40 million doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine, enough to vaccinate 20 million people or one-third of the UK population.

“Despite the huge complexities, hospitals will kickstart the first phase of the largest scale vaccination campaign in our country’s history from Tuesday. The first tranche of vaccine deliveries will be landing at hospitals by Monday in readiness,” professor Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said in a news release on Sunday.

“Robust” authorization process: Cordery also addressed concerns regarding the safety of the jab, saying its “authorization and approval process has been incredibly robust.”

The head of Britain’s medicines regulator also put out assurances on Sunday, saying the Pfizer/BioNTech jab is “as safe as any general vaccine.”

Raine also explained health officials will carefully monitor people after having the vaccine.

Some hospitals are stocking enough iPads to rival a modest Apple store. But the reason for this reflects a grim reality: They’re being used to connect Covid-19 patients with their families – sometimes, for the last conversation they’ll ever have.

When Dr. Mark Shapiro posted about a patient saying goodbye to his family via an iPad, he wanted to communicate to others the severity of this pandemic.

“As the ICU (intensive care unit) team makes ready, there’s a key step we mustn’t forget,” Shapiro, who is a hospitalist at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in California, wrote on Twitter. “At first he says “No,” but we encourage him. The nurse brings in the iPad. With the last air in his shattered lungs, he says goodbye to his family. Over an internet connection.”

Hospitals have been overwhelmed by the thousands of patients coming in every day after contracting coronavirus. Across the US, there’s been a shortage of hospital supplies for medical staff and beds for patients.

And the contagious nature of the illness has forced hospitals to limit, and often forbid, visitation rights to mitigate its spread. The latest solution has been the implementation of iPad stations and other virtual technology so patients can communicate with their friends and family – often, for the last time.

Read the full story here:

A nurse stands with a COVID-19 patient during a Zoom video call in a Stamford Hospital intensive care unit (ICU), on April 24, 2020 in Stamford, Connecticut.

Related article They couldn't say goodbye in person, so ICU patients are using tablets instead

People come to be tested for Covid-19 at a test site at Bergen Community College in Paramus, New Jersey, on December 3.

After the first cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in the United States on January 20, it took almost 100 days to reach 1 million infections. Now, the country has added more than 1 million cases to its grim total in just five days.

From Tuesday to Saturday, 1,000,882 new coronavirus cases were reported in the US, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, bringing the total to more than 14.5 million confirmed cases and 281,199 deaths from the virus.

The month of November registered frightening peaks in the daily number of new coronavirus cases – reaching 100,000 for the first time, as well as spikes in hospitalizations and deaths. On the second day of December, more than 200,000 new cases were reported for the previous 24 hours.

A grim prognosis: And as the impacts of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings begin to reveal themselves, and hospitals fill to capacity, experts say it is likely to get worse.

“Every single day, thousands more people are getting this virus, and we know that means that in a few days, in a week, hundreds of people are going to be coming to the hospital and hundreds of people are going to die,” Dr. Shirlee Xie, a hospitalist and associate director of hospital medicine for Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis, told CNN’s Ana Cabrera, her voice breaking with emotion.

More than 100,000 Covid-19 patients have been hospitalized nationwide for the past four days, according to the Covid Tracking Project.

Read the full story here.

Health Minister Park Neung-hoo speaks during a meeting of the Central Disease Control Headquarters at the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, on July 20.

South Korea’s Minister of Health Park Neung-hoo announced the country will raise its social distancing measures from this Tuesday, as the capital city area has entered a “widespread stage.”

South Korea was widely praised as a Covid-19 success story, and had managed to keep the pandemic largely under control.

But there are now more active Covid-19 cases in South Korea than at any other point through the pandemic, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Pandemic is on the brink of spreading: The Seoul Metropolitan Area will enter the fourth-highest level of social distancing restrictions in a five-level system for three weeks starting on Tuesday at 12 a.m. local time, Park said Sunday.

Park noted that past distancing measures had not yielded a clear result and that the pandemic is at the brink of spreading to the rest of the country.

There are currently 7,873 Covid-19 patients in the country, which has recorded a total of 37,546 cases and 545 deaths since the pandemic began.

Seoul restrictions: From Tuesday in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, gatherings including those at weddings and funerals must not exceed 50 people. Karaoke businesses and gyms must close, and spectators will be banned at sports events.

Hair salons and movie theatres must close after 9 p.m. The government will strongly recommend private businesses transition to work from home so only one-third of workers are in the workplace.

Masks mandatory as Covid-19 hospital beds could run out: In the rest of the country, masks will become mandatory in all indoor facilities, and gatherings must not exceed 100 people. Bars and clubs will be closed, and restaurants will only be allowed to serve takeout and deliveries past 9 p.m.

If the current trend persists, beds dedicated to critical care of Covid-19 patients will run out in about a week, Park said. Park said the health authority will work to secure more critical care beds dedicated to Covid-19 patients from 177 beds currently, to 274 beds by December 15.

“We are no longer recommending refraining from having gatherings. Please cancel all of them and reduce all activity for these three weeks,” Park said.

Tokyo reported its highest daily increase in Covid-19 infections on Saturday, with 584 new cases, according to Japan’s Health Ministry. 

On Saturday, 2,514 new Covid-19 cases and 32 deaths were registered throughout the country.

The southwestern city of Osaka recorded 399 new cases, its fifth straight day with more than 300 new infections. 

The number of people suffering severe symptoms is rising in Japan, with 520 people currently in intensive care.

There have been 160,810 Covid-19 cases reported in Japan and at least 2,318 people have died of the virus.

Medical workers wearing protective gear return to their ambulance after transferring a patient suspected of having Covid-19 at a hospital in Kommunarka, outside Moscow, on December 5.

Russia reported 29,039 new cases of coronavirus on Sunday, the highest number of cases it has ever reported in a single day, according to data from the country’s coronavirus response center. The previous record was set just a day before with 28,782 cases recorded that day. 

The total number of coronavirus cases reported in Russia as of December 6 is 2,460,770. 

The country reported 457 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the overall official toll to 43,141.

Russia’s counting methods of Covid-19 deaths have been questioned by independent observers and demographers with CNN previously reporting the numbers could be vastly understated. 

Ros Davies is usually busiest at Christmas, building magnificent sets and stages for London’s most sparkling parties and events.

This year, the fairytale is canceled. Davies, a self-employed carpenter hasn’t worked since March because of the pandemic and has no idea when she may do so again.

She’s living in temporary accommodation found for her in the city by St. Mungo’s, a homelessness charity, while a plan to get her into permanent housing is on hold.

“I was hoping to move on and sort my life properly but … here we are,” the 50-year old told CNN Business. “I wouldn’t have believed if you had said a year ago that your job’s going to stop in March and that’s it, you might never work doing that again.”

Davies did some retraining in painting and decorating, but with England just coming out of a second lockdown it hasn’t led to any work. She has gone from regular jobs that paid enough for her to take vacations, to complete reliance on UK social security payments of just over £400 ($530) a month.

Workers falling through the cracks: Coronavirus has revealed gaping holes in European social safety nets that are often seen as the gold standard. While many countries introduced support programs for workers affected by the pandemic, people are falling through the cracks. Most often, those who were already suffering the effects of inequality are hit the hardest — lower-income workers, those in insecure jobs, young people, women and minority ethnic groups.

He said that during the 2008 financial crisis, pre-existing programs involving governments and businesses helped many European countries avoid too many layoffs.

Unemployment was up by 2.18 million year on year in the European Union in October 2020, rising from a rate of 6.6% to 7.6%. The UK unemployment rate was an estimated 4.8% in the three months to September, up 0.9 percentage points year on year, and 782,000 jobs were lost between March and October, according to the Office for National Statistics.

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LONDON, ENGLAND - OCTOBER 13: Shoppers and commuters around Regent Street on October 13, 2020 in London, England. London Mayor Sadiq Khan said today that the city would move into Tier 2 of the government's new covid-19 risk classification once it hits 100 new daily cases per 100,000 people, which could happen this week. The second or "high" tier of the three-tier system triggers a ban on household mixing, although pubs would remain open. (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)

Related article Europe's social safety net is often considered the gold standard. Coronavirus has exposed its holes

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has urged the public to wear masks as coronavirus cases, hospitalizations and deaths soar across the nation.

 “JUST WEAR THE MASK,” the CDC said on Twitter on Saturday.

“Cover your mouth AND nose,” the agency continued, citing public health precautions it has repeatedly recommended, this time with a new sense of urgency.

 The CDC recommends people stay six feet apart, wash hands and stay home when possible.

“Cases are rising fast,” the agency warned. “If we don’t act together and do what we can to slow the spread, thousands more could die.”