October 16 coronavirus news

Covid-19 modeler Dr. Chris Murray.

US President Donald Trump told supporters at a rally in Florida on Friday that the coronavirus pandemic is “rounding the turn.”

But that’s not the case, says influential Covid-19 modeler Dr. Chris Murray.

The US has passed 8 million total cases of Covid-19 and recorded 63,000 fresh infections on Thursday – a significant uptick from the daily numbers just a few weeks ago. More than 218,000 Americans have died from the virus.

“We expect the death toll, unfortunately, unless we change our behavior, is going to reach 390,000 deaths by February 1,” Murray said, citing IHME’s recent predictions.

“No, it’s not over. The worst is still to come unfortunately.”

A police officer stands guard on 5th Avenue on June 12, in New York City.

The New York City Police Department is observing “an uptick” in coronavirus cases, Detective Sophia Mason, a spokeswoman for the department, said in a statement to CNN.

“We are watching it very closely,” she said.

There are now 54 uniformed members and 18 civilian members who have tested positive for Covid-19 and are out sick, according to Mason, who declined to provide additional information, such as when the uptick was first observed.

In?a local television interview?Friday morning, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said the department is doing its best to trace the cases.

Angel Garcia carries Perrier into Cole Valley restaurant Zazie in San Francisco, California, on October 13.

Gov. Gavin Newsom said Friday he plans to reopen California in a methodical way, avoiding “fits and starts,” as the state enters the fall and winter seasons.

“We are now reopening. We’re doing it much more methodically, and we’re doing it much more stubbornly, but in a way that I believe will ultimately aid our economic recovery,”?Newsom?said in an interview with the Milken Institute, a nonpartisan think tank founded by ex-banker Michael Milken.?

Newsom said he believes?California’s economy will benefit from not reopening in “fits and starts” as transmission rates rise over winter.

He noted that as the state slowly modified its original stay-at-home order, many?Californians viewed it as a green light to revert to pre-pandemic lifestyles.?

“As a consequence, we started seeing mixing,” Newsom said. “We started seeing behavior that actually led to?– not a second wave, but a continuation of the first wave that we were able to temper.”

The governor has implemented a tiered reopening system for?California, allowing counties to reopen in phases determined by their level of coronavirus spread.?The state had reported?869,766 coronavirus cases and?16,855?deaths?as of Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

A health worker wearing a protective mask works in a lab during clinical trials for a Covid-19 vaccine at Research Centers of America in Hollywood, Florida, on Wednesday, September 9.

The federal government hopes to start vaccinating people against coronavirus within a day or two of Food and Drug Administration emergency authorization, officials said Friday.

“We fully anticipate that both Pfizer and Moderna will have data of both safety and effectiveness of their vaccines very shortly. We are very encouraged because their clinical trials are going extraordinarily well,” Paul Mango,?deputy chief of staff for policy at the Health and Human Services Department, told reporters in a telephone briefing.

Mango was announcing a plan for retail pharmacy chains CVS and Walgreens to distribute any eventual coronavirus vaccine to long-term care facilities such as nursing homes under an agreement – not a contract – with the federal government’s Operation Warp Speed.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Dr. Jay Butler noted that a third of coronavirus deaths in the US have been among residents of long-term care facilities. “We believe that this plan will be the quickest and easiest way to provide vaccines to long-term care facility residents,” Butler told reporters.

The CDC asked states to submit plans for vaccine distribution Friday. Workers and residents of long-term care facilities are expected to be among the first to get vaccinated.

The SEC logo on Dudley Field prior to a game between the Vanderbilt Commodores and LSU Tigers, October 3, at Vanderbilt Stadium in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Southeastern Conference on Friday announced changes to the football schedule following the postponement of two games originally scheduled for Saturday because of positive Covid-19 tests and quarantining.?

On Monday, it was announced that because of positive tests and quarantine in the Vanderbilt football program, the Vanderbilt at Missouri game of Oct. 17 is rescheduled for Dec. 12.?On Wednesday, it was announced that because of positive tests and quarantine in the Florida football program, the LSU at Florida game of Oct. 17 is rescheduled for Dec. 12.??

Because of extended pause of team activities for the Florida football program at the advice of health officials, the Missouri at Florida game originally scheduled for Oct. 24 is rescheduled for Oct. 31.?

The Kentucky at Missouri game, originally scheduled for Oct. 31, is rescheduled for Oct. 24.

The Georgia at Kentucky game that had been scheduled for Oct. 24 is rescheduled for Oct. 31.

As the number of Covid-19 hospitalizations tick up in the United States, an increase in the number of deaths will likely follow, Dr. Francis Collins, the director of the National Institutes of Health, warned Friday.

The US has passed the 8 million mark in total coronavirus cases, with?more than 63,000 new infections on Thursday. More than 218,000 people have died.

“I also look at not just the number of cases, but hospitalizations — because that indicates people are really severely sick and they need to be in the hospital. And that curve has also started up again, which is troubling,” Collins told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.

“And that probably means, unfortunately, that we may start now to see also an increase in the number of deaths each day — which is the thing we most want to prevent.”?

Collins urged Americans?to ask themselves what they can do to help limit the spread of Covid-19.?

“There’s many reasons to be sorrowful about where we are,” he said. “This is the most significant global pandemic in more than 100 years, but the way in which it has taken a toll on so many individuals and families in the US is truly heartbreaking.”

“It’s truly tragic and we should be doing everything we can.”

Watch the interview here:

- Source: cnn " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/42de551f-2081-4a31-b1a2-ff93ea06ad64.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/42de551f-2081-4a31-b1a2-ff93ea06ad64.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="" data-timestamp-html="" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2020-10-16T23:06:17.849Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="NIH dle" data-first-publish-slug="NIH dle" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

94ff7d2b-5606-493f-a68e-84c6a2cb69be.mp4

04:22 - Source: cnn

APS Executive Administrator Pierre Gaither (left) and new APS superintendent Lisa Herring talk before the Swearing-In Ceremony at Atlanta Public Schools Headquarters in Atlanta on Tuesday, June 30.

Atlanta Public Schools (APS) will postpone all reopening plans for in-person learning and continue with their current virtual model until at least January 2021, Superintendent Dr. Lisa Herring announced today.

The decision by APS comes after continued monitoring and tracking of Covid-19?health data that is trending unfavorably, consultation with public health officials and health care experts, and data secured to determine both feasibility and stakeholder feedback, Herring said in a release.

Covid-19 data published by the Georgia Department of Public Health shows recent increases in new Covid-19 cases in the community, resulting in a current average that exceeds 130 new cases per 100,000 county residents, according to the release.

“The decision to further delay the in-person opening of our schools was difficult. But after consulting with our teachers, staff, students, families, and public health officials, I decided this is the right approach at this time,” Herring added.

Hispanics and Black Americans are dying at a disproportionate rate due to Covid-19, a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.

The study published Friday in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report looked at the shifting demographics of deaths from the pandemic over the summer.

Between May and August, 114,411 Americans lost their lives to Covid-19. Elderly White men were among the largest number of deaths.?

But Black people accounted for nearly 18% of the deaths in this time period, despite making up just 12.5% of the US population. Hispanics accounted for more than 24% of deaths, but make up 18.5% of the population.

The demographics started to shift in the summer. The percentage of Hispanics who died increased from 16% to more than 26% of overall deaths between May and August, while the proportion of those who died who were White or Black decreased.

The CDC said that there was a geographic shift in deaths. The highest concentration of deaths early in the pandemic were in the Northeast, but the numbers shifted West and Southward. The geographic difference, though, can’t account for the increase in the percentage of deaths among the Hispanic community, the CDC said.

Researchers think the pandemic has been harder on the Hispanic community because they may have had a higher exposure to Covid-19 due to their work. Hispanics also are more likely to live in multifamily households or live with many generations in one family, making it hard to social distance.

Nearly a quarter of all the deaths in the pandemic have been in places where people live in group settings at a nursing home or long-term care facilities. Many of those deaths happened early on in the pandemic. But as nursing homes stopped allowing outside visitors and were more aggressively testing residents and isolating those who were sick, those deaths have slowed down and there has been a shift toward younger and noninstitutionalized populations over the course of the pandemic.

To limit the spread of the disease, the CDC continues to recommend people use face coverings, wash their hands frequently, keep physical distance from others and avoid large gatherings.

Cars line up for a drive-thru coronavirus test at CVS Pharmacy on May 15, in Carver, Massachusetts.?

The federal government has designated CVS and Walgreens to distribute any coronavirus vaccine that eventually gets authorized to long-term care facilities such as nursing homes, Operation Warp Speed officials said Friday.

The two drug chains are best placed to send out mobile units to vaccinate seniors and other vulnerable people on site,?Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at the Health and Human Services Department, told reporters in a telephone briefing.

It will be up to the drug chains to figure out how to deliver the vaccines, including cold storage requirements and personal protective equipment. It will also be up to the retailers to collect from Medicare, Medicaid or private insurers for administering the vaccines, which must be provided to people free of charge, officials said.

Mango said the Operation Warp Speed team did not have any idea of how many nursing homes would choose to use the retailers.

Earlier Friday, President Trump said seniors would be the first to get any?vaccine. “Seniors will be the first in line for the vaccine.?And we will soon be ending this pandemic,” Trump said on a visit to Fort Myers.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, will be among the first people to see the data that will tell the country whether one of the experimental coronavirus vaccines being tested actually works to protect against the virus, the National Institutes of Health confirmed Friday.

Fauci is director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the NIH, which is sponsoring some of the vaccine trials. Those include the vaccines being developed by Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

Four of six vaccines are in advanced, Phase 3 clinical trials and independent advisers known as data and safety monitoring boards or DSMBs are watching the results to see how many volunteers become infected with coronavirus after receiving either the vaccine or a dummy shot. These DSMBs make the decision about whether to stop the trials and share the data with the trial sponsors.

That would be both the company developing the vaccine and, in the case of those sponsored by NIAID, the US government.

Fauci’s role was first reported by ProPublica.

One vaccine being developed without the involvement of the federal government is Pfizer’s.

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams announces a COVID-19 testing facility in Neenah, Wisconsin on October 16.

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 said.

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

State GOP Sen. Roger Roth, who also spoke at the news conference, said the center will give the?people of Northeast Wisconsin?greater access to testing for Covid-19.

“We know more testing helps us bend the curve,” Roth added.?

The US Food and Drug Administration’s two month follow-up requirement for Covid-19 vaccine candidates is necessary to keep people safe and encourage confidence in a vaccine given emergency use authorization, two senior FDA officials said Friday.

The two-month period will allow for identification and evaluation of adverse reactions to a vaccine, which often emerge about six weeks after a vaccine dose is issued. The follow up period will also allow researchers to begin to understand how long immunity from a vaccine will last.

While the follow-up period is shorter than those included in most vaccine clinical trials, Gruber and Krause say that the “gravity of the current public health emergency and the importance of making a vaccine available as soon as possible,” warrant the decision.

Gruber and Krause noted that evaluation of a Covid-19 vaccine should continue even after emergency use authorization (EUA) is issued, so the trials can yield the data required for full FDA approval. This would mean trial participants who received a placebo, would not be immediately issued the vaccine upon its approval for emergency use.

People who get any vaccine released under an EUA will be told it is not fully approved, Gruber and Krause said. “Use of an investigational vaccine under an EUA would not be subject to the usual informed consent requirements for clinical investigations; nevertheless, vaccine recipients will be provided a fact sheet that describes the investigational nature of the product, the known and potential benefits and risks, available alternatives, and the option to refuse vaccination,” they wrote.

“At stake is public confidence in America’s response to the pandemic, in Covid-19 vaccines, and in vaccines in general, all of which are essential to achieving desired public health outcomes,” they added.

An ambulance carrying bodies of men who died from the coronavirus arrives at a graveyard in New Delhi, India on October 7. The country has the third highest number of coronavirus-related deaths, behind the United States and Brazil.

The number of coronavirus deaths globally surpassed 1.1 million on Friday,?according to Johns Hopkins University’s data.?

There are also 39,081,143 confirmed coronavirus cases worldwide, according to the data.

Transparent social distancing bubble tents are set up for diners outside a restaurant in Manhattan, New York on October 13.

There have been at least?8,008,402?cases of coronavirus in the United States and at least?218,097?people have died from the virus, according to data compiled by?Johns Hopkins University.

Johns Hopkins recorded the first case of coronavirus in the US on Jan. 21.?Here’s a breakdown of other milestones:

?Only three other countries in the world have reported over 1 million total Covid-19 cases:

Andris Nelsons conducts a joint concert of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and Germany's visiting Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra on Oct. 31, 2019, at Symphony Hall in Boston.

The Boston Symphony Orchestra is canceling its 2020 Holiday Pops series in December and the remaining 2020-21 season through winter and spring months, as performances continue to be impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

“All of us at the BSO and Boston Pops will continue to persevere and look forward to the time when we can welcome our dear music community, as well as newcomers, back to the hall to revel in the live concert experience like never before,” the statement said.

Missouri has reported more than 10,000 Covid-19 cases over the past seven days, the state’s Health Department shows.

According to the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, at least 10,910 people have tested positive during that time period – that’s a 18.3% positivity rate.

As of Friday morning, there have been at least 152,571 total cases statewide.?

The state is also reporting at least 62 new deaths over the past seven days for a total of at least 2,459 since the beginning of the pandemic.

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.

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee speaks on protecting Americas seniors from the COVID-19 pandemic in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC on April 30.

Tennessee Gov.?Bill Lee and state education officials want to?remove “negative consequences for schools” tied to student assessments this year and continue student testing, as scheduled, despite the pandemic, Lee announced Friday.??

Tennessee tests all students in grades 3-11 to assess comprehension of?math, language arts, social studies and science, according to the state’s?Department of Education website.?

“We will keep this year’s assessments in place to ensure an accurate picture of where our students are and what supports are needed to regain learning loss and get them back on the path to success,” Lee said in a statement.?

The Tennessee Department of Education has an accountability system for districts and?schools based on?graduation rates, state test scores and other metrics, according to its?website said.?Lee wants that system to be suspended this year, he said.???

Tennessee Education Commissioner Penny Schwinn revealed that US?Department of Education Secretary?Betsy DeVos?“sent a letter to all state chiefs a few weeks ago, in that letter she indicated in no uncertain terms that there would not be waivers for assessment.”??

“We have federal obligations to test kids and there are?[sic]?significant federal funding attached to those federal obligations. We certainly don’t need to be putting federal funds at risk,” Lee said.?

The governor said he will work with “elected officials on a solution for this school year that preserves our strong foundations while ensuring that every teacher feels supported.”?

After closing their practice facility on Friday morning due to several positive tests for Covid-19, the Indianapolis Colts announced the four positive samples were re-tested and have been confirmed negative.?

In a statement the team said they will open the practice facility this afternoon under the league’s intensive protocol and will continue preparation for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati.?

Read the full statement:

People walk on Market Street in Manchester, England, on October 15.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the rise of coronavirus cases in Greater Manchester is “grave” and “worsens with each passing day.”

Speaking at a press conference from Downing Street on Friday, the Prime Minister said cases in Greater Manchester have doubled in the past nine days and high infection rates are being seen across age groups. There were 690 per 100,000 cases in the 16- to 29-year-old bracket and 224 per 100,000 in the over 60 category.?

Johnson added that if the present trends continue, in the next two weeks there “will be more COVID patients in ICU than at the peak of the first wave.”?

He urged the mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, to “reconsider his position” and “engage constructively” with the government.?

The Prime Minister did make signs of an ultimatum, saying “if an agreement cannot be reached, I will need to intervene in order to protect Manchester’s hospitals and save the lives of Manchester’s residents.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced on Friday morning that the Texas Department of State Health Services and the Texas Division of Emergency Management have added resources to the Amarillo area to help combat the spread of the virus.

The Amarillo Public Health Department says the area currently stands at level red, which means to use extreme caution. The city says through their Covid-19 dashboard that hospital capacity in the region is “stressed”.

The resources coming from the state will assist hospitals in Amarillo, Lubbock and the surrounding areas, according to a statement from the governor’s office.

At least 171 medical personnel have deployed to the communities with an additional 100 arriving by Sunday. The release says that DSHS is sending 100 IV pumps, 56 ventilators, and 25 oxygen concentrators.?

The city’s Covid-19 dashboard shows that there are at least 78,996 total cases in Randall and Potter counties.?

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.

A closer look at the numbers:

- Source: cnn " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/70768151-03d4-43e9-99b2-40e8101b15a2.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/70768151-03d4-43e9-99b2-40e8101b15a2.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="" data-timestamp-html="" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2020-10-16T15:30:14.261Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="numbers" data-first-publish-slug="numbers" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

9cc1ef2a-f9f2-4a63-952d-30092b603517.mp4

02:42 - Source: cnn

With the World Series set to begin on Tuesday, October 20,?Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association have jointly announced no new positive Covid-19 results among at least 5,026 tests taken the past week ending Oct. 15.

This marks 47 straight days and 55 of the past 56 with no new positives among players.

Cumulatively, there have been 169,143 tests administered during monitoring testing, with at least 91 positive results – a positivity rate of 0.05%. Of the 91 positives, 57 were players while the other 34 were staff members.

As for the playoff action, in the ALCS the Tampa Bay Rays hold a three-games-to-two lead over the Houston Astros. The series is being played in San Diego’s Petco Park.

In the NLCS, the Atlanta Braves hold a three-games-to-one lead over the L.A. Dodgers, with the series being played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. The Texas Rangers’ newly opened home field will also serve as site for the 2020 World Series.

The World Health Organization's Europe Director, Hans Kluge, during an interview with CNN’s Becky Anderson on October 16.

The World Health Organization’s Europe Director, Hans Kluge, said he is “very worried” about the second wave in Europe, but warned against imposing national lockdowns as cases surge in the region.?

Instead Kluge told CNN mask-wearing, together with strict control on social gatherings, could save around 281,000 lives in Europe over six months.

“The national lockdown is the last resort,” Kluge said, explaining that in March it was the default position but now “we know much better”.

New cases of the coronavirus are accelerating rapidly in much of Europe, and now far exceed the rise in new cases in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU) and the World Health Organization. The five European countries currently most affected by the pandemic are France, the UK, Russia, Spain and the Netherlands.

Kluge said WHO Europe is calling for “local, targeted, proportional measures” that involve engaging with communities and avoiding collateral damage socially and economically.?

The idea of short, sharp “circuit breaker” lockdowns has been mooted in some countries, including the UK. Kluge said government’s should consider their social impact, including mental health and domestic violence before implementing, and the two or three week time period should be used to “buy time” to get an effective track and trace system in place.?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel holds a press conference at the European Union summit in Brussels, Belgium, on October 16.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced she was canceling the upcoming EU special summit on China due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“In the context of the pandemic, it is clear that we are not going to allow the informal summit to take place, we have to do without it,” Merkel, whose country holds the six-month EU presidency, told journalists at the end of a European Council meeting in Brussels.?

“I believe this is a necessary message,” she added, as European countries have been tightening health measures to cope with the second wave of the pandemic.

The summit was scheduled for Nov. 16 in Berlin.

The Vermont Department of Health is investigating a Covid-19 outbreak among members of youth and adult recreational hockey and broomball teams, leading to 18 confirmed cases so far, it said in a statement on Friday.

Officials say the outbreak is associated with individuals that practiced or played at the Central Vermont Memorial Civic Center in Montpelier earlier October. There has been no community spread of the virus beyond close contacts, the department said.?

The 18 confirmed cases are among players and their close contacts and most cases are among adults.?

The health department has also been in touch with schools that may have had cases in attendance while they were infectious and contact tracing is currently ongoing.

A pop up test clinic is scheduled for Saturday and those with direct links to the teams, the Civic Center, and close contacts are encouraged to get tested.

The city of El Paso, Texas, is reporting a new record high daily number of Covid-19 cases, just a day after setting the record for single-day cases.

El Paso reported?838 new cases on Friday. The day before they had set a daily record with 717 new cases.?

There are now 7,399 active cases in the city, according to the city’s public health department. So far, there have been no new deaths reported Friday.

The city reported 423 hospitalizations as a result of Covid-19 with 112 people in the intensive care unit. On Thursday, the Texas Department of State Health Services said only 8 ICU beds were available in Region I, which includes El Paso.?

US stocks retraced some of their losses from the previous session and opened higher on Friday.

The morning brought a mixed bag of economic data:?September retail sales beat economists’ predictions as Americans kept shopping, but industrial production of the same month unexpectedly contracted in what was the first decline after four months of improvements.

Here’s where things opened:

People visit South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California, on September 28.

Retail sales climbed in September for the fifth straight month as people spent on clothing, sporting goods, furniture and other items in stores and online.

US retail sales rose 1.9% in September, the Commerce Department reported Friday. That’s well above the 0.7% rise predicted by economists surveyed by Refinitiv.

In August, retail sales grew 0.6%.

Retail sales had slumped to a seven-year low in April as coronavirus prompted stores across the country to shut their doors, though sales bounced back to pre-pandemic levels in July.

Economists and retail analysts say consumers have shifted their spending – away from travel and leisure and to areas such as home improvement and electronics. Sales at clothing and clothing accessories stores grew 11% in September from the month prior, while sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument and book stores jumped 5.7%.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie attends a news conference at the White House on September 27.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, in his first televised interview since his release from the hospital, reiterated that no contact tracing was done by the White House after he tested positive for Covid-19.

Christie said he has spoken to the President “a number of times,” both when he was in the hospital and since he returned home when asked whether he tried to advocate tor mask usage, adding that he’s been calling for mask usage “all along,” but “everybody’s going to make their own decisions on that.”

“We should be very affirmative. Leaders, all across the politics, sports, the media, should be saying to people, put your masks on and be safe until we get a vaccine that could help to protect us,” he said.

He blamed political polarization for the mixed wearing of masks in the US.

Christie expressed regret, reiterating his statement that it was a “big mistake” not to wear a mask while he was at the White House for debate prep and the Amy Coney Barrett nomination event and made a push for leaders to “be even more affirmative” about mask usage.?

“It was a mistake. You know, I was led to believe that, you know, all the people that I was interacting with at the White House had been tested and it gave you a false sense of security, and it was a mistake. You know I’ve been so careful George for seven months because of my asthma, wearing masks, washing my hands, social distancing and for seven months, I was able to avoid the virus and one of the worst hit states in the country in New Jersey. But I let my guard down. And it was wrong, it was just a big mistake,” he said.

“I let my guard down for a couple of days inside the White House grounds, and it costs me in a significant way,” he added.

Christie said he received the Eli Lilly antibody treatment as well as Remdesivir during his time in the intensive care unit.

Some context: The White House told staff in an email last week that it had completed “all contact tracing” for positive?Covid-19 cases identified at the White House, and urged anyone who hadn’t been contacted and suspected they had contact with?someone infected by the virus?to reach out to the White House Medical Office.

However, New York Times White House correspondent and CNN contributor Michael Shear, who tested positive for the virus following direct interaction with White House officials, told CNN late Tuesday that there’s been no outreach by the White House to do contact tracing or to follow up on his condition.

At least one other White House official told CNN that they’ve also alerted officials that they have had direct contact with positive White House personnel and received no guidance on how to proceed.

Hear what he said:

- Source: cnn " data-fave-thumbnails="{"big": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/e91a1745-f7bc-4c29-b42b-f83834cc5c40.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" }, "small": { "uri": "https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/e91a1745-f7bc-4c29-b42b-f83834cc5c40.png?c=16x9&q=h_540,w_960,c_fill" } }" data-vr-video="false" data-show-html="" data-byline-html="" data-timestamp-html="" data-check-event-based-preview="" data-is-vertical-video-embed="false" data-network-id="" data-publish-date="2020-10-16T13:40:49.511Z" data-video-section="" data-canonical-url="" data-branding-key="" data-video-slug="Christie" data-first-publish-slug="Christie" data-video-tags="" data-details="">

Video Ad Feedback

0fee0972-8703-446c-8be5-3e489169b02f.mp4

02:48 - Source: cnn

The US is nearing 8 million?Covid-19 cases?and averaging more than?50,000 daily new infections?— a sign the country is in for a?tough winter, experts say.

Yesterday, the?US topped 60,000 new cases in a single day for the first time since Aug. 14.?

More than 217,000 have died so far in the US due to the virus.

Here’s what the data shows:

An?updated forecast?from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation now projects the US could top 389,000 Covid-19 deaths by February 1.

And the latest ensemble forecast, published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, shows more than 20,000 Americans could die from the virus in just the next three weeks.

Here’s a look at where cases are rising across the country:

The world is approaching 39 million cases of coronavirus. If you’re just reading in this Friday, here’s what you need to know about the pandemic:

Wales could be placed under a short “fire-break” lockdown as officials try to curb a sharp rise in cases.

First Minister Mark Drakeford?warned Friday that such a lockdown could last two to three weeks.

Under the plan, people would be asked to stay-in and businesses would close. “The shorter the period, the sharper the measures will have to be,” Drakeford said.?

The UK government’s top scientific advisers have also urged ministers to impose a short national lockdown also known as a “circuit breaker.”

“Doing nothing is not an option,” Drakeford said Friday.

His comments come after Wales announced that it will ban travelers from high coronavirus hotspots in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, starting Friday.

In a tweet, Drakeford said he was introducing the travel ban as there had been “no formal response” from British Prime Minister Boris Johnson after Drakeford sent him two letters asking him to restrict travel into Wales.

Commuters in London wait at a bus stop on October 15.

Londoners have expressed confusion and doubt over?coronavirus?lockdown restrictions announced Thursday that will affect millions living in the city.

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock?said the British capital?would move from the Tier 1 “medium” alert to Tier 2 “high” alert level on Saturday, urging London residents to support government efforts to suppress the spread of the virus.

Pubs and restaurants already had a 10 p.m. curfew under Tier 1, but the new rules mean Londoners will be banned from mixing with other households indoors in any setting. Outdoor gatherings will continue to be limited to six people, and people are advised to avoid using public transport where possible.

Schools, places of worship and businesses can remain open, leading many to question the restrictions.

“I’m fed up,” Rebecca Duncan, a 39-year-old from south London, told CNN.

She called the new rules “ridiculous,” noting that she could still go to the gym, get a massage or sit next to strangers in a cafe, but couldn’t mix with anyone from another household.

Read more:

Shoppers and commuters around Regent Street in central on Tuesday, before the new restrictions were announced.

Related article London despairs at new Covid rules as northern England regions rebel

Men walk past empty restaurants at Place du Tertre in Paris on October 15.

A night-time curfew will be imposed on Paris and nine other French cities starting at midnight local time on Friday.

The restrictions come as France reported a record 30,621 new daily Covid-19 cases on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the state of emergency measure on Wednesday in a bid to slow the surge.

“The aim is to reduce private contacts, which are the most dangerous contacts,” Macron said.

The curfew will last until 6 a.m. Saturday, and will then resume from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. every night for four weeks.

It could possibly be extended to six weeks, pending parliamentary approval.

Here’s what you need to know about the restrictions:

Where will the curfew come into force?

The curfew will apply Paris, Aix-Marseille (which hosts the two cities of Aix-en-Provence and Marseille), Grenoble, Montpellier, Toulouse, Saint Etienne, Lille and Lyon.

How will it be enforced?

People who violate the night-time curfew will be fined 135 euros (about $160) for a first offense. That rises to 1,500 euros ($1,760) if the offense is repeated, Macron said.

Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin also said a 12,000-strong police force will enforce the curfew and people breaking the curfew will be fined up to 3,750 euros. A third violation could result in a three-month jail sentence.

Are there any exemptions?

People working, traveling for health reasons such as going to the hospital or pharmacy, catching a train or a plane after 9 p.m. or caring for loved ones will be allowed to travel during curfew – as long as they have proof of their reason.

People will need to fill out a certificate declaring their movement as they did during France’s spring lockdown.

French Prime Minister Jean Castex said that people will be allowed to walk their pets after 9 p.m.

On Friday morning, Castex tweeted: “The number of confirmed cases had increased by 53% in just a week – this demanded a strong response from the state and local authorities.”

The Indianapolis Colts have shut down their practice facility in Indiana after several people within the organization tested positive for Covid-19.

The statement added that the team would work remotely while the tests were confirmed. The Colts are scheduled to play the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, and it’s unclear as of now whether the positive tests could lead to the game being delayed.

To date, 12 NFL games have been postponed or rescheduled as a result of positive Covid-19 tests.

On Wednesday the NFL cancelled the 2021 Pro Bowl, its annual all-star game, for the first time since 1949.

The statistics, recommendations, new studies and predictions haven’t stopped coming since the onset of the pandemic.

Covid-19 and the coronavirus that causes this disease is constantly making headlines. Yet while doctors have become permanent fixtures on the news, the public hasn’t always come along on the messy, and at times unpredictable, journey around the science.

The very same information that was supposed to unite and guide Americans through the pandemic has further divided us. As we ask ourselves how we got here, it’s imperative to understand that the information itself is only a small part of the equation.

Health information, like all other types of information these days, is landing on a divided country.

Read more:

Related article Health information was meant to unite us. Here's why it hasn't

People in Morecambe, England, wait for a bus on October 16.

Lancashire, in northwest England, will be placed under stringent restrictions after moving to the country’s highest Covid-19 alert level.

The UK government had clashed with local leaders who wanted to avoid the measure, but the council officials agreed to the restrictions Friday.

Under the government restrictions, pubs and bars not serving food will close and indoor social gatherings with people from different households are banned.

The rules will be imposed from 12:01am Saturday.

Officials also recommend against travelling in and out of the region, where cases have surged in recent days.

Lancashire is the second region in England to be placed under Tier 3 rules after Liverpool earlier this week.

The decision comes as talks between leaders in the separate Greater Manchester area and the UK government stalled.

The government wants Manchester and surrounding areas to move to the highest alert level, but local leaders have rejected the request, fearing catastrophic economic damage.

Britain is in the midst of a second Covid-19 wave. The country has reported a total of 676,455 cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Poland has suffered its highest daily Covid-19 death count, reporting 132 fatalities on Friday.

There have now been a total of 3,440 deaths according to the country’s health ministry.

Poland is seeing a steep rise in cases along with much of Europe. On Friday it also reported 7,705 new cases of the virus, the second-highest daily case count after Thursday’s record of 8,099 cases.

Poland’s prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, entered quarantine?Tuesday after coming into contact with an infected person.

The country has reported 157,608 cases in total.

A person is tested for Covid-19 in Lille, France, on October 15.

The rise in new Covid-19 cases in Europe is far higher than the rise in the US, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

The surge in the five worst-affected European nations was nearly 42% higher than the increase in the US in the week from October 6 to 13, according to JHU’s seven-day moving average of new cases.

On October 13, that daily average in the US stood at 49,542. In the five worst-hit European countries – France, the UK, Russia, Spain and the Netherlands – the total daily average of new cases stood at 70,158 on the same day.

The population of the five European countries is 343 million, while the US population is 331 million.?

Europe is in the midst of a second wave of Covid-19 which has spread rapidly across the continent.

Poland, Belgium and the Czech Republic have all seen sharp increases in Covid-19 infections in recent weeks.?Poland?reported 8,099 new cases on Thursday – a 24% increase on the previous day’s tally, itself a record.

France and the Netherlands have also seen dramatic increases in the numbers of new cases this month.??

But the US situation remains critical. The country’s moving average of cases has begun trending upward again after falling from a peak of well over 70,000 in July.?

The JHU data also shows a rapid decline in new cases registered in India, and a notable if less dramatic fall in Brazil.?

The higher coronavirus death rate for ethnic minority groups in England and Wales could be due to socio-economic factors, according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS.)

The divide is most stark for men from Black African backgrounds, who die at a rate 3.8 times higher than White counterparts, while the rate for women of Black African ethnicity is?2.9 times higher.

These rates drop slightly when researchers accounted for geography, socio-economic characteristics and health measures, including pre-existing conditions. But the rate for Black African men remained 2.5 times higher than White peers, while the rate for women was 2.1 times higher.

“All ethnic groups other than Chinese females were at higher risk of Covid-19 mortality than the White ethnic population,” the ONS found. The divide was “most strongly associated with demographic and socio-economic factors” and could not be explained by “pre-existing health conditions.”

The trend has been covered in multiple reports and inquiries and the UK government remains under pressure to address the issue.

He added that the difference in risk of death was partially explained by “demographic, geographical and socioeconomic factors, such as where you live or the occupation you’re in.”

“It also found that although specific pre-existing conditions place people at greater risk of Covid-19 mortality generally, it does not explain the remaining ethnic background differences in mortality.”

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab speaks during a press conference on July 21 in London.

The UK government is locked in an extraordinary standoff with leaders in northwest England over proposed local lockdowns.

Boris Johnson’s administration wants to move the areas of Lancashire and Greater?Manchester to the highest Covid-19 alert level – Tier 3 – which requires significant restrictions on daily life.

Household mixing indoors is barred under Tier 3 rules and pubs and bars which do not serve food have to close.

Mayor of Greater?Manchester Andy Burnham said Thursday that he and other city regions in the northwest “unanimously oppose government plans for Tier 3 lockdowns.”

UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab urged Burnham to accept the restrictions on Friday.

Speaking during a BBC interview, Raab said the rising case numbers meant the government “must take action, in the interest of the people of?Manchester.” He called on Burnham “to do the right thing by the people of?Manchester.”

Raab defended the government’s approach and denied claims that the UK’s scientific and medical advisers had suggested another full-blown lockdown.

“The advice the government has had very clearly is that we take this tiered, targeted geographic approach,” Raab said.

Manchester?city council leader Richard Leese?said Friday that the clash was unlikely to be resolved before the weekend.

Medical workers carry a suspected coronavirus patient at a hospital in Kommunarka, Russia, on Thursday, October 15.

Russia reported 15,150 new Covid-19 cases on Friday, almost a thousand more infections than the previous high reported on October 14, according to the data from the country’s coronavirus response center.?

The total number of cases reported in Russia as of Friday is 1,369,313.?

Russia has seen a surge in infections in the past two weeks, with its highest one-day increase growing almost every day. Russian officials previously said the growing numbers could require additional action but added they believe they can avoid a repeat of the full lockdown that was imposed in the spring when the country was reporting on average around 10,000-11,000 new cases each day.?

Capital’s cases rise: Of the new infections reported Friday, about 5,000 were identified in Moscow, which is the most affected city.

Late Thursday, city officials said that control over mask-wearing on public transportation has been increased. All facilities remain open, including bars and night clubs.

Vaccine race: Russia has registered two coronavirus vaccines for domestic use but they are so far not available for the general public.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin said last week in an interview with state TV that residents need to “hold on for a couple of months” before the mass production of the vaccines begins. Russian Health Minister Mikhail Murashko said Thursday the “wider supply” of vaccines is envisioned for late November or December of this year, according to state-run agency TASS.

Track worldwide cases:

One hockey player infected as many as 14 other people at a single indoor ice hockey game last spring, Florida health department officials reported Thursday.

That means indoor sports games can turn into superspreader events, the researchers said in the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s weekly report.

The game was played on June 16 at an ice rink in Tampa and by the following day, a player, considered the index patient, experienced symptoms of Covid-19, including fever, cough, sore throat and a headache. Two days later, he tested positive for the virus, the Florida Department of Health reported.

Superspreader event: Each team had 11 players, all male, between the ages of 19 and 53, with six on the ice and five on the bench at any given time during the game, the researchers reported. Each team also shared separate locker rooms, typically for 20 minutes before and after the 60-minute game, and no one wore cloth face masks for disease control.

While 62% of the players experienced Covid-19 symptoms, the on-ice referees did not, nor did the one spectator in the stands.

Read the full story:

Sticks and the puck photogarphed during a faceoff between the New York Islanders and the New York Rangers on April 4, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Related article Indoor sports potential superspreader events, CDC says, after most ice hockey players in Florida game infected with Covid-19

A?coronavirus outbreak?in the Chinese city of Qingdao, which prompted mass testing of millions of residents, has been traced back to two dock workers, authorities said on Friday.

A total of 12 locally transmitted cases were reported last weekend at the Qingdao Chest Hospital, sparking fears of a wider outbreak. City officials took immediate action and in just four days, they tested more than 10 million people, according to Qingdao’s Information Office.

So far, no new cases have been identified in relation to the cluster. One new case has been found, separate from the cluster.

The two dock workers, named Dong and Chen, tested positive for Covid-19 on September 24 and were sent for treatment and quarantine at Qingdao Chest Hospital, according to city officials.

Officials said that the men had CT scans, and the room was not disinfected in the correct way – contamination that then caused the hospital cluster.

Read more:

A health worker takes a swab from a resident to be tested for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Qingdao, in China's eastern Shandong province on October 12, 2020. (Photo by STR / AFP) / China OUT (Photo by STR/AFP via Getty Images)

Related article China's Qingdao Covid cluster traced back to two dock workers, officials say

A healthcare worker puts on personal protective equipment (PPE) in front of the room for Covid-19 patients in an intensive care unit (ICU) at Thomayer hospital on October 14, in Prague.

The Czech Republic has recorded 9,721 new coronavirus cases in its highest one-day increase since the pandemic began.

According to the latest figures from the country’s Health Ministry, at least 149,010 cases have now been recorded nationwide.

The number of new infections has been rapidly rising in the country. Friday is the second day in a row that the Czech Republic reported its highest increase in infections.

There have been at least 1,230 deaths from the virus in the country.

Leader of Manchester City Council Sir Richard Leese.

Manchester City Council leader Richard Leese said it’s unlikely there’ll be any resolution today to the standoff between local leaders and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government over new coronavirus restrictions.

Leese said the standoff could last into the weekend.

“There were meetings taking place all last weekend and there’s a very high chance that’ll be the same here.”

The UK government wants to move Manchester to the highest alert level – tier 3 – but Manchester leaders have rejected the plan, arguing they’re not convinced it will work and that there needs to be more financial support offered to those affected.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie had “an awakening” after spending a week in an intensive care unit with Covid-19, Dr. Jonathan Reiner, a professor of medicine at George Washington University, said Thursday.

“Sounds like Gov. Christie had an awakening,” Reiner, a CNN analyst and cardiologist to former Vice President Dick Cheney, told CNN’s Don Lemon after Christie issued a statement on his illness.

Christie sounded humble and angry at the same time, he said.

“When he started talking about how, you know, he believed he’d be safe at the White House, but he wasn’t, he should have worn a mask when he went to the SCOTUS announcement, he should have worn a mask at the debate prep. He sounded like he had been betrayed,” Reiner said.

Christie attended Amy Coney Barrett’s announcement ceremony at the White House Rose Garden and helped President Donald Trump prepare for his first debate against Joe Biden just over two weeks ago.

Christie said he was wrong not to wear a mask.

Read Christie’s full statement:

Related article Chris Christie says he spent 7 days in ICU before recovering from Covid

The US is nearing 8 million?Covid-19 cases?and averaging more than?50,000 daily new infections?– a sign the country is in for a tough winter, experts say.

Dr. Peter Hotez, professor and dean of tropical medicine at the Baylor College of Medicine, called the rising average “an ominous sign.”

Public health officials including Dr. Anthony Fauci?warned in recent months?the country should try to lower its baseline ahead of the fall and winter months, to prepare for the new challenges that will arise. Those include the flu season, that could stack up against Covid-19 and create what doctors call a?“twin-demic,” as well as the upcoming holidays, when many Americans may let their guard down to celebrate with family and friends.

But it’s not just?national case trends?that are concerning experts.

An?updated forecast?from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation now projects the US could top 389,000 Covid-19 deaths by February 1. And the latest ensemble forecast published by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows more than 20,000 Americans could die from the virus in just the next three weeks.

More than 217,000 Americans have already lost their lives to the virus.

Read the full story:

Melissa Leaston Director of nursing at Whittier Street Health Center swabs a patient at a COVID testing site in Nubian Square on October 15, 2020 in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Related article Public health experts share bleak outlooks for the coming months as US nears 8 million Covid-19 infections

Germany has recorded another daily high in new coronavirus infections, according to the country’s center for disease control, the Robert Koch Institute.?

The country reported 7,334 new infections in 24 hours, about 700 more than the previous day, when 6,638 cases were recorded.?

There were 24 new deaths on Thursday, bringing the total number of virus-related fatalities in Germany to 9,734.

In another worrying sign for the European country, the number of patients requiring intensive medical care is also on the rise.?

On Thursday, 655 patients were in ICUs with 329 patients requiring a ventilator, official data showed. A week earlier, 487 were in intensive care.

It comes as countries across Europe are tightening restrictions following a surge in Covid-19 case numbers.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that tighter restrictions will be imposed in?coronavirus hotspots, saying she felt “uneasy” about the “exponential growth” in the country’s coronavirus cases.

Read more about Europe’s renewed outbreak:

Parisians enjoy a socially distanced opening night of Paris Plages at La Villette on July 18. The city and several others will now face a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Related article France introduces overnight city curfews as coronavirus restrictions tighten in Europe

Smog at Anand Vihar on October 14, in New Delhi, India.

India’s capital New Delhi is bracing for the annual pollution season to begin.

As fall ends and the temperature begins to slowly drop, the pollution across North India rapidly starts to rise every year.

For the past few years, winter has seen New Delhi enveloped in a thick smog that pours in from burning crop fields, factories chugging out toxins, and smoke from firecrackers set off in anticipation of India’s annual festival of Diwali.

The city has been ranked the most polluted in the world, and the air quality last year reached levels more than 20 times World Health Organization (WHO) “safe” guidelines. Last year, authorities also declared a public health emergency for the city.

When the air quality worsens the smog becomes visible and the thick haze irritates eyes and throats, an ashy taste is constantly on your lips.

Those suffering from asthma and other respiratory illnesses often report complications.

Double health threat: This year, the unease in breathing is exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic.

For months, we have been sequestered in our homes and venture out reluctantly with a palpable fear of testing positive and having to battle with a broken healthcare system.

India reported 63,371?new Covid-19 cases and 895?deaths on Friday, with the nationwide number of infections more than 7.3 million – the second most cases globally behind the United States.

With hospital beds already in short supply and consultations with doctors largely limited to video calls, someone suffering from breathing issues due to pollution may have nowhere to turn to now.

Like clockwork, every year in October I clean my air purifier and begin shuttering the doors and windows in my home to keep out the pollution. It’s an action which will restrict the little fresh air I am able to breathe during a self-imposed lockdown.

But for thousands of people who have existing respiratory illnesses, Covid-19 has come with an extra layer of fear that their lungs may not survive both – the air pollution and the damage the disease brings with it.

Survival mode: As authorities across multiple states scramble to reduce the smoke, we settle into a pattern of survival until the first rain at the end of the winter season clears the skies and we take off the masks that were protecting us from the pollution.

This time it will be different. We were wearing masks before the pollution season began and will continue to do so long after it’s over.

A woman hugs her loved one after arriving at Sydney's Kingsford Smith Airport on an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland on October 16.

Passengers from New Zealand arrived at Sydney’s International Airport today on the first flight of a one-way travel bubble that allows quarantine-free travel.

Images show passengers in masks hugging friends and carrying luggage after arriving in Australia’s largest city from Auckland.

One-way bubble: Around 70,000 Australians live in New Zealand, and they’ve been kept apart from their families and friends back home for months dues to coronavirus travel restrictions.

However, nearly 10 times that number of New Zealanders live in Australia – but they will have to wait for quarantine-free travel home. Initially, the travel bubble is only one-way, from New Zealand to Australia, and a limited number of destinations will be included in the deal, according to Australian Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack.

For now, the travel bubble will include only Australia’s New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

The rules: McCormack said earlier this month that New Zealanders who hadn’t been in a coronavirus hotspot in the previous 14 days would be allowed to enter Australia without having to isolate. Outside the travel bubble, anyone who flies into Australia must undergo 14 days of mandatory hotel quarantine at their own expense.

The Australian Department of Health had determined that New Zealand posed a “low risk” of Covid-19 transmission to Australia. Right now, New Zealand’s borders are closed to international travelers under restrictions put in place to limit the spread of the virus. McCormack said it would be up to New Zealand’s Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to decide whether to make exceptions for Australians.

Ardern said on October 2 that New Zealanders who take up the Australian offer will still have to quarantine on their return.

Almost all international arrivals into New Zealand must pay 3,100 New Zealand dollars (about $2,000) to complete 14 days in a government-run quarantine facility.

Read more about the travel bubble:

Koalas recover from bushfires and heatwaves at The Australian National University's campus.

Related article The Australia-New Zealand travel bubble is finally here -- but it's only one-way for now

The United States reported 63,610?new Covid-19 cases and?820?new virus-related deaths on Thursday, according to?Johns?Hopkins?University.

Nationwide, at least?7,979,709?Covid-19 infections and?217,692?fatalities have now been confirmed.

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

On Thursday, a new model from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, forecasted there will most likely be about 389,087 deaths – or 78% more fatalities – in the US by February 1.?

Much of the US continues to report an upward trend in?coronavirus cases.

As of Thursday, the nation is averaging 52,345 new cases a day, up 16% from the previous week, a trend that concerns health experts as the country heads into the cooler months.

Read more about the state of the pandemic in the US:

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 26: People with and without masks avoid social distancing while walking in Central Park as the city continues Phase 4 of re-opening following restrictions imposed to slow the spread of coronavirus on September 26, 2020 in New York City. The fourth phase allows outdoor arts and entertainment, sporting events without fans and media production. (Photo by Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images)

Related article Herd immunity is not the way out of the coronavirus pandemic, experts say

Idaho state epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn answers question during a news conference, on September 3, 2020, at the Statehouse in Boise, Idaho.

The US state of Idaho’s state epidemiologist Dr. Christine Hahn said in a news conference on Thursday that until the Covid-19 hospitalization numbers improve, she does not think the state “can move out of stage 4.”

Hahn discussed the number of residents currently in hospital with suspected or confirmed Covid-19.

“The last date we have there is October 12, and you can see 219 Idahoans currently in the hospital. And we have 56 Idahoans currently in intensive care,” Hahn said. “The hospital data is again where we’re struggling, and we are very concerned about the rising number.”?

The total number of patients hospitalized in the ICU “is greater than 25 per day,” she added.?

Stage 4 is the final phase in Idaho’s reopening from coronavirus restrictions. Under the current measures, gatherings of 50 are allowed; non-essential?travel?is permitted to locations that allow it and do not have ongoing transmission;?nightclubs?may operate with lower standing-room capacity,?and large venues?can operate under limited physical distancing protocols.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little said in the news conference that there is “a direct correlation between our personal actions and the capacity of our health care.”

Little urged people to consider their actions and “wear a mask. Watch your distance. Wash your hands,” he said.

“Our personal actions are free of cost, a minor sacrifice relative to the reward of keeping a loved one from getting sick, saving a life, keeping our schools open, and protecting our economic prosperity,” he added.

President Donald Trump?could not definitively say on Thursday whether he was tested for the coronavirus on the day of his first presidential debate against Democratic nominee Joe Biden.

“I don’t know, I don’t even remember,” Trump said, when asked during a NBC News town hall if a test was done on the day of the September 29 debate.

Asked again whether he took a test in adherence of rules set by the Commission on Presidential Debates, Trump said at the town hall: “I probably did, and I took a test the day before.”

The President also could not recall the last time he tested negative for coronavirus before testing positive in early October. He added that he was tested frequently but not every day.

Read more:

Related article Trump couldn't -- or wouldn't -- say if he got Covid test on debate day

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike speaks during a meeting with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in September.

Tokyo recorded 284 new Covid-19 infections Thursday, its highest daily increase in cases since August 20.

The Japanese capital’s total number of confirmed cases now stands at 28,420, according to the Tokyo’s Metropolitan Government.

Tokyo’s governor urged people to stay vigilant amid the outbreak, saying the city’s coronavirus expert panel “analyzed that increased economic activities and new infection clusters would lead into the boost of new infection.”

New cases: Nationwide, Japan recorded 707 new Covid-19 cases and four new deaths on Thursday, the highest increase since September 10.

Japan’s total number of confirmed cases now stands at 92,143 and 1,663 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.?

The central government blamed the recent uptick on the general public’s desire to get back to “normal life.”

An influential model of the coronavirus pandemic predicts 389,087 Covid-19 fatalities in the US by Feb. 1 – 6,000 fewer deaths than the previous forecast, even though the researchers behind the model say the spread of the virus is worsening.?

The model, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington School of Medicine, shows the pandemic moving into younger populations – thus the forecast of fewer deaths. The last forecast, released on Oct. 10, projected about 395,000 deaths by Feb. 1.

More data:?The model projects just 314,000 deaths by Feb. 1 if everyone uses masks and more than 477,000 deaths if mask mandates are eased. Daily deaths would rise to more than 5,500 if mandates were eased but should settle at around 2,200 at current predictions.

“Expanding mask use remains the best strategy to delay and reduce the magnitude of the surge,” the IHME said.

The worsening spread will likely force many Midwestern states to reimpose restrictions, the IHME said.

The model predicts 2.4 million coronavirus deaths globally by Feb. 1.

Joe Biden’s campaign?is halting the travel of his running mate, California Sen. Kamala Harris, through this weekend after two people – a flight crew member and Harris’ communications director, Liz Allen – tested positive for?coronavirus.

A staff member for the charter company that flies Biden also tested positive Thursday, his campaign said, but Biden’s travel schedule is not changing because the former vice president did not come within 50 feet of the person.

Harris was not in what the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention define as close contact with either person, Biden campaign manager Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement. Still, Harris’ planned trip to North Carolina on Thursday was scrapped, and she will remain off the road until Monday, she said.

Harris has taken two PCR tests for coronavirus since October 8, including a test Wednesday, and has tested negative, O’Malley Dillon said.

Read the full story:

Democratic Vice Presidential nominee Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA.), delivers remarks during a campaign event on August 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. Harris discussed President Donald Trump's failure to handle the COVID-19 pandemic and protect working families from the economic fallout prior to the last night of the Republican National Convention.

Related article Biden campaign halts Kamala Harris' travel after two people in campaign's orbit test positive for coronavirus

For yet another week hundreds of thousands of American workers filed for unemployment benefits.

Americans filed another 898,000 first-time jobless claims last week on a seasonally-adjusted basis, according to the?Department of Labor. That’s more than economists had expected and up 53,000 from the prior week.

Weekly claims have fallen a long way since peaking at 6.9 million in late March. But the improvements have slowed to a snail’s?pace in recent weeks?– and went into reverse last week. That means it could take a long time to get back to the pre-pandemic level of around 200,000 claims per week.

On top of regular jobless claims, 372,891 Americans filed for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, a program designed in response to the pandemic to help those not usually eligible for unemployment benefits such as the self-employed. That was down 91,000 claims from the prior week.

Adding those together, total first-time claims stood at about 1.3 million last week.

Read the full story:

Related article Jobless claims head higher: 898,000 Americans filed for unemployment benefits

Two of?Europe’s biggest capitals?are in trouble as Paris imposed overnight curfews and London banned people from different households from meeting indoors to combat the spread of?coronavirus.

The announcements came as countries across Europe tightened restrictions following a surge in Covid-19 case numbers in most countries.

The French capital and the cities of Aix-Marseille, Grenoble, Montpellier, Toulouse, Saint Etienne, Lille, Rouen and Lyon will face a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew starting at midnight on Friday, President Emmanuel Macron announced.

Violating the nighttime curfew will carry a fine of 135 euros (about $160) for a first offense, and 1,500 euros ($1,760) if the offense is repeated.

France reported 22,591 new cases and 95 deaths on Wednesday, bringing its total to 779,063 cases and 33,037 deaths.

London will move from a Tier 1 “medium” to the Tier 2 “high” alert level of coronavirus restrictions from Saturday morning, UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced Thursday.

It means Londoners will be banned from mixing with other households indoors in any setting, including in pubs and restaurants. Outdoor gatherings will be limited to six people and people should also avoid using public transport where possible.

Read the full story:

Parisians enjoy a socially distanced opening night of Paris Plages at La Villette on July 18. The city and several others will now face a 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew.

Related article France introduces overnight city curfews as coronavirus restrictions tighten in Europe

Travelers entering the United Kingdom from Italy will have to self-isolate starting on Sunday, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced Thursday.

In a tweet, he said both the Vatican and San Marino will also drop off the UK’s “Travel Corridor,” a list of countries considered safe enough for travelers to visit without self-isolating on entry to the UK.?

He also announced the UK would add the Greek island of Crete to the Travel Corridor, meaning people entering the UK from anywhere in Greece will not have to self-isolate.