October 27 coronavirus news

Australia’s Victoria State on Wednesday reported two new Covid-19 cases and two new deaths from the virus after two consecutive days of no new cases and deaths, according to Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services.

The two new cases are close contacts of other positive cases, Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews said in a news conference Wednesday. The two deaths, a man in his 70s and a man in his 80s, occurred several weeks ago but were now confirmed to be coronavirus-related deaths, Andrews added.

Emerging from lockdown: This comes after the state eased restrictions Wednesday, with the city of Melbourne moved out of lockdown. 

Andrews urged Victorians to remain vigilant as 180,000 workers return to work with the reopening of retail stores, cafes and restaurants, beauty salons and pubs.

The United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has released more than 250 detainees following a court order requiring government officials to reduce the overall detainee population at their processing center in Adelanto, California, where hundreds were infected in a coronavirus outbreak.

The immigration detention facility in Southern California is one of the largest in the country and capable of housing up to 2,000 adults. It has reported 238 coronavirus cases as of Tuesday.

Court order: US District Judge Terry Hatter Jr. ordered the reduction in population at the detention center on Oct. 15 after a class action lawsuit was brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Southern California. In his decision, the judge accused the government of “straight up dishonesty” and said the outbreak posed “an unreasonable risk to each detainee’s safety.”

ICE response: In a news release on Tuesday, ICE announced it would comply with the judge’s order, which it said had resulted in “the release of dangerous criminal aliens into various communities.”

According to the release, more than 85% of the detainees at the Adelanto facility had pending criminal charges and/or convictions. Among those released, more than 60% had final orders of removal by federal immigration judges.

“These criminal aliens have serious convictions and charges – releasing them is an extremely risky gamble to take with public safety,” Pham added.

“Fear mongering”: In a statement to CNN, ACLU senior counsel Ahilan Arulanantham said ICE has “a long history of fear mongering to justify their draconian practices.”

The current population at the Adelanto facility is now approximately 465, down from approximately 730 detainees before the judge’s order, the news release states.

A passenger walks at an empty domestic terminal of Haneda Airport in Tokyo, at the start of Golden Week holiday Wednesday, on April 29.

Hawaii will soon allow travelers from Japan to enter without undergoing quarantine, as long as they present a negative Covid-19 test before flying.

This is the first time Hawaii has allowed travelers from outside of the United States to do so since the pandemic began.

The program follows the same guidelines as flights coming from the US mainland, with travelers required to get a negative coronavirus test within 72 hours of travel from a group of pre-approved testing providers.

The first flight from Hawaii to Japan is expected to arrive on November 6, with only 10 such flights scheduled for the entire month. If there are no unexpected problems, Hawaii Airlines, Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways intend to significantly increase the number of flights from Japan to Hawaii in December.

“Welcoming visitors from a country that’s so dear to us is important,” Hawaii Lt. Gov. Josh Green said.

Discussions are already underway with the governments of Canada, South Korea, Thailand and New Zealand about expanding the program to those countries.

Switzerland runs the risk of lacking hospital beds and intensive care units in the coming weeks as the number of coronavirus infections soar in the country, a Swiss health official said on Tuesday.

Andreas Stettbacher, a delegate for the Coordinated Medical Service, the government’s scientific advisory group, warned in a news conference that if the surge in cases continued, hospitals would be “fully occupied” in 15 days and intensive care units in 11 days.

In the same conference, the head of the Swiss National Covid-19 task force Martin Ackermann said that “we don’t have time to lose,” warning that hospitals have already reached their limit. Ackermann also said that there is no indication for the task force that the pandemic is decreasing in Switzerland.

Stricter measures: Ackermann also indicated that a full lockdown must also be an option for Switzerland to curb the virus’ spread, saying there were no alternatives to drastic measures.

On Monday, Health Minister Alain Berset announced that the Swiss government plans to announce stricter coronavirus measures on Wednesday to control the spread of the virus.

The country recorded 5,949 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the total number of infections to 127,042 since the start of the pandemic.

The death toll in Switzerland stands at 1,930.

A member of the White House cleaning staff sanitizes the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room on October 5, in Washington.

The White House included ending the coronavirus pandemic on a list of the Trump administration’s science and technology accomplishments, even though nearly half a million Americans tested positive for Covid-19 in just the last week.

A White House Office of Science and Technology Policy news release made the claim in announcing a document highlighting the administration’s science and technology achievements over the past four years.

The news release comes as the country reports the largest number of daily cases seen to date. The seven-day average of daily new cases reached an all-time high of 68,767 on Sunday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The previous record of 67,293 was set July 22.

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TOPSHOT - US President Donald Trump leaves after a Hispanic Heritage Month event in the East Room of the White House October 6, 2017 in Washington, DC. President Trump invited over 200 Hispanic business, community, and faith leaders, and guests from across the country to join in the celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. (Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

Related article White House lists ending Covid-19 pandemic as an accomplishment despite cases spiking to record levels

The United States is on track to hit 100,000 new daily Covid-19 cases, if the current trend continues, Dr. Ashish Jha, the dean of Brown University School of Public Health, said Tuesday. 

Jha believes that staggering number could be averted, but he said, “there’s just not enough policy impetus to act as we need to, and I’m worried we’re going to hit 100,000 in a day at some point in the coming weeks.”

Jha is more hopeful the daily death toll won’t spike along with the current Covid-19 cases. 

“We have gotten so much better with treatments,” he said.

“But still, 1,000 Americans are dying, close to 1,000 (a day are) dying now and I would not be surprised if that number goes higher yet.” 

U.S. Army General Gustave Perna testifies on his nomination as Chief Operating Officer of Project Warp Speed before the US Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington on June 18.

If a Covid-19 vaccine is proven safe and effective, the federal government will distribute it to “all of America simultaneously,” and states will own the final distribution, Army Gen. Gustave Perna, chief operating officer of the federal government’s coronavirus response, said Tuesday. 

“We’ll distribute vaccines, accordingly, to all of America simultaneously,” Perna said at an online event hosted by the conservative Heritage Foundation think tank.

“We will make sure that there is equitable distribution in accordance with that priority, and then the states will, you know, they own the actual final distribution and administration down to individual arms,” he added.

Perna said he expects the availability of vaccine doses to increase in 2021.

Perna said there are plans to carefully track exactly where the vaccine is being distributed.

“It’ll be a hot commodity, of course, and we need it to get to the places where it will be distributed based on state priorities and requirements, in accordance with the safety and effectiveness of the vaccine,” he said.

Perna said Operation Warp Speed, the federal government’s vaccine response effort, plans to cover all parts of the United States and its territories.

“We want to be able to make sure we can get to those American citizens who are overseas, you know, serving in Department of Defense, or State Department, et cetera,” he added.

Health ministry staff collect sample for coronavirus testing from a resident at an urban area in Bandar Utama, outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on Thursday, October 22.

Almost 3 million cases of coronavirus have been reported worldwide in the past seven days, a global record, the World Health Organization reported Tuesday.

It’s the shortest exponential increase in case numbers since the start of the pandemic, WHO officials said in a news release, but the number of new deaths is comparable to previous weeks.

More than 42 million cases of Covid-19 have been reported globally as of Oct. 25 and 1.1 million deaths, the health agency said, with 2.8 million new cases and 40,000 new deaths in the past week. 

Europe is reporting the highest number of new cases for the second week in a row at more than 1.3 million – an increase of 33% compared to the previous week, WHO said, and contributing to 46%, or nearly half, of all new cases globally this week.

“Similarly, the number of deaths continues to increase in the region with a 35% increase from last week and accounting for nearly one third of all new deaths globally,” the agency reported.

Cases are also increasing in the Americas, Eastern Mediterranean and African regions.

The US, Brazil and Argentina are still reporting the highest number of new regional cases of Covid-19 and new deaths at 78% and 67%, respectively.

In the US, the numbers are spiking since Sept. 7 when the country had recorded 240,000 new cases that week to more than 400,000 new cases in the past week.

“Cases are now approaching the previous epidemic peak in July,” WHO said.

The US is also seeing 1,318 new cases per million population, but that’s lower than several European countries such as the United Kingdom with 2,200 cases per million and France with 3,300 per million. 

The death toll in the US has surpassed 225,000, according to Johns Hopkins University.

French President Emmanuel Macron on October 20, 2020. 

French President Emmanuel Macron will announce new measures on Wednesday to fight the spread of coronavirus in the country, government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said.

On Tuesday, France saw its highest death toll since April with 523 deaths, according to numbers released by the national health agency. 

“We need to take measures given the severity of the crisis,” he said following a meeting between French Prime Minister Jean Castex and political representatives about the pandemic.

France recorded at least 33,417 new coronavirus cases on Tuesday, according to numbers released by the health agency.

An outbreak of Covid-19 among men’s and women’s soccer teams at one university in Chicago can be traced back to birthday parties and other social gatherings, according to a new report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Although the players had been drilled about using masks and keeping their distance at practice, they appeared to forget everything when they got together with friends, researchers reported on Tuesday. The students made minimal use of masks and social distancing at a birthday party, dorm or apartment visit and casual co-ed soccer match – and that most likely contributed to transmission of the coronavirus.

The report includes the results of an investigation into that cluster of Covid-19 cases among the soccer teams, which was reported to the Chicago Department of Public Health in August. 

That month, a member of the men’s soccer team first reported Covid-19 symptoms. He said that he had attended the birthday party and soccer match in the preceding 14 days, according to the report. In the days following the start of his symptoms, 17 players total tested positive for Covid-19 among 45 across both the men’s and women’s teams. 

In addition to the co-ed soccer match, the report includes 18 social gatherings during the investigation period, such as the birthday party and visits to friends’ dormitories or apartments.

“All 17 students with Covid-19 attended at least one gathering,” wrote the research team from the CDC, the Chicago Department of Public Health and the University of Illinois at Chicago. 

Colleges and universities may need to “consider conducting periodic repeat testing of asymptomatic students” to identify Covid-19 outbreaks.

There have been at least 8,740,824 cases of coronavirus in the US, and at least 226,211 people have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

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

So far today, Johns Hopkins has reported 38,074 new cases and 505 reported deaths. 

Coronavirus cases are surging around the US, including in parts of the Northeast.

Here are some of the top headlines from the region so far today:

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

Assistant HHS Secretary for Health Brett Giroir testifying during a US Senate Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, DC, on September 23, 2020. 

Coronavirus cases are truly up across the US and it’s not just because of more testing Admiral Brett Giroir, a member of the White House coronavirus task force, said Tuesday – directly contradicting President Trump.

In March and April, probably only one out of 10 or 15 cases were being detected, he said. Today can’t really be compared to that time period, “but compared to the post Memorial Day surge, even though testing is up, this is a real increase in cases,” he said.

Giroir said case numbers are up and also hospitalizations are also going up.

He said hospitals are filling up and coming under stress in some parts of the country, but the number of people in the hospital with coronavirus is still lower than it was in July.

One good thing is that a lot more young people are getting the virus compared to older people, which is one reason why hospitalizations are shorter, Giroir said. Also, there are some effective therapies.

Thirteen-year-old Maggie Flannery contracted Covid-19 in March but she still hasn’t recovered.

Flannery is a “long-hauler.” These are Covid-19 patients who experience symptoms of the virus for weeks or months despite having virologically recovered. They have fatigue, myalgia, fever and cognitive abnormalities such as the inability to concentrate, the nation’s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci told a Senate committee in September.

More than 657,000 children and teens across the United States have tested positive for the virus as of October 1, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association. And this figure is likely underreported because it relied on state data that is inconsistently collected.

Despite her symptoms, doctors kept telling Flannery she was healthy, her mother Amy Wilson said.

“I had to be okay with the fact that this was a novel coronavirus,” she told CNN. “It was frustrating but at the same time, I knew there was no way for these specialists to understand what long Covid was when we were all figuring it out at the same time.”

To others who may be battling the virus, Flannery advised:

Watch:

A man looks out at the Manhattan skyline in a Brooklyn neighborhood on September 29, 2020 in New York City. 

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is asking residents to refrain from traveling during the upcoming holiday season, saying “it’s not business as usual.”

He said this is a recommendations based on health care leadership.

For those who do travel, the mayor encouraged people get tested and follow the 14-day quarantine required upon return.

Mayor de Blasio also asked the federal government to mandate anyone getting on an airplane for an international or domestic flight receive a negative Covid-19 test within 72 hours prior.

The latest numbers: The mayor said there were 60 patients admitted to hospitals with suspected cases of Covid-19 which is under the threshold of 200. However, the percentage of those confirmed positive is 21.6% which means nearly a quarter of those admitted were positive for the virus.

The number of new cases reported on a seven-day average is 528 which is only slightly under the 550 threshold.

While hospitalizations and deaths remain low, de Blasio asked everyone to remain vigilant as the holidays approach.

Note: These numbers were released by the city’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 sign reminds travelers to wear face coverings displayed at an American Airlines Group Inc. boarding gate at Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020. 

Experts are giving mixed messages about the Covid-19 risks of air travel as Americans consider their Thanksgiving holiday plans.  

A Harvard University study released Tuesday modeled the airflow in airliners and say the specialized onboard ventilation systems filter out 99% of airborne viruses. 

The team of scientists concluded that a “layered approach, with ventilation gate-to-gate, reduces the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission onboard aircraft below that of other routine activities during the pandemic, such as grocery shopping or eating out.”  

A contract tracing study released by Irish researchers linked 13 cases to a single passenger on a seven-hour international flight this summer where fewer than one in five seats were filled. Some passengers may not have been wearing masks.

The researchers conclude that some of the spread must have occurred on the plane because some of the passengers “had no social or airport lounge link with Groups 1 or 2 pre-flight and were not seated within two rows of them.” 

The Harvard researchers described wearing masks as a critical part of keeping travelers safe in aircraft cabins, but stopped short of calling for a government mask mandate onboard flights. But with people bunching up in jetways, aisles, and airports – where ventilation systems may not be as efficient as those on aircraft, they say more research needs to be done.

The Harvard findings mirror those from recent studies from The Department of Defense, Boeing, and Airbus as airlines are struggle to bring domestic passenger traffic above 40 percent of last year’s levels.

Last week, Southwest Airlines cited the earlier studies as the reason to resume the sale of every seat on its flights starting December 1.

Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said that Covid-19 is something to be concerned about and it is frustrating that “people are not quite getting it.”

As the state reports record numbers, she said people need to take personal responsibility to reduce infections each day – including things like following science and wearing masks.

Ezike fought back tears during a news briefing on Friday where she reported new coronavirus deaths and thousands of additional cases. She wiped a tear with her bare hand and turned away from the podium to compose herself. A man in a mask walked over with a box of tissues. She wiped her eyes and returned to the microphone.

“I know that sometimes the truth is painful, but I think the data, the facts, the science bear out the truth and I think all public health officials have been echoing the same chorus and we all need to be on that same page that the masks work,” she said on CNN today.

Ezike said that it is frustrating that “people are not quite getting it” even though science has pointed to mitigation methods that “could make history not repeat” itself.

Ezike called for the country to have a unified approach to how to get the virus under control, including a national testing strategy, adding that she feels like there have been mixed messages that have confused the public.

“We are bordered by six states in Illinois and nobody lives in a vacuum so the sooner we have a unified approach, the sooner we can get this virus under control,” she said.

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A boy pulls a wagon with three pumpkins at a Pumpkinfest in Lincolnshire, Illinois, the United States, on Oct. 17, 2020.

Erin Bromage, a biology professor specializing in immunology at the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, outlined the risks of Halloween and Thanksgiving as coronavirus cases spike in the US — and how you can minimize the dangers. 

“When the children knock on the door, it becomes a really tight, confined space with number of people there yelling ‘trick or treat.’ And that just creates that close environment that we really are trying to avoid right now,” Bromage said on CNN’s “New Day.”

He said his neighbors are setting up tables at the end of their driveways or hanging candy from spiderweb decorations. 

Children should still wear cloth masks and keep their distance outside while trick-or-treating, according to Bromage.

Bromage also admitted he is “feeling a little dark about Thanksgiving.” 

He said families should think about limiting the number of people who gather for the holiday and changing plans to not include high-risk family members. 

He said if families are still thinking of celebrating with extended family members, they should consider not having kids in school or group sports, while adults should make sure they do not engage in any high-risk activities for at least a week beforehand.  

On Thanksgiving, open windows, space out people and consider buying a HEPA filter, he said.  

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Europe’s second coronavirus wave continues to bear down on the continent, with cases rising in many countries and areas implementing new restrictions as a result.

Here are some of the top headlines on the pandemic this morning:

A medical worker tends to a patient in the Covid-19 intensive care unit at The University Hospital Centre in Liege, Belgium, on October 22.

Belgium is on the brink of a coronavirus disaster as a top health official warned that the country could run out of intensive care beds in as little as two weeks.

The country of 11.5 million people has reported on average more than 13,000 cases a day in the past week, according to the national public health institute Sciensano. The Covid-19 outbreak in Belgium is the second worst in Europe in terms of new cases per capita, after only the Czech Republic.

Yves Van Laethem, Belgium’s spokesperson for the fight against the coronavirus, warned that unless Belgians change their behavior, intensive care units will reach their capacity of 2,000 patients in 15 days.

At a news conference Monday, Van Laethem said that 1,000 of the country’s intensive beds are already being used, with total of 1,250 set to be occupied by the end of the week. Both hospital and intensive care admissions are doubling every eight days, he added.

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